The Writers' Helpers

Hello, dandydoll, 

I love this question because I used to wonder the same thing. My brother in law would complain when I watched Sex and the City because he said all the male characters were “One Dimensional”. I knew they lacked something as well, but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. He was half right as it turns out, I would say they were more two dimensional. I’ll get to why with a quick summary of the types:

One Dimensional Characters:

These are usually labelled as such because they are lacking quite a bit of depth.If they were in a play or movie, they would have a few lines: In Seinfeld (wow I’m really sounding old with my references but I loved this show for exploring character and plot), In Seinfeld, when Kramer is rehearsing his role “These pretzels are making me thirsty” he was rehearsing for a 1D character. Another way to identify 1D characters is to rent some classic horror flicks and watch the first few characters that get offed. They are always the one dimensional ones. 

Two Dimensional Characters:

More often than not, 2D characters are lacking the ability to change or grow throughout the story. This is why it is not the norm for the main character in your story to be 2D, as the story–the challenges, the journey, and the tensions they face–inevitably lead the character to change and grow in a way that they can never go back to who they were at the beginning. 

An inability to grow–a 2D character–can be put into the story on purpose to demonstrate or highlight a character flaw in that person. More often however, it is an error on the writer’s part in identifying the need for layers in the character. They usually only “use” the character by having them show a few focuses and motives as it works for the purpose of the story. A 2D character used incorrectly is often an antagonist who stands in the way of the protagonist. Their needs and desires are only apparent when they conflict with the protagonists needs. We don’t get a good idea of who they are outside of their “evilness to the protagonist in the situation”. We also don’t get an idea of what drives them other than “needing to stand in protags way at this moment”.

Three Dimensional Characters:

This is the goal for all main characters to be, including villains and antagonists. These people will have a back story, distinct hopes, needs, and desires, and they will have complex emotions. Your main character needs to show their “3D-ness” early in the story in order for the reader to care about them. This should be achieved within the first three pages (let’s say 1500 words). Although a 3D character should grow, they need to remain consistent in their personality and only change for a reason that the reader is made aware of. 

Happy Writing :)

-NV