Character Development: Round vs Flat Characters

hey there I am hitting you with a quick update before we get to the video a huge thank you to everyone who has supported my project keep drive the response has been incredible if you're not familiar cliff and I are working with project to keep an amazing organization that provides backpacks and essentials to kids who are in foster care we are collecting money as well as new and unused supplies over on my website I have the link listed down below all of the information is available we are also giving away prizes to the wonderful donors who help out with this campaign every time a donation goal is met we'll be handing out a prize and literally the day we announce the drive we met our second monetary goal of $500 which means we got another winner congratulations to this awesome human being you are walking away with a signed copy of Olympian confessions Hades and Persephone written by the talented Aaron Kinsella and I gotta give my props to Aaron Kinsella she has been a huge support system throughout this drive I cannot thank her enough if you're not already following Aaron she's an author as well as a youtuber I have her information listed below she's also pretty much the most adorable person in the known universe so follow her get on it once we hit 10 donated items or $1,000 raised another person will be winning a prize and we are so close to these figures keep donating keep spreading the word cliff and I really appreciate your support let's help foster kids and win some badass prizes all right all right on to the video Oh buddy today we're talking about character creation specifically how to make characters not suck this topic was requested by one of my patrons over on patreon Lauren King Lauren King is awesome cuz we have the same name Lauren King Jenna King maresi are we secretly related who's to say Lauren wanted to know more about character creation and development we how to make characters interesting and engaging this is something I could go on about for multiple videos but I decided to start with the most relevant topic and that is flat versus round characters if you want to create realistic and engaging characters more often than not you gotta make them round per Lauren's request I'm going to teach you guys the difference between flat and round characters and more importantly how to create a realistic multi-dimensional cast so first things first we got to get some definitions straight what is a flat character and what is a round character simply put a flat character is a one-dimensional character they don't have a lot of depth they've got maybe one or two personality traits that's it on the flip side a round character is three-dimensional they have layers they have depth they're complicated it's important to clarify that flat and round characters are not the same thing as static and dynamic characters static characters are characters who do not develop during the course of a story whereas dynamic characters do develop well it's common for round characters to also be dynamic it's not a requirement nor is it a determiner in other words just because the character is static does not also mean they're flat they're not the same thing now typically writers are discouraged from writing flat characters because they're less believable most people in the real world have layers so fictional people should probably have layers as well thus round characters is usually the goal that said there are situations where flat characters are perfectly fine and those situations are as follows number one you're writing for kids stories aimed for children don't need to go into as much depth regarding the psychology of the character sometimes people mock the lack of dimension and say a Disney character to which I say calm your tips when you're writing for kids the story is much simpler which means the characters are simpler not everything was made for adults so sit your ass down and number two your writing background characters if the character doesn't play that much of a role in the plot making me flat it's not a big deal you can't exactly flesh out a character that only shows up for three chapters some characters play a very minimal role in the story and if that's the case flatness is hard to avoid now with that mentioned it's also worth noting that many people believe it's okay to write flat characters in plot driven stories plot driven essentially means that the story focuses on the action not so much the characters involved however there are people who condemn movies and books for having flat characters even though the stories are plot driven because of this I would say this particular rule is more subjective than others now that that's out of the way it's time for the meat and potatoes there are 5 major differences between flat and round characters and I'm breaking them down right now number one layers the number one issue with flat characters is layers and by that I mean they don't have any he's a dumb jock she's a kind princess he's an evil sorcerer they have zero depth outside of these one-dimensional orc types now sometimes writers will try to hit you with a twist and say hey not only is he a dumb jock he's also a brooding edge Lord Wow a whole two personality trades the fact is most people have more than two characteristics so this Minotaur doesn't really work if you want your character to be round as opposed to flat they should probably have multiple characteristics sure they can be dumb but maybe they're also insecure because of family criticism maybe they're