Three Keys to Believable Three-dimensional Characters

Three Keys to Believable Three-dimensional Characters

Know their names, their motivations, and their fears

When you sit down to write a new story, chances are you’re going to start by developing one of these elements: characterization, setting, or plot.

Yeah, I nailed it. But before I strain my shoulder patting myself on the back, I may as well admit it was kind of a no-brainer. Those are the three key facets of any story. But here’s something you might not have known: Giving characters heart, soul, and some mighty real faults—yes, faults—is vital to creating memorable characters.

Three Aspects of Great Characterization
Today we’ll touch on names, motivations, and fears. Every character—major or minor—needs to be properly developed and fleshed out. There’s no sense adding someone to your story if he’s going to sit there like a splat of Gulden’s spicy brown mustard on Mom’s otherwise-immaculate kitchen floor. Whether it’s your protagonist, antagonist, comic relief, or a minor sympathetic character, every single one must have a purpose. You can’t just drop somebody into the mix because your best friend begged you to include her as a character in your novel.

What’s in a Name?
Every character needs an identity—which, it may come as a surprise to you to learn, is so much more than just a name! It’s her background, her sense of self, her breadth and depth of knowledge and/or experience, her likes, dislikes, and personality. But a name comprises an important part of a character’s identity.

As readers, we associate characters most closely with names. When you read the name “Tiny Tim,” you either envision that wild-haired dude from the 1960s, ukulele in hand, tiptoeing madly (and off-key) through the tulips… or that dear little moppet on crutches from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Admit it. You’ve identified the character by his name. And whichever one you’ve conjured, you’ve likely got a strong visual image—all because of a name. So, while I contend a name is but a small part of a character’s overall identity, it is the simplest means by which the author distinguishes one character from another. And a name is not something to be assigned lightly.

Think for a moment about these two names: Ebenezer Scrooge and Severus Snape. They exude, respectively, stinginess and malevolence. That’s because over the years those two literary identities have become synonymous with those particular traits. To paraphrase my all-time favorite film: It’s the name that inspires the necessary fear. And quoting now, “You see, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Westley.” (Five extra points if you guessed the movie before reading the quote.)

Now that we’ve established the importance of character names, how do you decide on one? Sometimes the right name emerges in the character-development phase. Other times, you can take clues from language. In my novel, Glimpse of Emerald, Monsignor Ernst Streng is described as the “silver-haired headmaster with atrophied smile muscles” who droned on in a thick European accent while “a deep frown creased his face, drawing his entire countenance sharply downward.” A few pages later, his tone was defined as “starched.” This paints for the reader a distinct image of an austere, inflexible older man. To arrive at this minor (albeit pivotal) character’s name, I toyed with a few words in his native German: Ernst means “serious” and Streng is the German translation of “strict”—both of which happen to neatly describe our fictional headmaster.

Just as you can’t simply meander into an animal shelter to claim a dog you’re determined to name Peanut (when you know going in all they’ve got is English Mastiffs, Great Danes, and St. Bernards), you can’t simply bestow on a character a moniker that doesn’t fit him. After all, who would read a story—let alone seven of ’em—about a magical kid named Icarus McDweeb with a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead?

Motivation: What Makes Him Tick?
When building a character, you not only need to know who that character is, but why he does what he does. If he’ll drive 40 minutes out of his way to avoid a particular stretch of road, chances are it’s not because he enjoys detours. There’s got to be some reason behind it—logical or otherwise. Maybe along that bit of highway is the bridge from which his childhood best friend leapt to his death years earlier, and he’s still riddled with guilt over it.

Maybe she obsessively hoards miniature rubber ducks… because when she was six, the bully down the street swiped (and mutilated) hers while her big brother stood by, laughing, refusing to intervene. She’ll be in therapy for years, but that’s another story. The point is, there’s a why behind every what.

Perhaps she only writes with blue pens. Could be there’s a deep-seated psychological reason dating back to her childhood… or we might be reading too much into it and maybe she just likes the way blue ink looks against the crisp white pages of her notebook. As you get to know your character, you’ll find these things out.

What drives your character? Is it hatred of another character? Fear? Love? Desire to please their impossible-to-satisfy parents? Hunger? To reach your character’s heart, you have to know this… and more.

Fears… or What Makes Him Hide Under the Bed, Whimpering Like a Puppy?
Every character needs one looming thing that terrifies him. People are afraid of all sorts of stuff; and fictional ones are no different from real folks in that regard. Let me say that again: People are afraid of all sorts of stuff. Spiders. Mountain lions. Snakes. Water. Heights. Falling. Failure. Success. Cheese.

Find out what petrifies your character—and then, just to be horrible, confront him with it (purely in the name of research of course! What kind of monster do you think I am?!). You could take a stroll through some of these fears to determine whether one resonates with your character.

