Building Better: Brooding Characters
Good day, reader! Thank you for dropping by my blog!
Today, I will be going over one of my favorite--if done well--character tropes: The brooding character. I love that transition from cold and indifferent to warm and caring for that one person that touched their heart.
*dreamy sigh*
When I said broody character, I bet most of you out there imagined a strong, tall guy (at least 6'2"), jet black hair, strong, sharp jaw, dark eyelashes, slight stubble across the face, etc. He's cold. He's mysterious. He's calculating. He has a bad past. Someone close to him died. You can fill this sentence with the name of thousands—if not millions—of broody characters. The trick is to stand out—to make a good one.
Character Development is Key.
It is crucial to show development—especially if it's slow. If your character is mysterious, keep him that way! Don't let him tell his entire life story to the first girl (specifically the main character) he meets within the first day! Save it for later. Although, like looking at an iceberg, it is perfectly acceptable to hint at what lies beneath his stone walls.
I haven't seen a well-done broody character in a short novella before. That's not saying it can't happen, I'm just saying it's hard to pull it off. These guys (and sometimes girls) take a lot of character development to thaw out their icy exterior, and that usually means having a lot of space for all that character development.
A bad attitude does not always mean a broody character.
A lot of writers get it into their head that mysterious characters like this have to have a bad case of the 'tude. That's not always true. In some cases this is fine to do! I'm not saying don't start them off as a jerk--just keep in mind that there are other options for their personality.
Give everything a reality check. Are they broody and mysterious for the sake of being broody and mysterious? Or were they once happy, cordial, welcoming, warm, etc., only to have everything that brought them joy ripped away from them by a horrible tragedy? Give them a reason. Remember, they are people. They need a story, a personality, a dream, a fear, a goal, a setback, and the list goes on and on. They need to be fully fleshed-out just like any other characters, and maybe even more so for these guys!
If you want your broody character to thaw out, give them a reason. Why are they just now choosing to be warmer? Why wouldn't they do it previously? What makes them change? If they're really a cold-hearted cynic, it's doubtful that a pretty face will change that right off the bat, so what is it truly?
Here are some steps that I use for my own characters. Maybe they'll help you out!
Introduction. Make sure you show them how they want everyone to think they are. This can mean giving them a jerkish and I-don't-care attitude, or they could be cold and calculating, or maybe they're the sort of broody that hides behind jokes, (Keefe Sencen, anybody? 😍) or whatever. Get creative!
Get to know the character. Familiarize him or her with the other character(s)! Unravel their personality.
Make the mc (or whoever is supposed to get close to the broody character) and this character suffer together. Or find another way for them to get close.
After a while, feel free to drop clues to their past/true self.
Annnd there you go. Again, they require basic character development, just like any other character. The only thing that makes them different is their past and present, so in truth, it all boils down to backstory. Their past is what makes them who they are!
Now go forth and WRITE!!
In Christ alone,
Daisy Torres 🌼
