Character
Development
Getting
to
know
your
main
character
Characters!
∗ Why
do
stories
have
characters?
∗ Characters
do
things.
They
feel
things.
They
hear
things.
They
say
things.
They
think
things.
They
go
places.
They
can
walk,
run,
leap,
and
jump.
They
may
sit
and
rock
in
a
rocking
chair.
They
may
just
lie
in
bed,
sleep,
and
dream.
∗ In
a
story,
a
character
is
the
principle
actor.
We
follow
their
story
and
get
into
their
lives.
∗ And
these
actions
show
us
what
kind
of
people
these
characters
are:
friendly,
sad,
nosey,
happy,
lovestruck,
confused,
angry,
or
inventive.
Character
Traits
∗ When
we
talk
about
a
character,
we
often
describe
that
character
in
terms
of
character
traits
∗ Character
Traits:
Descriptive
adjectives
like
happy
or
sad
that
tell
us
the
specific
qualities
of
the
character.
They're
the
same
kinds
of
words
that
we
might
use
to
describe
ourselves
or
others,
but
we're
using
them
to
describe
fictional
characters
in
something
we've
read.
How
do
we
find
Character
Traits?
∗ The
author
may
tell
us
these
traits
directly,
but
more
often
the
author
will
show
us
these
traits
in
action.
∗ Our
job
as
readers
is
to
draw
a
conclusion
about
the
character's
traits
(to
infer
them)
from
what
the
character
says,
thinks,
and
does.
We
might
infer
a
character
trait
from
something
a
character
does
only
once,
or
we
might
draw
our
conclusions
from
a
series
of
things
the
character
says
and
does
Parts
of
a
Character
∗ Physical
Appearance
–
clothing,
height,
weight,
sex,
hair
and
eye
colour,
ethnicity
∗ Background
–
marital
status,
child/adult,
profession
∗ Personality
–
hopes,
dreams,
fears
∗ Other
details
–
hopes,
dreams,
fears
Character
1
–
Jane
Jane
is
the
youngest
of
five
siblings
and
the
only
girl.
Her
only
friends
are
her
brothers,
and
she
acts
just
like
them.
She
climbs
trees,
digs
deep
holes,
plays
any
sport
they
play,
and
makes
fun
of
girls
when
they
try
to
hang
around.
Jane
has
never
cut
her
hair,
and
it
trails
down
her
back
in
a
braid
that
looks
like
a
python.
As
much
as
she
tries
to
hide
her
beautiful
hair,
her
eyes
give
away
her
real
beauty.
They
match
the
blue
zircon
of
her
birthstone.
Jane
loves
her
parents,
but
she
can’t
seem
to
make
her
mom
happy.
She
would
rather
go
to
a
demolition
derby
race
with
her
dad
and
brothers
than
shopping
with
her
mom.
She
wishes
she
could
for
once
be
who
she
is
AND
make
her
mom
happy
at
the
same
time.
Knowing
what
you
know
about
Jane,
how
would
she
react
in
the
Small
Dog
#1
• Brown
• Cute
• Small
• Puppy
Small
Dog
#2
• Brown
• Cute
• Small
• Puppy
Small
Dog
#3
• Brown
• Cute
• Small
• Puppy
Who
is
this?
What
do
we
know
about
him?
Harry
Potter Descriptive
Words
∗ Orphan
∗ Child
∗ Wizard
∗ Glasses
∗ Magical
∗ Mysterious
∗ Slender
∗ Tall
∗ Kind
A
last
thought…
∗ Characters
do
things.
They
feel
things.
They
hear
things.
They
say
things.
They
think
things.
They
go
places.
They
can
walk,
run,
leap,
and
jump.
They
may
sit
and
rock
in
a
rocking
chair.
They
may
just
lie
in
bed,
sleep,
and
dream.
But
the
important
thing
is
that
characters
act.
Character
Sketch
∗ When
you
write
a
character
sketch,
you
are
trying
to
introduce
the
reader
to
someone.
∗
You
want
the
reader
to
have
a
strong
mental
image
of
the
person,
to
know
how
the
person
talks,
to
know
the
person's
characteristic
ways
of
doing
things,
to
know
something
about
the
person's
value
system.
∗ Character
sketches
only
give
snap
shots
of
people;
therefore,
you
should
not
try
to
write
a
history
of
the
person.