writoids: how do you write a character? when, how and why would you write a complex character and when would you write a simplified one?

Character is the filter through which we perceive and interact with the world. At a basic level, it means certain traits or motivations that are consistent regardless of the current scenario.

Suppose our protagonist had an awkward and unpleasant encounter with a stranger. There are a few ways she might tell the story, depending on her character.

"I met this fricking butthole today," "I met the biggest idiot today," "I met a racist today," "I made a fool of myself today," "I had this really weird encounter today," "I'm just having a really bad day," etc. She might express this with confusion, anger, sadness, or humor. Or she might not express it at all, maybe she doesn't ruminate about such minor events.

When encountering this person, she might have reacted in all kinds of ways. She might have acted polite, acted passive-aggressive, escalated the situation, or even whipped out her phone to post the whole thing on Twitter.

And of course, when we read or write about our protagonist judging this person, we are also judging her.

Complexity comes from exploring or complicating her response. For example, maybe there's a character with a chip on her shoulder who goes for the questionable "I met a racist" story every time. She's also open about her mental illness and struggles with paranoia, but she's never noticed the connection between these issues. She also tells racist jokes. She's also legitimately a very kind, funny, and generous person that most people like being around. Of course, expressing this degree of complexity also requires skill. Otherwise you run the risk of either telling the reader how to feel, or else contriving something that doesn't feel real (for example, the character I described just now is a real person I know and like, but I'm not sure she sounds plausible when reduced to bullet points).

Most of the time, character complexity emerges naturally from interesting plots and scenarios building on each other. I don't think it's truly possible to write about a complex character getting up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, and driving to work. But the longer a story goes, and the more complex/novel scenarios the character goes through, the more complex they will become--as long as you are really simulating them in your mind, and taking all of their experiences into account as you pick their next word/thought/action.