In this chapter, we will explore static characters, dynamic characters, and character motivations. Under character motivations, we’ll go over developing backstory and creating present goals, both of which are important when rounding out character development.
11a: Static Characters:
A static character is a character that does not really grow, change, or develop throughout your story. Static characters are not necessarily bad; they are often the main characters in series about heroes or heroines where the focus is not the character’s personal growth, but the adventures they have.
Here are some examples of static characters:
Urthok is a barbarian shaman of the Pulthak tribe. He travels throughout various strange countries and cities, plying both his wisdom and his might to the peoples he meets, helping those who need it most (Urthok’s goals never change, so he remains a static character throughout this series of short stories).
Miranda is an up-and-coming defense attorney who wants to help those wrongfully accused. She solves mysteries while defending her clients in lost-cause cases (Like Urthok, Miranda’s goals do not change, though she may learn a little from case to case about the legal system. However, her education in how things work does not really constitute a dynamic character).
Miles is a hardened detective who has seen better days. He uses his sharp wits and keen intellect to track down missing persons, particularly children (Miles’ adventures are more about the people he meets, the abductors, and the trials and tribulations of the people he rescues, not Miles himself, so he doesn’t really grow as a person).
Static characters work best when they’re not the focus of the story you want to tell. Sometimes, your story is about everything else rather than your main character or protagonist.
11b: Dynamic Characters:
Dynamic characters change throughout your story, usually by learning something, changing how they view other people, or changing how they view themselves. Their personalities, goals, beliefs, or behaviors shift over time, usually for the better, but this change can be for better or worse depending upon how you wish to write the character.
Here are some examples of dynamic characters:
Nalli is a high school freshman who eats, breathes, and sleeps playing softball. After she injures her knees in an accident, she is convinced by her mother to change her sport to something else. Her mother signs Nalli up for bowling, and the young woman reluctantly agrees to participate. Nalli ends up loving the game of bowling, and she goes on to enter her first tournament (This type of story focuses on the mental and emotional change that Nalli goes through as she is forced to abandon her passion for softball and discover a new interest in bowling).
Jarrel has left the front lines as a soldier to return to society at large. He comes home to a big welcome from his family, but now he must adjust to family life while dealing with his wartime post-traumatic stress (Jarrel changes throughout the story as he integrates back into civilian life).
Merrill is a noble who lives a sheltered life within the safety of the palace walls. As an inquisitive teenage girl, she sneaks out and learns that there is a huge section of the city living in squalor and poverty (Merrill will change if she decides to help the poor of her kingdom. If she does nothing, she remains a static character).
Remember that dynamic characters must change as the story progresses. If your character learns nothing in the process of the story, then they’re a static character. Stories with dynamic main characters and protagonists typically focus on the character at hand and what that character goes through during the learning process.
It’s okay to have a mix of dynamic and static characters as long as it works for your story. As the artist and architect of what goes on, you’re ultimately in charge of how your characters develop.
11c: Character Motivations:
Your characters’ motivations are some of the most important things to consider when creating your story. You can avoid plot holes and other writer’s traps by understanding whether or not your character would take a particular action in any given situation.
I have a background in psychology (unfortunately), so character depth is something I know well. Whether your character is static or dynamic, your character’s motivations should be fully mapped out for a novel and at least partially understood for a short story.
In this little section, we’ll go over developing backstory and creating present goals.
11d: Developing Backstory:
Giving history to your important characters helps tremendously when detailing those characters’ present motivations. There are many, many people online who make original characters with backstories, yet they do nothing with those characters, or the backstory is just window dressing. When creating your original character, you should fully plot out what drives your character’s needs, wants, and goals.
You should start with four things: upbringing, trauma, training/practice/talent, and likes/dislikes.
11d1: Upbringing:
Your character’s upbringing is important in understanding their current goals. Did your character live a middle-class childhood with loving/supportive parents?…or was your character impoverished with abusive/neglectful parents? Was your character the opposite, with a middle-class childhood and abusive/neglectful parents? Did your character have an impoverished childhood with loving/supportive parents? Was your character rich and dealing with everything that comes with a wealthy life?
As you can see, these kinds of questions help flesh out your character for later plot interaction.
Here are a couple of examples of character backgrounds:
Karma is a young woman in her late teens. She just graduated high school. She has two new-age parents who raised her in a middle-class home. Her parents were loving and supportive, though Karma does not always agree with their new-age methods or political beliefs (Adding some “flavor” to your character’s upbringing allows further exploration of your character’s depth later on. In this example, Karma doesn’t exactly agree with her parents’ beliefs about life or society).
Perival is a young squire under the tutelage of Sir Gauston. Sir Gauston took in Perival after the young man’s parents, serfs on Sir Gauston’s land, died of the plague. Perival sees Sir Gauston as his hero (The additional information here is that Perival sees Sir Gauston as his role model. Perival’s parents died when he was a child, but we’ll get to trauma in a bit).
