The 5 "Bones" of Characterization

thewritingpirate:

So in my English class we’ve been talking about the different elements of different parts of a story. My professor referred to the elements of characterization as bones. I don’t know why, but that’s just what he did.

He’s talked about these 5 “bones” a few times already and actually uses them to talk about characters in readings we’re doing along with our usual workshops. He says if you can get these bones out of a character then it’s a well built character. So don’t take these lightly as figuring these 5 bones out for your character will make writing your story much easier.

Desire: There are two types: Long and short. Essentially it’s what do they want in 5 years and what do they want tomorrow? Think of desire as their goals, both long term and short term.

Strength: This is their ability. How do they handle stress and other emotions? What makes them strong?

Weakness: What makes them hide in fear? What will they run away from?

Deals: Also referred to as “Alway’s and Never’s”. What will they always do? What will they never do? (I’m sure there is more to this, but my notes are hard to follow.XD)

Action: What are they doing? This is also relevant to your plot.

The last thing in my notes that I have written is this: Characters come to us already formed.

Now that’s a weird thought because there’s tons of character development stuff out there as we always see making a new character as a hard task that takes forever. Except that isn’t how it works and having the above said to me actually made everything easier.

Your characters are already full fledged people. Do you ever have that time where you’re writing and you say “My characters just kinda took over and this happened”. Well your characters are already completely formed and know how they’ll react to certain situations. You’re the one who doesn’t know that. So take some time to get to know your character. Stop working on your book and write other random stories. Find a prompt and just write. Or do as my professor says and “sit on the couch with them for a couple hours”. Think of them as another friend that you’re trying to get to know. Don’t force out their secrets.