A NaNoCRATE

#12 • HOW TO CREATE BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS

Struggling to craft characters that pop off the page? Author Jenn Flynn-Shon is here to help you!

A story driven by character cuts deeper, elicits raw emotion, pulls from the setting, theme, plot, and five (six?) senses of your characters to create a fuller, richer story.

Character, according to the dictionary, is:

1. the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing.
2. one such feature or trait; characteristic.
3. moral or ethical quality.

As fiction writers, we develop those features, traits, morals, and ethics into a living, breathing person (animal, robot, etc.) on the page. Which begs the big question––how do some authors craft such believable characters that jump off the page, and how can I do that, too?

1. Think of them as real people.

Take a look at yourself in the mirror. Do you see skin, hair, eye color? The set of your jaw? The neckline of your shirt? Physical description is an important element to developing any character––but physical descriptions are often brief, and during NaNo, words are key.

So, let's look at how to punch up word count and develop your character.

Consider two different women. Let's call them both Liz. Both have blue eyes and sport a black shirt. Basic physical characteristics.

Snore, right?

Punch up the character and give them life by using actions and evocative words to describe their physical traits: consider where they come from, where they live in your story, who are the people that surround them, what is their goal in your story, and other traits that make your character an individual.

Then, instead of dropping physical descriptions into your story so matter-of-fact like above, you'll write something like this:

Liz One flips her mahogany ponytail behind her back and studies her reflection. With a frown, she contemplates ditching the faded, ratty black concert t-shirt she's wearing. Stolen off the merch table that night she snuck out of her parent's house to go to the show back in 1988. The last night she was single. A slick layer of salty tears well up under her blue eyes, threatening the surface.

And the other?

Liz Two takes her fifth deep breath in a row to ward off the impending anxiety attack. In the mirror, she watches her mousy brown bob move up and down against her neck. Quick at first, then slower with each exhale. Her lids drop and she's no longer searching her own blue pools for courage. As she hitches her bra strap beneath her smart black top, she realizes this is the first time she's going on an interview for a job she really wants.

Even though their physical descriptions are identical, those two women are definitely different. And, as a bonus, you've just beefed up your word count.

2. Your character isn't you.

To really bring life to a character, we need to consider their entire story. Who they are in their heart, soul, core.

Do they like to swim, ride a bike, dance around their kitchen eating raw cookie dough off a wooden spoon? Are they multi-lingual? Still living at home in their fifties?

As every author writing them is different, so are the characters that bring our stories to life. Collect the backstory details about all those little quirks now, and your job of injecting descriptive details into your story will be that much easier.

Because, the better you know your character's motivations, goals, background, morals, and physical traits, the more real they become to you.

And then, hopefully one day, to your reader, too!

Ready to do some writing? Join us all day today for weekly word sprints on Twitter at #CrypticSprints!