Some useful articles for writing about characters

There’s quite a few articles on this website with advice for creating & writing characters that you might have missed. Here’s a list of some useful ones:

A big long list of personality traits

It’s always good when a character has some unique personality traits. This article has a big long list of personality traits grouped into positive, negative and neutral.

Using a Personality Test to Flesh Out Your Characters

There’s a test called the Enneagram which defines character types & can display it on a 9-pointed diagram. Taking this as one of your characters can tell you a lot about them, & give you inspiration.

Does your character have unique traits?

Giving your character some unique traits is great for making them memorable, and easy to write too (if the trait is clear enough). This article has some ideas for memorable character traits.

Give your characters flaws

Most of us want the character that we roleplay to be badass. It’s cool to be the hero of the story, the person who defeats the villain & rescues everyone. But be careful you’re not making your character too perfect, or they might turn into a Mary Sue.

Positive & negative character trait tables

Sometimes it’s fun to pair characters up with their opposites, so this article has a list of traits and their opposites.

12 villain archetypes to choose from

Creating a believable villain can be difficult. A villain needs a sensible cause, and they need to be credible. You might find you need a bit of inspiration for creating a good villain, so this article has a list of 12 villain archetypes.

Make sure your character acts their age

When you’re creating a new character you need to think about their age. Are they young or old? There are many different ways characters will act depending on their age, so it’s crucial you get it right for your character to be realistic.

How to create believable characters

This article explains how to use the 2:1 rule to create a character that’s flawed & believable.

Building a Dynamic Character

An article by Reggie with tips on writing for characters. More here too.

A list of great random character name generators

This article lists many character name generators, useful for coming up with a unique name for your character.

All-powerful characters are boring

A short comic about boring all-powerful characters.

Create a character you’re proud of

An article about how a character must have a distinct personality, with some writing exercises, & a useful diagram.