One, Two, and Three Dimensional Characters and How to Use Them

Different characters have different levels of depth to them, dimension if you will. A concept I read about once, categorizes these levels into dimension types and explores those types to better aid in character creation and story telling. This article is my spin on the different levels of character depth as well as my commentary on the ways I've found most helpful in using them effectively.

At first glance it seems like a simple concept, but distinguishing these dimension types and integrating them properly into a story can GREATLY improve reader engagement, scene pacing, and believability. Recognizing both the under-developed and over-developed characters in my stories helped me improve my writing in the aforementioned areas and it can do the same for you. It is important for a writer to know both when a character needs to be developed and when to move on.

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A one-dimensional character constitutes the "walk on" parts of the story. These are your waiters, your cab drivers, bartenders, a mother walking down the street, or the random pikeman your hero stabs through the face (though not always). They are briefly seen and do not speak. One-dimensional characters that spend more than several pages in your story should be made two-dimensional. Beside possible subplots, adding realism to an environment, or even promoting general interest, any interaction with a main character serves to flesh out the personality of both characters and add dimension to a scene or personality. Any walk-on that could successfully be made into two-dimensional character should...unless doing so awkwardly upstages an important character/moment or harmfully dilutes the pacing of a scene.


A two-dimensional character is the same as one-dimensional character except for the fact that they show one emotion or character trait. They are also known as "cardboard" characters, your cutouts, because they lack dimension. They show a little bit of character through their words, actions, or emotions, but everything they reveal is of a one-track nature that's somewhat undeveloped and often lacking in background, explanation, or depth.

Unlike the one-dimensional character, they must react through speech or gesture to reveal an emotional trait. Their reactions and integrations in the story are often brief, but not always. Though a main character may be present the majority of the story, if he/she is lacking in depth, complexity, or history, that character becomes two-dimensional. One of the biggest dangers to believability or engagement of readers in a story is a lack of depth to main, or even secondary characters.


A three-dimensional character however, plays an important role in the story and constitutes all major characters, including villains. They have complex emotions and sometimes conflicting motives, troubled pasts and deep worries. They are alive with passion and ambition and desire, never apathetic (and if they are, they are overly apathetic).

Every feature and aspect about them is exaggerated and heightened, and the reader must absolutely understand who they are, and have a profound feeling that they existed long before the story began. Any character that spends longer than several pages in your book should be three-dimensional, or the reader can quickly lose interest.
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Problems in choice of characters arise when a character is much too shallow (i.e. a hero having little to no background, identifying characteristics, or consistency in personality) or when too much focus is given to a character that does not influence the events of the story in any major way (i.e. a waiter being psycho-analyzed through narrative when the major characters meeting in the restaurant are supposed to be the main focus). Misusing or poorly developing characters are among the best ways to lose reader interest. So make sure you both focus your narrative attention and develop your characters accordingly.

20 WAYS TO CREATE THREE-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS

1. STEAL A REAL ONE

Sometimes you probably read about another writer’s character or watch one in a movie and you’re stunned by how life-like the character seems. Sure, it may be that the writer is a literary genius…but there are few geniuses out there and chances are that character seems like a real person, because it is one.

Now, before you begin your vehement arguments that Bridget Jones and Forrest Gump are not real people, lets clarify…characters in works of fiction are not real people, but they may be so closely based on them, that they might as well be. Do you think the writer of Bridget Jones, has never been in close contact with a sweet, funny, overly self-conscious woman? That’s unlikely.

Pick interesting people you know and write them into your story as characters.

Just ask yourself, “what would Vince do in this situation?” You know Vince. What would he say? What would he do? It makes your job so much easier and of course, if you don’t let the cat out of the bag, no one has to know that your characters are essentially real people. Instead everyone will think you’re some kind of literary genius for “creating” great three-dimensional characters.

And it even makes your real life more fun and interesting, because every time you get to know someone they are a potential gold-mine as some sort of off-the-wall character model!

2. CREATE AN ARTIFICIAL LIFE

Okay, if you want to do things the hard way, you can also do things the fun way by playing God. You can create a synthetic character pieced together from bits and shards of your knowledge and experience.

Some writers and mentors even suggest knowing your invented character’s entire life story; where they went to kindergarten, what their favorite dessert is, what the worst grade they ever got on a quiz was and why. Some say the devil is in the details and it certainly can be true. The better you know your character, the better you might be able to get your readers/viewers to know them.

Playing God can be fun, but creating imaginary characters, which act and speak naturally is harder than one might guess. That’s why big kudos go to those talented few who pull it off.

3. WRITE YOURSELF

What many writers do is they “cheat.” They’re not writing fictional characters, they’re just inserting themselves and their personality and worldview into their story and writing about how they would react in different situations.

