Crafting Round Characters: Tips and Techniques for Developing Compelling and Realistic Characters

Written by Daisie Team

Published on 21 June 2023 10 min read

Creating engaging and memorable characters is an important skill for any writer. One key aspect of character development is crafting round characters, as they bring depth and realism to your story. In this blog, we will explore what round characters are, why they matter, and how to develop them effectively. So, let's dive into the world of round characters and learn how to make them come alive in your writing.

Understanding Round Characters

Before we can develop compelling round characters, it's essential to understand what they are and why they are important for your story. In this section, we will define round characters, compare them with flat characters, and discuss their significance in storytelling.

Defining Round Characters

Round characters are multi-dimensional, complex, and relatable individuals that evolve throughout a story. They have distinct personalities, flaws, motivations, and growth arcs, making them feel like real people. These characters are often the protagonists, but they can also be secondary characters who play important roles in the narrative. A well-crafted round character can make your story more engaging and immersive, allowing readers to connect with the characters on a deeper level.

Round vs. Flat Characters

In contrast to round characters, flat characters are one-dimensional and lack depth. They often serve a specific purpose in the story, such as supporting the protagonist or providing comic relief. While flat characters can still be interesting, they don't typically experience significant growth or change throughout the narrative. The primary difference between round and flat characters is their complexity and development—round characters are multi-faceted and dynamic, while flat characters remain relatively static and straightforward.

Why Round Characters Matter

Round characters are vital to a story for several reasons:

Realism: Round characters feel like real people, making it easier for readers to relate to them and become invested in their journeys.
Engagement: Complex, evolving characters keep readers engaged and interested in the story, as they want to see how the characters grow and adapt to new challenges.
Emotional connection: When readers empathize with round characters and understand their motivations, they are more likely to feel emotionally connected to the story.

By incorporating round characters into your writing, you can create a more compelling, relatable, and emotionally resonant story that keeps readers hooked from start to finish.

Creating a Character Backstory

A well-developed backstory is crucial in creating a round character, as it provides context for their actions and motivations throughout the story. In this section, we will discuss how to establish a character's past, explore their family and relationships, and delve into their life experiences to create a rich and believable backstory.

Establishing a Past

When crafting a character's past, consider the following elements:

Birthplace and upbringing: Where was your character born, and what kind of environment did they grow up in? This can influence their beliefs, values, and behaviors.
Education and skills: What kind of education or training did your character receive, and how has it shaped their abilities and knowledge?
Significant events: What key moments in your character's life have shaped them into who they are today? These can include both positive and negative experiences.

By exploring these aspects of your character's past, you can create a solid foundation for their development as a round character.

Family and Relationships

Consider how your character's family and relationships have influenced their personality and motivations. To do this, think about:

Family dynamics: What is your character's relationship with their family members? Positive or negative, these relationships can significantly impact your character's emotional landscape.
Important friendships: Who are your character's closest friends, and how have these relationships shaped them over time? Friends can provide support, encouragement, or even conflict in your character's life.
Romantic relationships: Has your character had any significant romantic relationships? These experiences can affect their outlook on love, trust, and commitment.

By examining your character's relationships, you can better understand their emotional connections and how they navigate the world around them.

Life Experiences

Life experiences, both positive and negative, are essential in shaping a round character. Consider the following when developing your character's backstory:

Triumphs and achievements: What accomplishments is your character proud of? These successes can contribute to their self-esteem and drive to achieve their goals.
Failures and setbacks: What challenges or disappointments has your character faced? These experiences can shape their fears, insecurities, and resilience.
Travel and exposure to other cultures: Has your character traveled or lived in different places? Exposure to diverse cultures and environments can broaden their perspectives and understanding of the world.

By weaving these life experiences into your character's backstory, you can create a more nuanced, relatable, and dynamic round character that readers will be eager to follow on their journey.

Developing Character Flaws

Nobody's perfect, and that includes your characters. In this section, we'll discuss the importance of embracing imperfections, finding a balance between strengths and weaknesses, and enabling character growth through the development of character flaws. This will help you create a relatable and engaging round character.

