𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 & 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬

creating characters

CHARACTERS

Tips on creating good characters. Your story needs to have a great character. How do you create a great character? This chapter will show you how.

Flaws
Your story needs a strong character that your readers will be able to relate to; these are the best characters. Do you know why you love the characters you read about? It's because they aren't perfect and you're able to relate to them in some way. You may just even love them because of the fact that they aren't perfect.

Maybe the character you love is super clumsy, or forgetful, or maybe they aren't able to keep a secret and have a big mouth. So what I'm telling you is that your characters need to have flaws to become more realistic. With flaws, you're already building a strong character.

Background
You're character needs a background. Believe it or not, backgrounds are what can create a strong character the most.

Now, definitely do not dump the whole background of your character into the first chapter at once. Spread it out throughout your story and let the reader continue to learn more about the character. Just let them know the basic background so they have a grip of what your character is like.

Backgrounds help show the personality of your character. There should be a reason why your character is the way that they are. How do you show why your character is a certain way? Through their background.

Interaction with other characters
Your character needs to have relationships, and I'm not only talking about a love interest relationship, but other types. Like the relationship your character has with their parents, siblings, friends, etc. Have your character interact with them throughout your story. You should also show how your character interacts with a stranger or someone they just don't know very well, it will say a lot about their personality.

Personality
Personality is probably the first thing you think of when creating a character. Developing a character's personality should be something that happens throughout your story. Our personalities change a lot overtime; which also goes for fictional characters, too.

At the beginning of your story, it should be clear what your character is going through/struggling with. Usually at the beginning of any book, the character is at a low point, and if not, then the problem of the story will soon kick in and bring them down. As the story gradually continues, your character's personality should develop and change a bit. It doesn't have to be something drastic that changes their personality, it can simply be them growing up and maturing.

You should also show if they are an optimist or a pessimist. This is another thing that will not only add to their personality, but show how they react to situations.

Habits & fears
You have fears don't you? Everyone does. Which means your characters need to have fears too. I think that stories, characters should overcome at least one of their fears. This will help to build them and make them a stronger character. When I read about a character getting over/facing their fears, it gives me the inspiration that I could do the same.

Go ahead and give your characters some habits, too. Maybe some serious habits or just some funny ones. Habits will give them flaws and add to their personality.

Appearance

Your character's appearance isn't the most important thing, but it is good to mention what they look like. Again with going against perfect characters, don't make them look unrealistically perfect. Your readers also like to relate to a character's appearance. The fact that your character isn't made to look perfect is what makes your readers like your character more.

Describing what your character looks like is great, but be careful to not over do it. Do not go into full detail talking about all the features of your character in a long paragraph. Just like a character's backstory, you can add on to their appearance throughout the story.

And sometimes it's better to not go into too much detail on what your character looks like because it's fun for your reader to imagine what they look like. Just mention the basics like hair, eyes, maybe height, and clothing too!

Character goal
You have goals, don't you? Your character needs goals too. What does your character want? What are they working towards? What is the one thing they want to accomplish? Or maybe they have multiple things they want to accomplish. Your character needs to have a goal. Preferably more than one; if you want a stronger character.

Having your character work hard towards something will build the story and make it more realistic, as well as build/develop their personality.

Give your character some traits!
Your character needs to be interesting to keep the reader reading! Give your character interests and fun traits!

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I think that's all for now!

Next I'll be talking about grammar tips! Proper grammar is necessary if you want to write a great book! Stay tuned and keep writing!