How badly do
you struggle with this? For some people
it comes naturally. For others it's a challenge. I understand that making a character real and
flawed adds to believability, but I also find my mood effects how well I write them.
My goal is to write characters that make you . . .
Cry 
Laugh 
Gasp with fear 
Fall in love 
While searching
the internet for helpful ways to accomplish this, I found a list from Melissa
Donovan and thought I'd post it below.
12 Character Writing Tips To Help You Develop Characters That
Feel Like Real People:
1.
Backstory: we are born a certain way, but our life experiences
continually mold and shape us. Each character has a life before the story. What
is it?
2.
Dialogue: the way we talk depends on the language we speak and
where we live (or grew up) but there’s also something unique to each person’s
style of speaking. We repeat certain words and phrases, inflect certain
syllables, and make certain gestures while we speak.
3.
Physical
Description: our primary method of
identifying each other is the way we look; hair and eye color, height and
weight, scars and tattoos, and the style of clothing we wear are all part of
our physical descriptions.
4.
Name: Esmerelda doesn’t sound like a soccer mom,
and Joe doesn’t sound like an evil sorcerer. Make sure the
names you choose for your characters match their personalities and the role
they play in the story.
5.
Goals: Some say that a character’s goals drive the entire
story. He wants to slay the dragon. She wants to find love. Goals can be small
(the character is shopping for a new car) or big (the character is trying to
take over the world). Come up with a mix of small and large goals for each
character.
6.
Strengths and
Weaknesses: Villains sometimes do nice
things and heroes occasionally take the low road. What are your character’s
most positive and negative behaviors and personality traits?
7.
Friends and
Family: these are the people in our
inner circles, and they have played important roles in shaping our personalities
and our lives. Who are your characters’ friends and family before the story
starts? What new friends will they meet once the story begins?
8.
Nemesis: a nemesis is someone with whom we are at odds. This
character doesn’t have to be a villain, but the goals of the nemesis definitely
interfere with your character’s goals.
9.
Position in the
World: what do your characters do for
a living? What are their daily lives like? Where do they live? What is a
character’s role or position among his or her friends, family, or coworkers?
10.
Skills and
Abilities: a character’s skills and
abilities can get him out of a tight spot or prevent him from being able to get
out of a tight spot. Skills can be useless or they can come in handy. Does your
character have an education or special training? What can he do?
11.
Gestures,
Mannerisms, and Quirks: One
character chews her nails while watching movies. Another runs his hand through
his hair when he’s trying to figure something out. Give your characters
identifiable quirks and behaviors, like real people.
12.
Fears: An old fiction writing trick is to figure out what
your character is most afraid of, then make the character face it. We all have
fears. Characters should, too.
Although some of these techniques
seem long, I've heard them mentioned at SCWBI conferences by many published authors.
One thing I like to do to get in the
mood is listen to music that fits the scene or chapter I'm about to write. I once read that to create a real character
you have to go deep and reveal secrets and traits that show fault and vulnerability. It can be embarrassing and
uncomfortable to do this, because we usually hide these things in ourselves—keep
them private. But showing the dirt is
what makes us real and is what will make your character/s relatable on a profound
level. Isn't that what we strive for as
writers and what we love as readers?
If you have helpful tricks or techniques
you use to create believable characters, please share them below in a comment. As a writer, you can never get enough
advice.
Thanks and have a creative day!