Writing a background note about upbringing, even a single paragraph, will save you some trouble later on when thinking about your original character’s motivations.
11d2: Trauma:
Nearly everyone has some sort of trauma, pain, hardship, or terrible moment that happened to them at some point. This trauma colors their worldview, so think wisely about what you want that terrible point in their life to be. Of course, you don’t have to mention or take into account every bad time your character has faced, but remember that people who have not first faced adversity will not know how to face it later on, or at least, their reactions to it will be an unknown variable.
Here are some examples of character background trauma:
Karma doesn’t particularly like her name. The kids at school bullied her for it, and she was a social outcast for some time. Growing up in a small rural town, the local children also bullied Karma for her parents’ new-age beliefs (We’ve added some more backstory from her upbringing here to show why Karma doesn’t particularly like her parents’ lifestyle).
Perival’s parents died of the plague when he was only eight. He watched both of his parents grow ill and die, and there was nothing he could do about it (Now that we understand more of Perival’s backstory, we can tell why he would see Sir Gauston as his own personal hero).
Trauma adds additional hang-ups and/or motivations for your character. These trauma-induced events will help determine how your character reacts to similar situations and how your character interacts with people who are in similar situations.
11d3: Training/Practice/Talent:
What is your character good at? What has your character done in their life that sets them apart from others? That’s where training, practice, and talent come in. Real people tend to be good at one or two things because those things are where their attention is focused. The same can be said about your original character. Think about what skills your character is best at, and write those down in a backstory note.
Here are some examples of character training/practice/talent:
Karma is creative and always has been. She likes to sketch realistic, non-modern art. She is really good at sketching detailed pictures of buildings (Now we have a good, solid skill for Karma to have, and we can further flesh out her character with this particular talent).
Perival has been trained by Sir Gauston in swordplay and horseback riding since he was eight. As a squire, he has learned heraldry and the proper care and maintenance of Sir Gauston’s weapons and armor (Perival is learning to be a knight, although he will have to earn that title, as he was not born into a noble family. Sir Gauston could have trained Perival to be a servant, but he took in Perival as a squire, something normally out of a serf’s reach. Like Karma’s backstory, Perival’s training further fleshes out his character).
Your character’s training, practice, or talent is important for the start of your story, or it could be the main part of your story. Your story could revolve around your character’s learning process while going through some type of education. The choice is up to you.
11d4: Likes/Dislikes:
Your character will have certain likes and/or dislikes depending upon their upbringing. Often, these little motivations will coincide with their upbringing, training, and trauma, but they don’t have to.
Here are some examples of character likes and dislikes:
Karma likes to sketch buildings because she avoids modern art or anything “fantastic” due to her bullied past. She wants to avoid being like her parents, and she dislikes anything “chic” or “popular” (Karma’s likes/dislikes are pretty easy to coordinate now that we know her backstory).
Perival enjoys swordplay the most, but he dislikes maintaining equipment, though he does it anyway. He goes into a dark mood whenever there are rumors of plague (Perival’s likes/dislikes directly match his training and trauma).
Detailing your character’s likes and dislikes last helps round out their backstory. You can detail these first, but you won’t know why your character likes or dislikes something, so finishing with these details is much easier when you have all of your background information at hand.
These likes and dislikes can start whole new plotlines for you, and they’re a great way for your readers to truly relate to your original character.
11e: Creating Present Goals:
Last but not least, we’ll touch on creating present goals. Your character’s present goals reflect who they are as a person, and more importantly, now that we have their backstory created, their present goals should be easy for you to detail.
A character’s present goals should be set before your plot begins. That way, you already know what your character would do within any given situation. Creating your character’s current goals is not difficult, though you may decide that your character has many goals, not just one or a few.
Here are some examples of present character goals:
Karma has enrolled in college and wants to study art, possibly architecture. She is not concerned with relationships right now but is focusing on developing her own unique talent. She loves her parents, but she can’t wait to move out of their house (Karma’s goals are pretty clear, and they mirror her earlier backstory).
Perival wants to be like Sir Gauston, but he also wants to become a knight in order to own his own land. He plans on treating his serfs with the respect that Sir Gauston has shown to him. One day, he may even take a young boy under his own wing (Perival’s backstory ensures that he will strive to match Sir Gauston’s honor).
11f: In Closing:
Character development not only helps create an interesting and fully fleshed-out character, it helps set your exposition for you before you even write any exposition. Remember, whether your character is static or dynamic, when you put an actual background and personality traits into your original character, you make that character a recognizable person your readers can understand, relate to, or sympathize with.
The Quick and Easy Guide to Writing Genre Fiction Copyright 1st ed. © 2022 Matthew L. Marlott
TQ&EGtWGF: Chapter 11…Character Development Copyright © 2026 bloodytwine.com Matthew L. Marlott
The image for Chapter 11 of TQ&EGtWGF was generated by artificial intelligence courtesy of OpenAI.
