𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 ━━ 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴

⠀⠀²⁷ creating depth & development

     ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ This section is inspired by an article from Katie Ganshert. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.

          ❝ 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁. 𝗧𝘄𝗼-𝗱𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹. 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀. ❞

          How many times have you heard this about your work or someone else's? How many times have we thought this about somebody else's? How many times have we secretly wondered, "What in the heck is a three-dimensional character, anyway?"

          I mean, sure. We know in theory. And we know when we find one. It's a character brought to life. A character that lives and breathes on the page. But how do we do that?

          Down below are the three dimensions defined that create a three-dimensional character.

━━ 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧-𝗗𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡: "The first dimension is anything we can see."

           ➳❥ 𝙁𝙐𝙍𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙀. . . "The character's looks, style choices, quirks, mannerisms, speech patterns, etc. Basically, this is how the character looks and how the character acts. It's surface stuff. Sometimes it hints at who the character truly is. And sometimes it's all just a smokescreen. Something to cover up what's lurking inside."

━━ 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗-𝗗𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡: "The second dimension is backstory."

           ➳❥ 𝙁𝙐𝙍𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙀. . . "The character's past. Family of origin. Childhood memories. Where he grew up. How he grew up. Disappointments. Failures. Accomplishments. Fears. Inner demons and insecurities. Basically, anything that happened before the story that makes your character who he is today."

━━ 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗗-𝗗𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡: "The third dimension is the character's choices."

           ➳❥ 𝙁𝙐𝙍𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙀. . . "This is who the character truly is. True character emerges, eventually, through a character's choices when something is at stake... ...who that person really is, at their core, is the stuff that resides at the heart of the third dimension of character."

     ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑? ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ This section is inspired by AutoCrit and Liternauts. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.

          So, what is a flat character, exactly?

          Indiana Jones. Sherlock Holmes. Juliet Capulet. None of these could be accused of being flat.

          "The dream of every writer is to create a character that is so real — so believable — they take on a life of their own. From a commercial perspective, a great character will drive demand for more stories with that character in them. From a personal perspective, imagine how it would feel to create a fictional character in which people get so emotionally invested that they spawn fan art and fan fiction, and tourists flock to see where they 'lived.'