The Three Dimensions of a Character

Okay, so we're done discussing the plot of a story. Now, we're moving on to one of the most interesting elements of fiction: the characters. Characters are, as a lot of people would say, human beings. They have strengths, weaknesses, skills, abilities and flaws. They also have three dimensions that makes them as humane as possible.

If you look at the character development sheet I've prepared a couple of days ago, you may observe that the basic information only accounts for 20% of the character development. That is because when you have completed the first dimension, your character is only more or less 20% developed. Many people believe that character development is based on how many things you know about your character, which it isn't--it's how well and deeply you know them. You may happen to know 260 likes, 478 dislikes and pet peeves, 68 hobbies, 779 quirks and mannerisms, all kinds of favorites, but still, you can't call them well-developed if you still don't know what motivated them to take a course of action at any point in the story.

This is what this lesson is for, to be guided on making your character well-developed human beings. Here are the three dimensions of a character:

First dimension: Basically questions 1 through 20 of the character sheet at the previous chapter. Basic information about a character such as name, age (date of birth), race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, family, relatives, friends, birth place, current residence, physical description, likes/dislikes, favorites/pet peeves, skills, hobbies and abilities fall on the first dimension. This is the trickiest part of character development, due to the fact that as many questions can be formulated in this category, your character isn't even halfway done even though you may have answered literally all questions. Because chances are, 85-90% of them aren't even necessary to the character and their story.

Minor characters usually stop at the first dimension, since they only appear on one part of the story, and never afterwards. Supporting characters may stop at the first dimension, but if they recur a lot in the story, it is best to promote them to the second dimension of the character.

Also, let me be clear on one thing: the race and sexuality of a character is at the first dimension, and I'm saying this because of the diversity extremists who seem to think that the race of a character is more important than the character's third dimension. Yes, the race of a character is as important as roughly 1% of the total character development, but focusing on this too much can ruin the entire essence of storytelling, and I'm saying this to both new writers and the so-called diversity and representation extremists.

I will be posting an extra solely dedicated to this topic, so stay tuned until when we finish talking about the characters of a story.

Second dimension: Accounts for questions 21-60 of the character development sheet. And forget what I said about the first dimension being tricky; this is the actual trickiest part of character development. Since this dimension of a character basically include every bit of the character's personality, a lot of people would stop right there. Yes, you know the character's entire personality, but do you know how they ended up being that way? Their background? How that background affected their entire personality?

Also, another common advice being given around the threads is to always stay true and consistent to the given personality of a character all throughout the book. A big NO. In a story, we should be seeing growth and development. If there is no development, there is no story, although again, this is another plot-driven vs. Character-driven story argument--I'll get to that later. Anyway, realistically speaking, there are just some traits in a person that even time cannot change, but for the most part, a person grows and develops with time and life experience. Not all, but most. But then again, we're looking for 'interesting,' not 'realistic.'

To make the long story short, strictly following the given traits of a character consistently throughout the book can only lead to one thing: two-dimensional cardboard cutouts. As the old saying goes, "in every rule, there's an exception." And that exception can either be a traumatic event a character has experienced in the past, traumatic event that may come in the future, a love interest (by the way, there's nothing wrong with the love interest being the catalyst of change to the main character--illogical and sometimes irrational, but then again, this is fiction, not logic 101; we need interesting, not pretentious philosophy), or something that might happen to a secondary or supporting character (e.g., death of the main character's best friend). And that exception is what basically comprises the third dimension of a character.

Third dimension: Is basically the rest of the questions in the character development sheet. The deepest, darkest part of the character. Who is your character on the very inside? What makes them unique compared to other people who have the same set of traits, and same personality as them? The questions that come from this dimension are those that cannot be answered unless the author is at least halfway through the actual book--the reason why most character sheets stop at the second dimension, or sometimes, even the first.

This is what makes the character grow over the course of the story, what makes them give up most of their bad ways and change for the better. What makes them break free from the shackles of their own fears, of their own doubts. What makes them finally let go of all the bad memories and haunting experiences that they had been holding on to for years, what makes them finally stand up for themselves and for others. In short, what makes them change and achieve their goal. This goes beyond personality--this is what makes your character complex human beings. Rational and intellectual, but sometimes irrational and goes out of their way for something or someone.

And that concludes today's lesson on the three dimensions of character development. Now, is your character a hero or villain? Protagonist or antagonist? Do you know the difference between protagonist and hero? In a couple of days, we'll be discussing the types of characters.