Embracing Imperfection

When crafting a round character, it's essential to include flaws and imperfections. A perfect character can be dull and unrelatable. To create a believable character, consider the following:

Personality traits: Does your character have any quirks or negative traits? Perhaps they're impatient, stubborn, or overly critical.
Mistakes: What mistakes has your character made in the past? These can show vulnerability and provide opportunities for growth.
Internal conflicts: What internal struggles does your character face? These can create tension and make your character more relatable to readers.

By embracing imperfections, you create a more well-rounded and interesting character for your readers to connect with.

Finding Balance

It's important to strike a balance between your character's strengths and weaknesses. If a character is too flawed, they may become unlikable or frustrating for readers. To find this balance, consider the following:

Strengths: Identify your character's positive traits and skills, such as intelligence, courage, or empathy.
Weaknesses: Determine your character's flaws and limitations, which can create obstacles for them to overcome.
Balance: Ensure that your character's positive qualities and flaws are well-balanced, making them a more complex and engaging round character.

Achieving this balance will make your character more dynamic and appealing to readers, as they can see both their strengths and vulnerabilities.

Character Growth

Character flaws provide the opportunity for growth and development throughout the story. As your character faces challenges, their flaws can create tension and conflict, leading to personal development. To enable this growth, consider:

Internal struggles: How do your character's flaws create internal struggles or conflicts? These can push your character to confront their shortcomings and grow.
External challenges: How do your character's flaws impact their interactions with other characters or their ability to achieve their goals? These challenges can force your character to adapt and change.
Growth and change: How does your character evolve throughout the story? Showing your character's growth as they overcome their flaws can create a more satisfying and compelling narrative.

By incorporating character flaws and enabling growth, you create a dynamic and engaging round character that readers can connect with and root for throughout the story.

Exploring Character Motivations

Understanding what drives your characters is essential to crafting a compelling and realistic round character. In this section, we'll dive into identifying goals, exploring inner desires, and addressing fears and conflicts that can shape your characters' motivations and actions.

Identifying Goals

Every character should have goals, whether big or small, that propel them through the story. To determine your character's goals, consider:

Short-term goals: What immediate objectives does your character want to achieve? These can be small, everyday tasks or stepping stones toward larger goals.
Long-term goals: What are your character's ultimate ambitions? These can be career aspirations, personal achievements, or even the pursuit of happiness.
Obstacles: What stands in the way of your character achieving their goals? Identifying these obstacles can create conflict and tension that will engage your readers.

By identifying your character's goals, you create a roadmap for their journey and establish a clear sense of purpose in the story.

Inner Desires

Going beyond surface-level goals, it's important to explore your character's inner desires and emotional needs. To uncover these deeper motivations, consider:

Emotional needs: What emotional fulfillment is your character seeking? This could be love, acceptance, validation, or security.
Personal values: What core beliefs guide your character's actions? Their values may influence their goals and the choices they make throughout the story.
Hidden desires: Are there any desires your character may not be consciously aware of? These hidden motivations can influence their actions and create intriguing subtext for readers to uncover.

By exploring your character's inner desires, you can create a more nuanced and emotionally resonant round character that readers can empathize with and understand on a deeper level.

Fears and Conflicts

Fears and conflicts are key components of character motivation, as they can both drive and hinder your character's actions. To identify these elements, consider:

Fears: What is your character afraid of? This can range from physical dangers to emotional vulnerabilities or personal failures.
Internal conflicts: What internal struggles does your character face? These can be moral dilemmas, conflicting desires, or uncertainty about their own identity.
External conflicts: How do your character's fears and conflicts manifest in their interactions with other characters or their environment? This can create engaging and dynamic relationships between characters and the world around them.

By addressing your character's fears and conflicts, you can create a more complex and compelling round character who must confront and overcome challenges in order to achieve their goals and desires.

Using Dialogue and Voice

Dialogue and voice are crucial tools for bringing your round characters to life, as they provide insight into their personalities, emotions, and motivations. In this section, we'll discuss creating authentic dialogue, finding a unique voice for your character, and using voice to reveal character traits.

