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Character Development

Definition

Character development refers to the process of creating and portraying realistic and dynamic characters in literature, particularly focusing on their growth, changes, and psychological insights throughout a story.

Analogy

Think of character development as building a Lego structure. Just like how you carefully put together each piece to create a complete and detailed structure, authors carefully construct their characters by adding layers and depth to their personalities, emotions, and motivations.

Related terms

Psychological Insight: Psychological insight is the understanding of a character's thoughts, feelings, motivations, and actions based on their psychological makeup. It provides deeper understanding into why characters behave or react in certain ways.

Dynamic Characters: Dynamic characters are literary figures who undergo significant changes or transformations during the course of a story. They evolve emotionally or psychologically from one state to another.

Realism: Realism is a literary style that seeks to depict events, settings, situations, and characters as they occur in everyday life. It focuses on presenting an accurate representation of reality without idealization or exaggeration.