Creating a Character’s Morality

What makes a character moral? Is it the values he holds, the desires she has, or the choices he makes? Is it all three? Sometimes in our struggle to create a realistic character, the illusion breaks down in the area of morality because we want the character to do riskier or more exciting things than they might actually do. We want the story to be bold and destructive, so we make the characters say bold and destructive things. We want things to end with a bang, so we have a story end with violence even though the character would never really become so dangerous and hurtful.

So how can a story be exciting, but still filled with realistic characters? It’s important to develop your character’s moral sense fully. We may not need to know what sandwich your character eats or what car he drives, but we do need to know very well how he would behave when his morals are being tested.

The values he holds

This is our first standard for a person’s morality — the way a person chooses to present himself to the world, what “teams” he has publicly joined. We need to have a strong sense of what groups of which your character would count himself a member. Some people feel strongly about a political issue, for example, but don’t worry about community service too much. Some are the reverse; some are another variation on team-joining entirely. Make sure you give us a sense of what groups your character belongs to.

After the jump: more ways to define your character’s morality.

The desires she has

Another part of life that we ascribe very strongly to morality is a person’s desires and the way he or she wants the world or him or herself to be. Does your character have untapped sensual desires? A vision of what her perfect world would look like? A guilty desire of some sort? A wish for vengeance or violence? Desire is very much wrapped up with our moral sense because it indicates what we think is just and what we believe we deserve.

The choices he makes

In my opinion, choices are the most important part of any character’s morality. No matter what thoughts we have or what banners we wave, it all comes down to what we ultimately choose to do when tested. Make sure your character has a moment of testing, a time when it’s difficult to make the right choice, either because it will come at a cost or the right choice is unclear. These moments are what we read for, so don’t forget them! Your character will seem hollow and uninteresting if we don’t see him struggling with the same moral choices that we wrestle with every day.