The Heart of Character

 When it comes to developing an all-new character in an as-yet-unwritten story, the hardest part is knowing where to start. A name's good to have, a physical description can be helpful, and a list of adjectives and quirks is a good jumping-off point--but these don't tell you much about who the character is deep down. 

There are hundreds of character questionnaires out there that encourage you to outline every detail of a character's appearance, mannerisms, and preferences. And yes, details such as the timbre of a character's voice or his favorite food help bring your story to life and help differentiate between characters. But what tells you the most about a character, and may spark an idea for the plot of the story, are the answers to the three questions below:

1. What is your character's worst fear? 

Jot down some ideas about your character's fears. They may fear the zombie apocalypse, spiders, or the color pink, but these aren't deep fears--they fall under the "quirks" category. Your character's deepest fear is overarching and may underpin their lesser fears. A character may fear loss of control, loss of love, failure, or any number of broad, base fears. How do you differentiate between a deep fear and a "quirky" fear? Well, say your character fears dragons. Ask yourself: why does he fear dragons? It could be because he fears death. It could be because he fears they may kill those he cares about--fear of loss. These are deep fears.

Related Question: Is there a traumatic past experience that drives this fear? For example, someone whose failure cost lives may fear failure.

2. What is your character's fatal flaw? 

A fatal flaw is one, overarching negative trait that threatens to destroy everything the character cares about, or even take his life, if he can't overcome it. The fatal flaw drives the internal conflict. Examples of fatal flaws include arrogance, recklessness, self-loathing, and apathy. A character's fatal flaw and worst fear may fit together--a character who fears failure may be overly timid, for example.

Related Question: Does your character's upbringing or way of life facilitate this flaw? For example, an arrogant supermodel or an apathetic drop-out.

3. What is your character's deepest desire? 

Your character's deepest desire should drive the story in one of the two ways. It could drive the external conflict: what does he want, and what is he willing to do to get it? Why does the bad guy want to stop him? What is the bad guy willing to do to stop him? Alternately, the desire could drive the internal conflict: the character wants something not directly associated with the external conflict (though the external conflict may make things more difficult), and he can't get it, because his fears or flaws get in the way. He must overcome these internal challenges (which are often illustrated by reactions to external challenges) in order to gain what he wants most--be that love, education, wealth, a career, or even just his own survival.

Related Question: Is there anything that your character has been deprived of? For example, an orphan may desire love, or a warrior may desire peace.

Answer these questions, and you'll gain a deeper knowledge of how your character thinks, what emotions he feels, why he has the quirks he does, and how to give him a positive character arc.