ABSTRACT
To make characters believable, we must know them inside and out. That requires making choices about all their qualities, traits, and attributes, even those that aren’t necessarily relevant to the story. To that end, it’s helpful to break down a character into the five categories of Physical Presence, Persona, Psyche, Personality, and the Primary Motivating Factors. It is also important to know what accounts for a character’s moral disposition at the start of the story, so it’s helpful to create a character backstory that details the events that motivate a character’s want and need.
