Age Your Main Character With This Checklist

While developing a story, forming a main character could either span across years or even a week. No matter how long you plan to progress your main character's adventure, there is no doubt that all writers are bound to run into the challenge of portraying the aging process and the consequences it comes with.

Highly acclaimed author Stephen King discusses the significance of elaborating on a character's age in order to create relatable and believable characters in On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. In this memoir, King outlines how age has the ability to shape a character's perspective, experiences, and responses to events, ultimately affecting their motivations and decisions.

Choosing an age for a main character in a story can be a taxing decision for writers; this decision holds significant consequences for only your story but also for character development.

In this blog post, we will explore valuable techniques and tips that will help you master the art of aging your main character and how it helps to resonate with readers.

Why Do You Need a Checklist?

When a writer inevitably chooses to age the main character, readers are granted the opportunity to intimately relate to the character's experiences as they navigate different obstacles. Aging is a natural part of life, and creating a main character who matures will make them more authentic and dimensional.

The Writer’s Digest preaches about how readers will immediately demand to know the protagonist’s sex, age, and level of sophistication in a story that is new to them so that they can relate to the character on an emotional level. It is evident that factors such as the sex, age, and status of sophistication of a protagonist have the ability to influence the plot and any conflicts they encounter.

A young and inexperienced character may face different challenges and growth opportunities compared to an older and more seasoned character. Understanding these factors allows you to craft a story that aligns with the character's traits and creates compelling conflicts. Understand a main character’s motivations and empathize with their experiences. This will add the depth a story needs to portray a character while also enriching your storytelling experience successfully.

Step One: Build Your Foundation

In order to accurately age a main character, it is crucial to establish a strong foundation. A well-built foundation will help to introduce specific qualities that are special to the character, like their personal goals or conflicts that they will run into throughout their journey of transformation. By creating a background that readers can refer to, the character's evolution will be seamless.

However, creating a secure backstory for a main character can be tricky, so it is imperative to ask yourself three questions when deciding how to display your main character's origin story.

Here are three key questions to consider:

1. Could your story use flashbacks?

Flashbacks provide context and background information about the character that readers otherwise would not have known. It allows readers to gain insights into the character's past experiences, motivations, and traumas that have shaped who they are in the present. It is sometimes necessary to use flashbacks to explore specific themes or motifs related to the character's backstory.

2. Does your dialogue indicate a specific timeline?

Your character can share stories or personal experiences that shed light on their past. These stories can reveal their upbringing, family dynamics, past relationships, or significant life events, providing valuable insights into their background. Not to mention how a specific accent or dialect could additionally indicate a specific background.

3. What are your main character’s mannerisms or emotional responses?

A character's mannerisms and emotional responses can be influenced by their upbringing. Their reactions to certain events could potentially trigger their coping mechanisms. They can indicate the impact of their background, such as growing up in a challenging environment or experiencing a significant loss.

By asking these questions, writers welcome the opportunity to explore the main character's history and behavior. By taking these crucial factors into account, you can create a well-rounded character that resonates with readers and drives the narrative of your story.

Step Two: Establish a Timeline

Time is usually a prominent element when storytelling. It is essential to find a way that will reflect any passage of time. There is no one-size-fits-all story timeline, but normally it can be shaped through changes in the character's physical appearance, an inner monologue, or modifications in their surroundings. Establishing a timeline is a fundamental aspect of storytelling and helps to maintain a fluid narrative structure. By articulating a sense of time, authors pace the plot, develop character arcs, and create suspense or dramatic tension. These subtle details can make a groundbreaking impact on the reader's point of view of the character's aging process.

Choosing a timeline will not only make a story's worldbuilding easier but also define the cultural, social, and technological aspects of the story's setting. A clear timeline enables readers to grasp the evolution of the story's world and understand how past events influence the present.

Not to mention, a timeline establishes a cause-and-effect relationship between different monumental or seemingly insignificant events in the story. Readers are able to connect how one event leads to another, unraveling the motivations behind character actions along with plot developments. By implementing a timeline, the story's fluidity becomes more casual, enhancing the reader's comprehension and anticipation of where the story goes.

Step Three: Reevaluate Relationships

Picture who your main character will call their best friend, guardian, or enemy. You may have yet to plan for the future of any side characters, but you should consider how each relationship will develop your main character.

Explore deeper emotions, vulnerabilities, and conflicts that the main character may inherit. Other characters may cause the main character to confront unresolved issues, which will lead to personal growth and emotional maturity. By examining their relationships, the character navigates struggles, makes choices, and learns valuable lessons that contribute to their overall aging throughout the story.

For example,

In the popular fantasy novel Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee exemplify undying loyalty and friendship. As Frodo carries the burden of the ring, Sam serves as his unquestionable companion, offering not only support but encouragement. Throughout their long journey, both characters help each other mature.

Reevaluating relationships shows readers that relationships are not static but subject to change. As any character matures, their interactions with family, friends, romantic partners, or antagonists may shift in response to their evolving goals, values, or life experiences.

Step Four: Face Challenges

When you began writing your story, you probably developed a central conflict. Whether you plan to write about one conflict or five, as you progress your story, it is vital to keep in mind how challenges could potentially mature your main character.

As we have all experienced, aging brings forth a range of challenges and inevitable losses. Show your readers that your main character is no exception and must face these hurdles and respond to them in a way that demonstrates their growth and resilience. In whatever way you think is best, portray their ability to adapt, learn from setbacks, and find new sources of motivation and purpose in the face of adversity. Challenges will not only progress your character’s maturity but, in turn, your story.

MasterClass reveals how there are two types of conflict. Internal conflicts revolve around a character's conflict from within themselves. This could boil down to moral dilemmas or self-doubt. Internal conflicts showcase to readers the character's possible inner struggles, doubts, fears, and desires. External conflicts propel a character against an outside force. To be specific, an external force could include another character, society, or nature. It involves a struggle or opposition that the character must face and overcome in order to achieve their goals or resolve the conflict.

By ensuring to incorporate both external and internal conflicts, authors can articulate a dynamic story that matures the main character. Through the process of facing and resolving challenges, the main character is bound to undergo transformation.

Facing a daunting challenge will not only satisfy your character but your readers as well. When characters conquer obstacles or even attempt to, it invokes a sense of relatability, and emotional investment, generates tension and theme exploration, and provides a sense of fulfillment for readers. You want your readers to embark on an engaging and transformative journey alongside the main character, so give them a more satisfying and memorable reading experience by implementing conflicts that your main character matures from.

Enrich Your Story

The task of aging a main character in a story is difficult yet necessary for the progression of your story. By implementing these techniques, you can create a dynamic and relatable protagonist whose journey spans the test of time. Remember to establish a strong foundation, incorporate the passage of time, explore relationships, and embrace the challenges and losses that come with aging.

With careful attention to these elements, you will bring depth, authenticity, and emotional resonance to your main character's aging process, captivating readers and immersing them in an unforgettable story.

Ready to skillfully age your main character and create a memorable tale? Use this comprehensive checklist to guide you through the complex process.