That happens to me a lot too. I used to not make a personality for them and just think up one as I go but that did not work very well because the characters ended up acting like me in personalitys. So now I make a list of characters with names, ages, what they like, what they do not like, and what they look like. So for now when I need a character with personality I go to my list (which I am always adding to) and I find the character I need. Maybe you should try that. And of course keep on practicing writng.

Top ity top top top!

Yes, that happens to me alot. In fact, in some of the RP's, I have characters that end up with different personalities. (Gloria is different from how I wanted her to be, but its still working out.) Sometimes when the personality changes, the story ends up better than it would have been if you continued with the same personality you started wih.

Ashlee's idea is a great way to keep personalities straight, although it doesn't always work with some people. In a book I read about writing, it suggests having a character interview. What you do, is sit on your bed (or another comfy place) and imagine your character is sitting across from you. Ask him or her some questions like...

Where do you go when you are upset?

If a friend were to describe you in three words, what would they be?

Who is in your family?

How do you act when you are excited/mad/angry/wishful/sad?

...and so on. Then, you'll get to know your character better. The author also suggested to put yourself in your character's shoes before you write. In other words review in your head the character interview. Imagine him or her. In some cases, it helps if you wear a hat or a certain pair of shoes or slippers to remind you that you are not yourself, you are your character.

I hope that helps, but you have to find what works best for you.

Thanks guys! *Looks back at droning, lifeless, main character of new comic* Okay, I still need to work on him. *More lifeless characters* And them too. Aagh! Yes, I'm trying to make you all have a separate personality, okay?! Don't... no! Don't eat that! That's the mouse!

My characters often start out with one personality and end up as a carricature (aka Sonny and Leota, who I swear are still floating around my consciousness).  I have however, gotten some really good characters, like Lucky from the Kingdom Keepers roleplay I'm in, who I wrote to originally be cynical because of her backstory, but is softening up as she is exposed to more Disney and actually making a friend in BHR's charrie Sabrina instead of being an outsider.  I think the best way to give a personality is to take their backstory and where they're going and think of what kind of person could go through this experience and make a good story.  Like with Lucky, she has so much bad luck (her nickname's meant to be ironic) that she starts really cynical and with maybe a nice facade but a slightly icy inside.  Then, in the end, I'm planning for her to be a Kingdom Keeper, which basically means she fights Disney villains, so I know, in the end, she has to kind of believe in magic and stuff, so I need her a little less cynical, hence the softening up.  

That probably made no sense but that's the most coherent I can get right now because it's kind of late here.  Also, looking back on the RP Lucky is in, she started out less cynical than I made her sound in this, but I think that the contrast in this illustrates my point better, if there was even a point in here somewhere.  I don't know.  I can't think.  I'm going to go sleep.  I'll be right back. 

Right *cracks knuckles* This is my area of expertise.

Personalities are tricky - anybody who has ever written anything knows that. It's especially tricky to nail down a character's personality - especially the main character's - if you don't have a good idea of how you want them to affect their story from the get-go.

The characters make the story. Nobody really wants to read a thing about a person who just has things happen to them. Some people have pulled this off, though, and it's okay, but for the most part you want your characters to happen to the story instead of the other way around. The best way to have a personality that really keeps readers invested in your story is to think about how a person would have to react to make certain events come about. It can't be all on the main character, however, because lots of other factors have to come into play to bring about the conclusion to your story.

As for keeping it going, you might not have your characters as 3D as you may need to keep them fresh and relevant in your mind. I suggest writing up a personality profile (I found a good one in the resources section of the YWP website, actually). Keep it in mind whenever you write a scene with that character. Live them (unless they are psychopathic murderers like Hannibal or Moriarty. Then don't).

Just remember, you can always go back through to hunt down inconsistencies!

Yava: bpgc

--L 

Hi, Theo!  You might want to look at some of your friends and use some of their personality traits in your character.

Also, there's this great book called Spilling Ink that has some tips on character development.  I think there's a thread about it in Blab About Books.

Spaminator says gzid.  Gizzards? Gross!

Yes! I can never get my characters with enough personality, either! My sister rocks at it, but I just can't. I think I'm always afraid I'll make them have too much of one kind of personality. Which is my biographical characters work really well for me. In the book I'm writing now in which my characters are pretty evil, they have a very very very hard-core evilness.

To quote what a couple of people have said already, my characters love to flip-flop personalities. Example: Ridge, from the same nameless story as Life (http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/inkwell/node/117556?page=2). Ridge used to be this quiet, persuasive, invisible nonconformist who was good at magic tricks and loved the outdoors. Then he started analyzing cliques almost scientifically and dropped the whole magic tricks thing. Then he got really icy and weird and manipulative, even taking pride in his invisibility. This would be good...except I'm only five or six chapters into the story. (Hard to tell when you write in a sketchbook instead of on a computer.)

Second example: Coppie, from this weird dystopian story* I started writing and never finished. She started as this really innocent minor character who was good at farming, which was a valuable trait in said dystopian story. Next thing you know, she's been living a lie her entire life (supposedly) and is now going to participate in some rebellious act with the main characters to avenge her father's death in a freak machinery accident...once again, all within five chapters.

When I go back and edit Ridge and Life's story, I'll add more details at the start of where Ridge pops up or something. Truth is, I kind of like icy, manipulative Ridge, and I don't see why he can't be multi-layered: A nonconformist outdoorsey type who would be persuasive if people actually talked to him, who after adjusting to his invisibility a few years ago uses it to study cliques and occasionally manipulate people (another level! aha! perhaps he manipulates people because of hidden rage at being invisible! plot! character! yay! *rants*).

OK. That was long. And ranty. Excuse me. If you made it all the way through, take these cookies that say DFTBA on them in icing.

*Weird dystopian story: Took place in this random farming community with a giant Wall which people couldn't cross over. A group of teens hop over to see what's out there and discover that the community is in the middle of a barren wasteland that had been ravaged by nuclear bombs. Somehow, with vague advanced futuristic technology, the community was protected (cue lameness and stereotypical vagueness), but its creators turned down common folk and the poor (cue the social justice issues)! Yeah, it was stupid, and I wrote it on a whim. But it actually turned out to be pretty important because it was the first time I'd sat my butt down an attempted to write a novel. Which led to Life and Ridge and Nove and David's WIP tale. (yes there are more characters).

Sorry for ranting everyone. 

A good way to make sure your characters all have different personalities and aren't all the same is to use the enneagram. Basically the enneagram has 9 numbers, each a different personality type, but the types can also have subtypes and wings and all sorts of variations. It's easy to search online or in the library and it's actually really intersting; i've been using it in my writing recently and it helps A LOT with the whole "AAH WHY IS EVERY CHARACTER PERSONALITY-LESS" thing. x)