Morality vs Personality (Writing Compelling Characters)

A lot of my inspiration for writing blog posts comes from my observations of storytelling in media. I'm noticing an unfortunate pattern continuing like a domino sequence. This consistent display of characters not being written compellingly. The adjective word compelling is defined as evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way.

But there’s a lot of resistance in connecting with current characters in modern mediums of film, shows, comics, and probably novels. This could be for various reasons—from pandering politics to inhuman individuals—but I think the main problem is that a character’s morality and personality are being confused or just neglected in establishing. So, I’m offering some tips for crafting compelling characters.

Personality

When imagining the fictional beings in your story, it helps to extract inspiration from yourself or your social groups. A personality is something you, as well as your character, are inherently born with. Of course, your character’s personality can change from trauma—which I discussed with Angela Ackerman in this podcast episode. However, trauma, or reactions to it like coping mechanisms, is not a personality trait. Mental illness isn’t a personality trait either.

Molding a personality for your character includes factors like their preferences, perspectives, and passions. Whether more introverted or extroverted, more logical or emotional, more realistic or idealistic, more structured or chaotic—these are the types of traits to apply to your character’s disposition. A personality is neither bad or good, but it is complex. There should be a paradox in your fictional beings’ personality. You cultivate powerfully written characters through nuance.

Nonetheless, being multifaceted doesn’t mean being a full contradiction. Consistency in behavior of your character is important. When I say paradox, for example, it would mean your character is introverted but enjoys partying. Or maybe they think logically but react emotionally towards loved ones. There should be layers of your imaginary figure just like yourself. I recommend listening to podcasts or reading books about personalities and psychology. The more you’re aware of other people’s depth, the more likely you are to create profound archetypes and stories.

Morality

There seems to be a vast confusion of someone’s morality versus their personality. For example, a serial killer can be charming or gentle, but also murder people. Writers nowadays excuse the serial killer’s immorality because they’re gentle or mentally ill. This mentality within storytellers is causing a ripple effect of immoral persons being defended for their despicable actions. On the flip side, certain contemporary characters barely have a personality and lack moral convictions. These are (sometimes) characters lacking initiative and the plot (really writer) directing their story.

A person’s personality doesn’t influence their morality or vice versa. But both are important in establishing and committing to crafting a fascinating fictional being. Also, a protagonist could make an immoral decision and an antagonist could make a moral decision. Because again, it’s important to portray paradoxes within your characters. But also again, there should still be an underlining reliable morality for your archetype even if they surprise the reader sometimes.

Writing characters comes down to the story you want to tell of them. There’s some advice that’s subjective yet, I believe certain tips like this blog post is objective enough and should be considered. From my observations, there’s been a downgrade of depth within fictional characters and a confusion of the craft. So, I hope this post inspires and dares you to be more nuance in your writing.