Catchy Characters

Creating realistic characters your readers can connect with is crucial for getting your book to work. Getting those characters to that point, however, can sometimes be super tricky. We have compiled a list of tips and tricks on how to develop your characters easily.

Start simple:

You most likely already have a brief visualisation of what your character will look like, in the sense of their physical appearance. Build from there and give them more. Do they have freckles? A crooked nose? You can also add in features that tie in with the characters chosen career. Giving your character any distinguishing features will help the reader imagine them and connect easier.

Build their background: Now that you have a visual representation of your character, you can start to build their background. Where do they come from? What do they do? What are their beliefs, morals and stand in life? The more background you give them, even if you don’t add it all to your book, the less two dimensional and stereotypical they will be. There are plenty of character sheets available online that can assist you with this process.

Add their history:

Much like creating their background, their history will be important in helping develop the depth of the characters. Things like their hometown, how did they choose their career, childhood, relationships and home life will allow the readers a greater understanding of the characters actions within the story, as well as developing a deeper connection. Having their background and history can also help mould their physical appearance and the way they present themselves.

Show not tell:

Having all this extra information on your characters allows you to ‘show’ them, instead of overloading your readers with descriptive words. If the character is old, describe the lines on his face and the white in his hair. Have them duck when they enter a room instead of telling the reader they are tall. These are common in the real world and will help paint a better picture rather than just using words.

Use the five senses:

This is another great way to explain their appearance and background that can tie in nicely with ‘show not tell’. Sight is obviously the showing, but by adding smell, touch, sound and even taste, you can take the character further and puts the reader into the characters shoes.

“He could feel the rough callouses as he shook the powerful hand.” - the character is a hard worker and a little intimidating

“She smelt of vanilla and home.” - the character is sweet and warm

“He could taste a subtle hint of chocolate as he moulded his lips against hers.” - the character likes sweets

“Her voice was rough and raspy as if she hadn’t used it in many years.” - the character hasn't used voice, is a heavy smoker or other

Dialogue:

It shows their education, culture, background and social class without the overload information dump. It’s also a chance to make their personalities shine through with the use of tone, wording and physical actions that accompany speech. Try to avoid ‘tape transcript’ dialogue - lines and lines of pure dialogue - as that may bore your readers.

Motivation:

Why do they do what they are doing? How did they get to this point in their lives? Their reasons are just as important in showcasing their personality – are they brave, bold, shy, mean or a coward? It can also be used as a lead to internal thoughts as well as solid dialogue with other characters.

Good and bad:

The beauty of realism in characters in the flaws that the readers can relate with. No one wants to read about the perfect character - it gets boring after a while and will make it harder later on in your writing to show character growth. Even heroes can have impurities.

Secondary characters: You created them so use them! Like in the real world, your characters need at least someone to have their backs and to share with. Let them be the main character's subconscious, moral compass or even just their support network and use them as a way to show character growth, personality or even a catalyst for the main character's motivations.

Stay tuned for a bonus post later this week that containers a helpful character sheet to help put all these tips to use.