An Essential Question to Ask When Writing Teenage Male Characters

What is his relationship with his dad?


Having taught teenagers for over a decade, I have noticed a deep truth with my male students. Their sense of self is deeply tied to their relationships with their dads. I know it sounds obvious, but I'm still surprised how frequently their fathers come up in them defining who they are. My female students talk more about their moms (often as a "best friend"), but don't seem to be as desperate for a connection to/define themselves through/etc. as much.

Even in the literature I teach, so many of the male characters are haunted (in Hamlet's case it's quite literal) by their fathers' wishes. 

As I've been thinking about this, I think I need to go back through all of my male characters (even minor ones) and really consider the backstory of their relationships with their fathers, and from here on out I want to do a quickwrite on that relationship when I create a character. I probably won't use any of the quickwrite, but I need to consider the question more deeply if I want to flesh out my male characters more. 

Some sub-questions to consider:
*Is his dad in his life?
*How often does he see his dad?
*How many minutes per day (on average) do they talk?
*How does his dad treat his mom?
*How does his dad treat women in general?
*Is his dad in a career he likes?
*Does his dad consider himself "successful"?
*Does he consider his dad "successful"?
*When is his dad most proud of him?
*Does his dad have any unfulfilled dreams he is putting on his son?
*Is his dad happy?
*When does he do his best bonding with his dad? What are they doing at the time?
*If his dad is not in the picture, who is the closest he has to a "father figure" and how do these questions relate to him?
*Is his dad religious? Political? 
*What does he see as the way he is similar to his dad?
*How does he differentiate himself from his father?
*Does he feel loved by his father?
*What does he desperately hope to do differently than his father? 
*What does the family name mean to him?

My dad, brothers, and husband at my wedding

Writer's Resource: Character Templates

Think about some of your favorite novels. Chances are, the really good ones, the ones that stay with you, feature very complex characters. They have reasons they act the way they do, and their emotional reactions change according to the situations the writer throws them into.

Katniss Everdeen: a great example of a complex character!

Okay, so we know it's important to have fully fleshed-out characters. But how do you keep track of all the little details? Maybe your main character starts to swear a lot when she gets nervous. Maybe she tears up easily or always checks her makeup when she thinks no one is looking. Maybe she hates boys with blond hair (or loves them!). And what about her past? Did she grow up in a loving family or an indifferent one? Did she have lots of friends or keep to herself?

A great way to keep track of all this stuff is with character templates.

If you use Scrivener (my writing software of choice), they're built right into the novel template (and it even lets you drag in image files!):

If you're not a Scrivener convert, you can also find lots of printable/save-able character templates on the web. Here are a few to try:

Downloadable Character Template from Litopia Writer's Colony

Character Profile from Suspense.net

Character Template Sheet by Rin Chupeco (especially good if you prefer tons of detail!)

Obviously you don't have to fill out every blank, but templates can be a good way to get you thinking about the little details that will flesh out your characters.