When I am writing, one thing I like to do is figure out the mental status of my characters. I like to look at who they are their weaknesses and strengths and how the situation can affect their mental status. The mental status of the character I like it to be relatable as well as something real. I also like looking at how someone’s mental status can affect their behavior.
How do I look at their mental status? Well after I know what the situation is I look at all possible outcomes of how a person could react. An example is if a person was raped, what are the possible reaction to this event. What are the after-effects in the person’s behavior? Once I have this question answered, I look at who my character is and make a decision on what kind of outcome I want, which relates to the character’s behavior. I do not like creating a reaction that does not fit my character. I find it important that the mental status of the character fits what they would do. Such as you would not have a depressive person go into a situation being opposite to being depressive. That would not fit the mental status of the character.
What do you do when building a character?
