Character Creation in 4 Steps


Character creation is among the toughest skills to master. Readers will spend hours with your characters, so you want them to be good. It’s helpful to know what readers want before beginning the creation process. Mostly, readers want to see themselves reflected in your characters. They want people who get what they’re going through but also fascinate them.



How I Create Characters

1. Journal. Readers sympathize with characters when they have a worldview that touches on hidden truths we all forget. So practice writing honest characters by keeping a journal of details you notice about the world.

2. Who is your character? What quirks, stances, flaws, habits, preferences, contrasts, beliefs, and attitudes (even towards small things) make her unique? This is where journaling is important. Take interesting details about other people and give them to your character. Character Bios are useful, too.

3. Dig deeper. What does she fear most, and what happens when she must face it? What would she die for, and what happens when you take it away? What does the character want or think she wants, and what does it teach her about the world, herself, and others? If we know these things, we know how to make her struggle and change, which leads to step four.

4. Write. Discover how your character reacts in certain situations. Make her struggle by choosing between two equally awful choices or two equally strong moral convictions. Choose an emotion: joy, rage, grief, depression, or fear, and write a few scenes showing how the character expresses each emotion at varying degrees. The best way to get to know a character is to write about her. Remember, a book is about revealing the characters and having them learn new worldviews.



Readers want to relate to honest and complex characters. If you struggle with giving them what they want, try these steps. As aforementioned, character creation is hard. It takes many drafts to figure your characters out. But so many authors have already done it, and you are no exception. With time and patience, you can do it, too.

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