Creating Authentic Dialogue

To craft dialogue that feels genuine and engaging, consider the following tips:

Listen to real conversations: Pay attention to the way people speak in everyday situations, noting differences in speech patterns, word choices, and tone.
Use contractions and informal language: Most people don't speak in perfectly formed sentences, so incorporating contractions and colloquialisms can make your dialogue feel more natural.
Vary sentence structure: Mix short and long sentences, questions, and exclamations to create a dynamic rhythm in your dialogue.
Consider context and emotions: How your character speaks should reflect their emotional state and the situation they're in. For example, a character may speak more formally in a job interview than they would with their best friend.

Remember, the goal of dialogue is to reveal character and advance the plot, so focus on crafting dialogue that feels true to your character while also moving the story forward.

Finding a Unique Voice

Each character should have a distinct voice that sets them apart and reflects their personality. To develop a unique voice for your character, consider:

Vocabulary: What types of words does your character use? A character's vocabulary can reveal their education, background, and interests.
Speech patterns: Does your character have any specific patterns or habits in their speech, such as using certain phrases or speaking in a particular rhythm?
Tone: What is the overall tone of your character's speech? A character's tone can convey their mood, attitude, and emotions.

By developing a unique voice for your character, you can create a more vivid and memorable round character that readers can easily distinguish and connect with.

Using Voice to Reveal Character

Character voice can provide valuable insight into a character's personality, motivations, and emotions. To use voice effectively in revealing character, consider:

Emphasize key traits: Use your character's voice to highlight their most important character traits, such as confidence, shyness, or sarcasm.
Reveal emotions: How your character speaks can convey their emotions, such as anger, sadness, or excitement, even if they don't explicitly state how they feel.
Show growth and change: As your character develops throughout the story, their voice can evolve to reflect their growth and transformation.

By paying close attention to dialogue and voice, you can craft a well-rounded character that feels authentic and engaging, further immersing readers in your story.

Building Character Arcs

A character arc is the journey a character goes through as they grow, change, and develop over the course of a story. Crafting a compelling character arc for your round character can make your story more engaging and emotionally resonant. In this section, we'll cover identifying key plot points, creating emotional depth, and delivering a satisfying resolution to your character's arc.

Identifying Key Plot Points

Plot points are significant events that push your character to change and evolve. Consider the following when identifying key plot points for your character's arc:

Inciting incident: What event sets your character on their journey? This incident should challenge your character's status quo and force them to take action.
Turning points: Identify moments in your story where your character faces important decisions or experiences significant events that alter their path and contribute to their growth.
Climax: The climax is the high point of your character's arc, where they face their most significant challenge or conflict.

By mapping out these key plot points, you can create a strong foundation for your character's arc and ensure it remains focused and engaging throughout the story.

Creating Emotional Depth

Emotional depth is essential for a convincing round character, as it helps readers connect with and care about your character's journey. To create emotional depth in your character's arc, consider:

Internal and external conflicts: Your character should face both internal struggles (such as fears and desires) and external challenges (such as obstacles or antagonists) that push them to grow and evolve.
Emotional stakes: Make it clear what's at stake for your character emotionally, and why their goals and desires matter to them.
Showing vulnerability: Allow your character to be vulnerable and express their emotions, which can make them more relatable and endearing to readers.

By focusing on your character's emotions and conflicts, you can create a more immersive and emotionally resonant character arc.

Delivering a Satisfying Resolution

A satisfying resolution to your character's arc should show how your character has grown and changed as a result of their experiences. To create a gratifying conclusion, consider:

Show growth: Demonstrate how your character has evolved, whether it's overcoming a fear, learning a valuable lesson, or achieving a goal.
Resolve conflicts: Address the primary internal and external conflicts your character has faced, providing a sense of closure for your character and the reader.
Leave an impact: The consequences of your character's actions and decisions should be evident by the end of the story, showing that their journey mattered and had an impact on the world around them.

By carefully crafting your round character's arc and delivering a satisfying resolution, you can create a memorable and emotionally engaging story that readers will treasure.

If you're interested in diving deeper into character creation, we highly recommend checking out the workshop 'Creating Characters: The Design Process' by Kit Buss. This workshop will guide you through the essential steps of crafting unique and memorable characters for your stories, games, or other creative projects.