Whenever we read a book or watch a television series, we immediately latch onto the characters. We laugh with them. We cry with them. And before we know it, we are crushing on them. They become part of our family, so to speak, and infiltrate our daydreams. Characters are the support beams for any good story. So, if you want to have a good story, make good characters. How do you do that? Here are three simple tips in which you can make your own fictional characters more creative, more fun, and more relatable.
Tip #1: Development in Dialogue & Behavior
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve read manuscripts from friends or Inkslinger entries and the author tries to bombard my brain with two pages of backstory in order to set up the character they have barely introduced to me. First off, in real life, when you introduce your friend to someone do you say, “Hey guys this is Jen. She loves Chinese food because it was the last meal she ever shared with her mother before she died in a tragic car accident when she was five years old…”? No! At least, I hope not. Same goes for character development in a story. If your character has significant mommy issues this will be evident in their conversation and interactions with other characters. Don’t push the backstory right away. Let it bleed out into your character’s emotions, choices, and conversations.
Tip #2: Layers! Layers! Layers!
If you’re curious about how not to write characters look no further than Disney Channel. Sitcoms such as "That's So Raven" and "Wizards of Waverly Place" litter our childhood with (mostly) happy memories, but those are not the type of characters to try to imitate. Why? Because they are generally stock characters, or two-dimensional. You’ve got the leader or protagonist, the love interest, and the dumb sidekick. And that’s it. In real life, people are much more complicated than any label we stick them with and that is what makes life so interesting. Therefore, it is essential you give your characters interesting layers that juxtapose each other and breathe more life into their lungs. For example, turn the tables on your readers and make your “villain” have a soft spot for orphans because they were an orphan growing up. Or make your protagonist have anger issues that get out of hand and actually thwart their chances of success simply because they cannot control their temper. Whatever the case, know your characters inside and out and make sure you give them believable flaws with which your readers can relate.
Tip #3: Motivation is everything
And last but not least, make sure you know what is motivating your characters. Even if you want their motivations to be kept secret from the reader, make sure that you know what motivates them. This is crucial because their actions and their behavior will be controlled by their motivation. If you don’t know what motivates characters their actions will severely contradict themselves and leave your readers utterly confused. This does not mean that their motivations can’t change, but if they do, be aware of it and keep that in mind when writing out their conversations, actions, and behaviors.
