Character writing tips while I avoid drawing

I'll try and keep this quick, but that never works, so adjust your expectations accordingly. 

Today, let's talk about insecurity! Insecurity is amazing. Not really, because it kind of sucks, but figure that almost everyone has insecurity at one point or another, and that makes it super useful as a writing tool.

Writing a full, well-rounded character means you know the good and bad things about them. They might be very skilled at something! But then maybe they're also kind of an asshole. Both those aspects need to live in one human, and maybe not super well. ("I'm at the top of my game, but I can't get hired because of my temper!!!") Figuring out what makes your character insecure is a great place to write from, because it informs so many of their actions afterwards. And insecurities aren't one-dimensional. You can be insecure about a lot of things in different amounts, so feel free to make your character a total disaster on the inside, regardless of what they're projecting outwardly.

Take, for example, a woman buying shoes. (This is our example because I used to sell shoes.) Some short women, like me, may have no issues buying flats. They may not like being super short, but the practicality of flats overrides that concern. Other women will INSIST on heels. All these heels are too short, don't you have anything taller? I'm very short, so I need TALL heels. Why don't you have anything taller than these?

I saw that a lot. "I'm short, so I need heels." It wasn't a question or a preference, but an obvious necessity. How does that insecurity amplify other actions in that woman's life? Does she drive a larger car because she feels small and scared on the road? Does she feel intimidated by her coworkers who tower over her, perhaps lending to the perception that they're unfairly getting ahead of her at work? 

That may all sound hyperbolic, but as a short person...they aren't! It's a big insecurity, not just for me, but a lot of very short people. It seems like a small issue, but it permeates other aspects of your life more than you might realize.

When you go to write a character, their insecurities should leak into their actions and personalities. You don't have to spell out what they're concerned about, but keeping those insecurities in mind can help inform a character's decisions, dialog, actions, etc.

For HTBAW, I actually see Elias as the most insecure. Malaya has her family, so her fears are largely internalized and she's dealing with them. She's not insecure as much as she is afraid. Elias is insecure. He's uncertain about his place in his family hierarchy as the second youngest. He feels dedicated to helping his mother, but also that his efforts don't do much net good, and that his identity is kind of subsumed by his "pack job", where as his other siblings are starting families or going to school (his little sister is very smart). He picks up on his mother's concerns that their pack is becoming too spread out and losing its power base, but he doesn't know how to help or change that. His dad has fucked off to somewhere, and he's ignoring the issue completely.

Is ANY of that in the story so far? Like, barely. A little here and there. You know he has siblings, if you paid attention, he mentions them once. He's kind of whiny about his mom putting him on probation. His mom has tried explaining some of the situation. But the cool thing is, I don't have to lay all that out to you at one time for those insecurities to have impact. I can spread those details out and let them add up to something. I can keep them on the back burner almost entirely, but they'll still inform his character as we go along. You'll still know he's insecure about various things, even if you don't have the whole picture. And hey, that insecurity leaks over into his crush on Vincent. (Elias's little sister is very smart, Vincent is very smart...he worries he can't live up to either of them and acts goofy to cover up his worry.)

Anyway, I hope that gives some insight! Obviously, not every character will have massive insecurities, but almost every character will have a few small ones. The trick as a writer is to identify where they're coming from and use them to inform how you write that character and their reactions.