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> Forums > Writers' Workshop Forums > Fiction & Short Stories > I Need Some Help With Character Development!!!!!!!
Dec. 8, 2012 at 8:56 pm
Hi! My name's Hope. I'm currently working on a big story callled The Adventures of Cleo MacHurley, about a young, very talented, very feisty Irish girl named Cleo who is raised by a virtuous single mom in modern-day Dublin and later Honolulu.Cleo's dad died when she was twoas a result of a car crash.He was a carpenter and a volunteer church musician who had a passion for music but decided to avoid taking the risk in order to support himself and, later, his bookstore-employee wife and baby daughter. the problem is, I haven't really developed him very well. I mean, I don't even know what he looks like. I would appreciate it if somebody helped by giving me a few ideas that could spark my inspiration, or by telling me what you interpreted this character as being. I really appreciate your constructive criticism!
Dec. 8, 2012 at 10:26 pm
Cleo's father seems to be a very caring man who always puts others before himself; I kind of was envisioning him as a semi-older man, maybe early fifties, with a few silver hairs beginning to grow upon his hair. But that was just what I was envisioning while reading this.
To help you develop Cleo’s dad on your own though, I would focus on his interest in music first, think about what kind of music her father liked. What instrument(s) did he play, or did he sing instead of play an instrument? And why did he want to pursue a career in music in the first place? These questions, though fairly basic, might help you create a rounder character.
I really hope this helps!
Dec. 11, 2012 at 9:48 am
It is scientifically proven that people's personalities and the decisions they make are based in their past - what they were taught as children, traumatic experience, ect. Therefore, maybe you could give this man a past. You say that he gave up his dream for his family: why did he make this choice? Why was family more important? The first that comes to my mind is that maybe he had a less-than-stellar father who was never home and didn't give him the guidance he needed, and he wants to give his own family what he never had. If you go with this, he probably feels some resenment towards his father - maybe even anger- and he probably desires to be nothing like him. That's one option. Another could be that he was raised with a strong family, and he wants to continue that tradition. My point? Give him a past. Give him a purpose for his reasons. The rest will probably fall into place. I mean, some of the most famous characters in history have no description from the author of what they look like. They all however, are meanigfull and live life based on their ideals, and they all have a reason for the choices they make. Good luck!
Dec. 14, 2012 at 9:09 am
Well, look at a real person and see if you could put them in his shoes, and if you can, take a bit of their personality and appearance and put them into Cleo's father.
Dec. 25, 2012 at 12:37 am
I see him as a thin wiry man with square glasses and long hair
