At long last, dear faelings, the time has come to discuss the final part of character development. I know, I know, it's a sad moment indeed. 

But think how far you've come! We've walked through the beginnings of your character, her likes and vices, her mental state, etc. By now you should have a pretty strong character, but there's just one thing we need to discuss. 

Her relationship with family and friends. 

That's right, just in time for the holidays. We're going to get into the nitty-gritty of how your character deals with living and deceased relatives. In some cases, a dead relative might still play an influence in your character's life, whether it's through a traumatic experience that happened, or wisdom that lives on in your character. Either way, this can give you a good look into the complex relationships your character has with family, how that affects day-to-day relationships, and it might introduce a backstory (or an unknown sibling) that your character didn't realize they had. 

Character Relationships:

Parents: So many times, we see the mother or father killed off in a story, or the child is orphaned before the book even begins. Let's say your character has parents. Who are they? What part do they play in the story? And what kind of parents are they? 

Relationship with them: Beware the death glare. What's your character's relationship with his parents? Strained? Are they close? Does he visit them weekly? Does he roll his eyes when they send letters to him? Are they overbearing and feel they need to stick their noses in the character's life? Has one of the parents died, leaving the other a single parent? How has your character and the remaining parental figure dealt with the loss? Were the parents abusive at all? However the parents treated/treat your character can influence how the character treats future children how he acts in a parental role. 

Siblings: Does your character have siblings? What's your character's birth order vs character's pecking order? This is a fun way to keep family in the book by having an older or younger sibling hanging around. 

Relationship with each: Your character is likely going to have a different relationship with each sibling. Some might be the nurturing type, while others might hide beneath your character's bed and grab his wrist in the middle of the night to send him screaming from the room. No experience there...How does your character interact with them? Is he likely to go to them for help? Are the relationships strained? Did something happen that either split them apart or brought them closer? Does one sibling feel like the favorite when it comes to the parents? Would your character die for a sibling or would he be the one to push the sibling in front of a train? We want to know! 

Aunt/Uncle/Grandmother/Grandfather/Additional Family: At most we usually see a grandfather or grandmother figure, but some stories do still have aunts/uncles (Big Hero 6 and Spiderman to name two). So, if there's a reason for the additional family members in the story, why are they there? 

Relationships with each: How does your character relate with his other family members? Are the grandparents wisdom-bearers? Does he have the fun or crazy aunt and uncle who helps him through the tough parts of the story? Are there abusive family members who your character would rather never see again? Is he close to any of them? Is he distant? Can he go to them for support? Was your character raised by another family member because the parents were out of the picture? What's their job? 

Romantic Partner: This is the person (or persons) your character has chosen to love. Whether the relationship is m/f, m/m, f/f, nb/nb, polyamory, etc, it's important to identify your character's romantic partner in the story if it's necessary. This could also have to do with a long-lost love, a high school sweetheart, or a deceased lover. 

Relationship with him/her: It's complicated. In love. Taking a break. Broken up. Married. Widowed. Whatever the relationship with your character's partner, we want to know about it. And it's not just social status that you should show us. How are they together? Is one more dominant and the other submissive? Are they equals in the relationship? Is one abusive whether emotionally or physically? Do they enjoy playing pranks on each other? How do they act around the family? Does their partner have an issue with your character's friends or family? These are all little tidbits that can not only help you develop your character, but also bring in another fleshed-out character to play off of them.  

Children/Grandchildren: Does your character have any children? How many? Boys, girls, genderfluid, etc? Live at home, off to college, or have a family of their own? Are grandchildren in the picture? 

Relationship with them: Adding children into the story can definitely spice up your character's life. Just...don't forget about them. If your character has a daughter at the beginning of the book, make sure she either plays a part, has a babysitter, or STILL exists by the end of the story. There are many dynamics you can work with here. Does your character have a favorite child? Is he grooming one to take over the family? Is one child troublesome and the other an angel? Does one have aggression issues or cling to mother over father? Does the kid get captured in the story at all? Has your character lost a child, and how is he coping with that? Overall, what kind of relationship does the character have with the kids, and does it play a major role? 

Best friend: Face it, we all have that one best friend who can get us through anything, so likely your character has one too, as well as a partner-in-crime. 

Relationship with him/her: What's their relationship like? Are they calm and collected? Are they laughing at each other's mistakes and trying to make fun of one another? Will the best friend bail your character out of jail, or be in there with her? Can they trust each other to get the other out of a jam? Is one always covering for the other? What is your character willing to do for her best friend? Did they grow up together? Did a situation in life bring them together like a tragedy or just a funny circumstance? Does the best friend play a big role in your character's life and in the story? 

Close friends: They might not be best friends. In fact, they might only be work buddies, but you can still call them close friends.

Relationship with him/her: What sets the close friends apart from the best friends? Are they the token side characters who helps out? Are they there for you at any moment or willing to bail you out of jail? Will they go on the long adventure with you to throw a ring in a volcano? How did they all meet? Childhood friendship or was it situational? 

Pets: Sometimes your character might have a pet in the story, and that pet can play an important role. 

Relationship with each: (I know, I know, I keep hitting the feels). What's the relationship between your character and pet? How many does he have? Does he have a favorite? Was the pet given to him during childhood? Did he rescue the pet? Did the pet rescue him? Is the pet a therapy animal? Is he more of a sidekick? Just a reminder, if you introduce a pet in the story, make sure that it still exists at the end. 

Worst Enemy: You may call this the villain of the story. Each story has one, and it's important that you know your character's relationship with the person.

Relationship with him/her: So the most important question, is the enemy trying to kill your character and why? What created enmity between them? Is this something that can be rectified over the years? Have they always been enemies or were they once friends? Is your character's enemy a family member? Has this recently developed? Is the enemy trying to take over the world or just trying to ruin your character's life? Does the enemy know he's the enemy or does he think he's in the right? This is a very complex relationship that you want to make sure you do right, otherwise you might end up diminishing the plot. 

Phew! 

And there you have it, faelings! These are just some of the many relationships you can explore when writing your characters. Doing this helps you create a cast and a character's backstory as well, because it's likely these people are going to show up at some point in your character's life. 

I'm sad to say, we've come to the end of our character development talk. 

However! 

If there is anything that I've missed that you would like me to discuss, or any tidbits you'd like to include below, please feel free to comment! If there are topics you are interested in, share those with us, too! We're here to help! 

Happy writing, everyone!