But “no,” you may shout, “these characters are very different!”

Ah, but so are the different facets of a person’s personality. So, one character may be a composite of the writer’s hope, faith and innocence and that character is light and pleasant, while another darker character is a patch-work of the author’s cynicism, doubt and disillusionment.

All the characters inhabiting many famous books, movies and plays are all just different versions of the author. They’re just different sides of the author’s personality, interacting with each other.

Why try to break the mold? You can use this simple technique as well!

4. ADAPT AN EXISTING CHARACTER

Okay, I’m sure many writers will raise an eyebrow at this one and other purists may get their panties in a bundle, but this trick will be included especially for those ambitious people who seek fame as writers and creators, but who lack the talent.

It is very difficult to create wonderful characters and great dialogue from scratch and there are many writers who frankly, will never have the ability to do it. Should those writers give up all their dreams and find a new line of work? Maybe, but if they’re driven to write, talent be damned, then this trick is for them.

Take an existing character from another author’s book or movie, a three-dimensional character with some personality, change the name, alter some details and toss that well-developed character into a completely different bowl of soup. Take Jack Nickelson’s unsympathetic character in “As Good as it Gets,” for instance, take him, edit his history and toss him into a romance, or a drama about lawyers.

Do writers actually do this? Yeah, probably. Does this method thrive on artistic integrity and creativity? Nope!

But in your defense, if you do decide to use this method, you’re still going to have to adapt the character successfully to new situations and write all knew dialogue, which is still entertaining and worthwhile. Even though you sort of borrowed a preconceived character, your task is still gargantuan.

Do highly acclaimed big box office artists do stuff like this? Heck yeah! For all those people who thought “Avatar” was so new and innovative, go back and check out the same exact story as told in “Fern Gully” and “Dances with Wolves,” years earlier. The story is always similar and so are the characters.

5. WRITE FOR YOUR ACTOR

It may help you to choose your preferred actor or actress, so you can write with that person in mind.

For example, if you think Julia Roberts would be the perfect fit to play your heroine, then picture Julia playing that part. How would she speak? What would she say? What would her body language be? You’ve probably seen enough of her that visualizing her could help spark ideas.

6. BE YOUR MIRROR

Okay, trick #1 is simply giving yourself another name and writing yourself into your script with some changes to your history. But you say, I need to write a villain and I’m not a bad person. I can’t write myself as the villain. Come on, sure you can!

Everyone has a dark side where they wish they could do some unethical things sometimes. Just tap into that side of your personality and wherever you would go left,” evil-you” goes right. Simple.

You should be able to write a wide variety of characters just by tapping into different sides of your personality.

7. SHOW DON’T TELL

This is one of the primary rules of good writing! Don’t write dialogue that’s “on the nose” and don’t give us all the details. Show and shorten.

Give us clues about your characters and let us figure it out instead of telling us. When your characters talk, don’t have them tell us how they’re feeling. Have them say something else and give your audience a chance to interpret their words. This makes your audience/readers active instead of passive and it makes your work a lot more interesting and artistic. It’s a puzzle to ponder, instead of a picture to glance at.

8. LIVE AS YOUR CHARACTERS

You’ve probably heard of some actors who actually stay in their role, even when they’re not shooting. So if that actor is a mean and selfish bastard in the movie, then when you see them at the coffee table during the break, he’s still going to be that same mean and selfish bastard, no matter how nice they are in real life.

You can do this too. As the author of a novel, try being that character in your book. Think about what they think about. Use their worldview. Talk like they do. This can give you a lot of answers, a lot of characterization and a lot of dialogue, besides it can always be fun to try on someone else’s shoes for a while. Just warn family and friends before you turn into another person.

9. BECOME A STYLIST

What type of clothes does a conceited person wear? What does a prostitute’s make-up look like? How does a teenage boy in China dress? What hairstyle is popular with young African American females right now?

The point is, if you’re going to show and not tell, you better figure out how things look, so you can show them properly. Clothes, hairstyles, tattoos, body language, esthetic tastes and speech patterns are some of the easiest ways to distinguish characters and bring them to life.

10. PUT YOUR CHARACTERS IN THE RIGHT SITUATIONS

It’s hard to have great characters, if they don’t do anything interesting. For example, you could have the most amazing and interesting character ever, from a cognitive standpoint, but if your story revolves around them living a wonderful life where they inherited money and stay home and watch TV all-day, there’s really only so much of that we’re going to want to watch.

People want to see struggle. They want to see obstacles and adversaries. They want to see highs and lows. They want to see characters that learn and grow and adapt. Your character desperately needs at least one nearly unobtainable goal and plenty of nearly insurmountable obstacles to run through. Without that, your character is likely to be a bit dull, no matter how “three-dimensional” they are.

