Character Equation Three: Steal Distinctiveness from Referents You Know

Once again we ask: Is creating a worthy character an impossible task? And, again we respond: of course not! Here is the last bit of our basic ingredients. Remember, these past three blogs presume an underlying truth, namely that fictional beings are not unlike actual people. The primary goal, as always, is that readers must relate to them as if they were made of flesh and blood. Past that, they have to be interesting, more on that to come in future posts.

To jump start this process, Bardsy has developed a three ingredient Character Equation, which our freshly published guide, Publishable Characters: A Complete Guide With Tests & Comprehensive Developer, presents in full. This equation presents a two-part recipe that will produce an irresistible being, a main character that prompts the deep empathy that turns good novels into great ones. These two parts are finding the ingredients and the second part is blending.

Looking back, here's the first ingredient: first ingredient: Parts of You. And from from the last post, the second ingredient: Cultural Universals. This week's covers the third ingredient: Distinctive Referents, which steal from others. Also, don't forget our Comprehensive Character Developer, a way to build your characters online.

We've previously talked about using yourself in character creation and drawing on the cultural knowledge of your readers. Another great way to create a compelling character is to keep a sharp eye for those around you. Both fictitious and real, the people in your life are filled to the brim with unique traits and qualities that can be adapted into your own characters. With a little observation, you can find inspiration in just about anyone!

A referent is a person you know well (real or fictional) whose personality, habits, or emotional patterns you can borrow from. It is essentially creative recycling. You're not copying someone directly onto the page, but rather dissecting them, picking through parts like a vulture, and choosing what to incorporate into your character. Yes, it sounds macabre, but it's incredibly effective.

This character-creating approach builds on the classic "write what you know" advice, as the first part of the Comprehensive Character Developer does. When you understand how someone truly thinks or reacts, you can translate that authenticity into your writing on behalf of your characters. Be sure to stay specific. Take only the pieces you need. And be sure to set boundaries on what you take, just as you would when drawing from yourself.

To put this into practice, select someone with an interesting trait and examine how it influences their worldview and behavior. Think: how does that one quality ripple through their life? How does it impact their choices, their tone, their body language? Observing these natural connections removes the guesswork.

For example, Albert Einstein is a cultural icon for genius. His name conjures chalkboards of equations, the theory of relativity, and wild, unruly hair. Yet these traits are not true referents. A referent requires closeness and understanding that transcends beyond cultural understanding. We recognize Einstein's messy hair but know little why it looked that way. Compare this to a close friend. You've seen their good and bad hair days, know how much they care about their appearance, and understand how their hair impacts their confidence. That level of familiarity, that grasp on someone's lived reality, defines a true referent.

The point isn't to analyze and then invent explanations. Referents let you borrow rather than figure out. Take a full slice of the person you know and implant it into your character. That piece already carries individuality; you don't need to manufacture it.

Using referents creates authenticity because you're using a fully realized human as your donor. The closer and more direct your experience is with the referent, the richer the material. But it's not really stealing! Think of it like grafting a fruit tree branch. The scion must be precisely cut, carefully matched, and blended so that it grows naturally. It's science!

Our best advice? Start small. Practice with one trait at a time, then experiment with combining features from multiple people to create complex hybrids. And before you know it, you'll have a whole orchard of unique fruit thriving in your garden.

Be sure you don't simply tack on surface level quirks. The grab should be wide and deep and something meaningful. Think of a character who compulsively washes their hands. Over the course of a novel, frequently writing about their search for a nearby sink would be cringeworthy, repetitive, and downright tiresome. Instead, dig towards the root—germaphobia, in this case— and show how that fear shapes their choices, impacts their relationships, and guides their routine across the length of your story. A well chosen trait should permeate through action, manifesting through behavior, and ideally, help push the plot forward.

Be sure to look for traits with high psychological leverage. Those small things that change everything. Immediate family and close friends are your best sources, even if they don't know it. Well documented historical figures or detailed fictional characters can be useful too. The better you know your referent, the cleaner the graft, and the more believable your character will be.

Observation and transformation are your best partners-in-crime for building authentic characters and stealing from those around you. Referents give you a blueprint for believable traits and emotional truth. By studying how real (or fictional) people think, react, evolve, you can infuse your characters with that same juicy depth. So the next time you find yourself stuck writing a flat character, don't reach for random detail. Look around you. Someone you already know may have the perfect fragment of humanity for your next creation.

Try it and you'll see that grasping referents is simpler than it sounds. Remember, the best way to create vivid, believable characters is not only with pieces of you and cultural universals, but with those around you, too. Draw from their quirks, contradictions, and small truths. When your understanding deepens, your referents sharpen, and your characters begin to come to life.

Use our Comprehensive Character Developer, to construct your being online for an extra boost. It produces a downloadable character sheet pdf. And stay tuned for the next step in this two part process: blending.