The last piece in the Character puzzle is Attitude. You may wonder why attitude is included in the Appearance section. You can see what the character looks like. You can see where the character lives and how her living space is laid out and decorated. You can’t see an attitude. Or can you?

Attitude is the character’s consistent disposition or dominant impression. Say you’ve got a friend, Robbie. And he is Mr. Bad News. No matter what happens, he can put a negative spin on it. It could be your birthday and he’d mutter, “Another year gone that you’re never getting back.” He usually has a somber expression, more frown than anything. He walks slowly, his shoulders hunched as if waiting for someone to hit him. He squints a bit with a permanent crease between his eyes.

Do you see Robbie’s attitude? Yep, it’s Negativity. He exudes it in how he stands, walks, everything he says, even how he says it.

Figuring out your character’s attitude will give you a handle on how that character moves through each scene in your story. It gives you a starting place for what a character might say or do in response to the story events.

To select an attitude for your character, take a look at the character’s personality. Is there an element there that provides a dominant impression for your character? Perhaps her analytical tendencies have become a compulsion and she analyzes everything and everyone around her.

Look at your character’s history. What life events have shaped him and how does he feel about them? Did a bad childhood leave her with a timid disposition or a chip on her shoulder? Is the world her rose garden or is today just another ho hum day?

Find the attitude that your character wears day in and day out and use it to make your character memorable.

And this brings us to the end of the Character Creation Made Easy series. I hope you enjoyed it and found some tools that will help you create your next character.

Have a suggestion for a writing series you’d like to see? Leave me a note in the comments. I love a challenge!

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