11. FIND YOUR CHARACTER’S UNIQUE VOICE

The PHD scientist who devises a way to save the Earth from Alien invaders (almost always, unless it’s your intentional and well-executed gimmick) should not talk like the teenage slacker who smokes pot at all hours and refuses to get a job or move out of his mother’s basement.

People of different types talk differently. People of different ages, ethnicities and dispositions generally speak differently as well.

You, as God of your universe, must create dialogue that not only sounds believable, but is also interesting. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. How?

Check out tips 1, 3, 14, 16, 17 and 19 in this list.

12. RESEARCH

Unless you are a teenage genius, if you want your character to be a teenage genius, you better get on the internet and do a substantial amount of research on teenage geniuses and then meet and interact with some of them. The same holds true for professional painters, politicians, scientists, lawyers, etc. Do your homework.

You’re the creator and you can invent, but the closer you invent to what is, the more powerful it will be.

13. GIVE YOUR CHARACTERS UNIQUE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

If it’s a comedy, make your Rambo-esque hero afraid of feminine hygiene products. If it’s a science fiction movie, make water lethal to your hero’s survival. If it’s an action movie, make your heroine claustrophobic. Make your love interest terrified of spoons, etc.

For example, a wonderful and highly underrated high-concept movie was “Memento,” starring fantastic actor, Guy Pierce, as a hero who has no long-term memory. He must find clues that he leaves himself every day in order to understand who he is, what he needs to do, and what has happened. It’s a wonderful and brilliant movie, which is a great example of giving a character such an interesting weakness that you can actually adapt the entire movie around that one foible.

Other great examples might include “Forrest Gump” and “Sling Blade,” both of which feature main characters who are mentally handicapped, but very interesting and endearing.

“Rumble Fish,” which is excellent, could also be mentioned for featuring a hero who is color blind.

14. USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR QUOTES AND DIALOGUE

You know where some o f the best dialogue you can possibly find is? It’s at parties and friendly 3 a.m. chat sessions at local diners, where college students are cracking jokes and mulling over their romances, disillusionments and embarrassing confessions. If you have access to those moments, you can pull out a little pad of paper and scribble out your notes as fast as you possibly can and get some wonderful material. Sure, they’ll think you’re weird, but who cares.

On the other hand, an easier place to find those same conversations already typed out and numbering in the millions, is every single day on social internet sites like Facebook, Linkedin groups and Myspace.

All you have to do is troll those sites for interesting comments and conversations, find great quotes and interesting snippets of conversation, adapt them and plug them into your script.

15. MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS UNIQUE

How do you make your characters unique?

Give them unique goals, mannerisms, dialects, strengths, weaknesses, obstacles, situations, hobbies, dispositions, quirks, histories, opinions, reactions, questions, answers, sayings, humor, romantic gestures, abilities, attributes, fears, philosophies, world views, likes and dislikes.

Of course, “unique” is not exactly the right word, since someone somewhere already has the traits you’re hoping to instill into your “unique” character, but think of it as seasoning a soup; there are a lot of seasonings to choose from and you’re looking to select some uncommon ingredients and mix them in unique proportions, so no one has quite experienced that flavor before.

16. LIVE

They say, “Write what you know.”

If you don’t live an interesting life, it will be hard for you to write about characters with interesting lives.

Gain experience. Observe. Explore. Interpret. Conclude. Fail. Succeed. Consider it research.

17. BE SOCIAL

A lot of writers are not social, that’s why they write. But you will be the exception for two reasons. First, you know that you have to live and experience life to make you a better writer, because it puts you closer to your subject matter and gives you better material and second, because how are you going to create characters that are interesting, if you don’t know anyone who is interesting?

18. OBSERVE PEOPLE

Watch! Watch! Watch!

Watch for body language. Watch for situations. Watch for posture and facial expressions. Watch for fashion trademarks and surprising and memorable actions.

You may be the creative God in your stories, but you’re also a voyeur. It helps to have practice.

19. ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS

Ask your friends a ton of “what if” questions. Ask your family. Ask strangers on the bus. Who cares if they think you’re weird? Tell them you’re doing research for a movie and they may suddenly start thinking you’re cool for no apparent reason.

Why ask lots of questions?

Well, to get all kinds of interesting answers of course! You can get some great responses for your characters, some great personality traits, insights and even some great stories, so ask away!

20. BECOME FLUENT IN BODY LANGUAGE

One of the first rules of writing is “show don’t tell” and there are few better ways to do that, than to let characters speak with their body language and actions. Don’t rely solely on words.

If you want to be successful at this, you need to read books about body language interpretation and start observing people from all walks of life, in all situations and see how they speak…with their bodies. Master that language and your characters will really begin to come to life!