Get Into Character!

Characters are the heart of your story. You can have an ingenious plot, but if the characters are less interesting than celery, readers are likely to slam it shut with a frustrated groan. I've come across this a few times: the plot was intriguing enough, but when it came to the protagonist, I just didn't care. Of course, the opposite can also be true--you can love the characters while the plot leaves you wanting. However, that sounds like a topic for another time. Now it's time to push our characters into the spotlight.

Creating lovable characters is tricky business. Your favorite character in a novel may be your best friend's least favorite, but as authors we have to do our best to appeal to everyone in our readership. So how is it done? How do we create a character?

Look around at your friends and family. Everyone is full of unique opinions and personalities. Just borrowing a couple personality traits here and there is a good start. Then look at your acquaintances--that's another pool of personalities.

You could also turn to your favorite fictional characters for inspiration, though I would avoid doing too much of this. If you are inspired by one of a character's personality traits, say their unshakeable sense of integrity, make sure that that is the only thing you borrow from that character.

For example, say the source of your inspiration is a bubbly girl who always stands up for what she believes in. You might want to make your character a shy boy who always stands up for what he believes in. Perhaps he rarely gets recognized for his good deeds, but he prefers it that way. You don't want your readers to be able to tell that a popular fictional character inspired you to create your character.

It's easy enough to invent a character, but what you want is a character your readers can't wait to read about. And characters are first and foremost defined by their actions. Make a list of character traits you want for your character.

Then, invent situations that show these traits in different scenes in your novel or story. Show your character making the noble choice in a given situation, or, making the selfish choice and feeling guilty later.

Make sure your readers understand how your character feels in any given situation.  You don't need a rambling soliloquy of inner dialogue, usually a couple sentences will suffice. Though, if you are ever not sure that your readers understand why your character is doing what he is doing, take as long as you need to explain. You can always come back later to revise. The more your readers understand your character, the more attached they'll become.

I hope this was helpful to anyone who doesn’t know where to start when it comes to creating characters. Let me know what you thought of this article in the comments below, and if you have any tips for creating characters, please share!

Have fun and stay creative,

-Vanessa