outgoing because of extroverted tendencies maybe they're an animal lover a philosopher or a bigot regardless of whether it's positive or negative adding depth to your character will make them feel more realistic and multi-dimensional number two stereotypes characters who are walking talking stereotypes are not engaging to read the fiery redhead the damsel in distress if your character has no personality outside of these cliches than they are indicative of stereotypes which means they're flat this doesn't mean that you can't write a character who is both dumb and blond but they should have layers outside of that relying on stereotypes is not only unimaginative but it can be harmful because it perpetuates cliched ideas about different groups of people women are not a monolith gay people are not a monolith East Asian people are not a monolith if you're writing characters in this manner then you're most likely repeating stereotypes which is detrimental to both your audience and your writing number three goals what is your character's primary goal throughout the entirety of the novel if you can't answer this question you've probably written the flat character now if they're a minor character that's fine but if they're remotely important that's gonna be a problem most people in life have some kind of goal or motivation they aren't working for or towards something people usually have motivations for their actions that extend beyond the story requires it so if your characters are only behaving a certain way because you need them to you might need to take a step back and rethink their goals their motivations can be completely self-centered like greed or they could be benevolent like helping the greater good either way you should figure out what motivates them and why they're motivated by that specific instinct number four conflicts this may be shocking to hear but most people have problems even if those problems are miniscule in comparison to yours they exist and they probably feel a whole lot bigger to whoever else is dealing with them this is the same deal with characters round characters probably have some kind of problems they're dealing with or trying to work through on the flip side lot characters don't have any issues outside of the main plot they're just there to move the story forward again if we're talking about minor characters that don't matter background character number 5 probably doesn't need a chapter devoted to his tumultuous backstory but main or supporting characters should have some kind of struggle going on in their lives it can be as severe as a death in their family or as minor as a personal insecurity bottom line is flat characters have carefree lives Brown characters got problems big or small and number 5 development and really hesitant to mention this because I feel like a lot of people are going to take it way too seriously so let me make this abundantly clear most round characters develop as the story goes on but not all of them okay as I said at the start of this video there are static characters and there are dynamic characters static characters never grow dynamic characters do most of the time round characters are dynamic because most people develop in life based on their experiences this means most flat characters remain static they don't develop at all however not all flat characters are static and not whole round characters are dynamic some people whether it's in fiction or the real world never changed they're stuck in their ways so while uncommon it is possible to write a round complex character who doesn't develop basically this rule fits for a majority of circumstances but not all of them that's all I got for you today a huge thank you to Loren King for requesting this topic if you'd like the chance to have a video dedicated to you or if you want access to tons of other rewards check me out on patreon we've got an exclusive writing group you can get early access to videos we have signed merch we've got a monthly live stream the link is listed below check it out don't forget to subscribe to my channel I post new videos on Wednesdays and if you want to be alerted as soon as I upload ring that bell I have it on good authority that I'm gonna start posting bonus videos very soon so you probably want to ring it so you know when there lies the savior's champion is available in eBook paperback hard backside hardback as well as audiobook if you're new to audiobooks you can listen to TSE on audible for free I got the link listed below and be sure to follow me on social media I'm on Instagram Tumblr Facebook and of course you can tweet me at generosity bye this is Ron DS why the haven't you subscribed to Jenna's channel do you really want to face me you don't do it you know what will happen I'll rip out your tongue torture you then leave your rotten corpse out for the burst of Beast on it the goddamn button and the bell too

Channel: Writing with Jenna Moreci

Views: 70,502

Rating: 4.9653158 out of 5

Keywords: write, writer, writing, read, reader, reading, book, books, ebook, publish, publishing, jenna moreci, booktube, authortube, the savior's champion, the saviors champion, charity drive, writing tips, novel, author, writing advice, writing motivation, writing inspiration, publishing tips, publishing advice, round characters, flat characters, character development, how to develop a character, how to write a book, how to write a novel, tips for writing a book, how to write a character

Id: gK31qOkhrHM

Length: 10min 48sec (648 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 24 2019