How to Create Characters Readers Will Love

Step 0. Figure Out What You Know

People start their stories in lots of different places. Some begin with a cool character concept. Others start with an interesting situation, asking "What if...?" What if some crazy situation arose and some poor person (character) had to deal with it? Still others begin by building an entire story world and then plunk their characters right down into the middle of it.

Which is right? Any of them! Writers get ideas in a hundred thousand different ways and places, and if you find one that works for you, go for it!

The thing is, anyone can come up with a cool story idea. Not everyone can actually bring that idea to life and-in my opinion-that's because a lot of writers (especially new writers) have trouble creating characters that will connect with readers.

That's what this book is about: creating characters readers will connect with, characters who are interesting, imperfect, and sympathetic. Characters whose motivations are so clear that we always know how they'll react in a scene, instead of characters who follow a pre-scripted set of actions designed to move the plot forward.

If you're reading this book, I'm guessing that you have a character in mind-maybe a character from an existing book, or maybe one you want to develop for a future project. This step (pre-step?) is for you-a way to record your starting point.

Step #0. Start by writing down what you already know about you character.

If you don't already have a character in mind, now's the time to come up with one. You'll get a lot more out of this book if you're thinking of a specific character and trying out some of the exercises.

What sort of things should you write down? For now, stick to the basics. You don't have to go into a lot of detail. This is just a "rough sketch," a basic outline that you can fill in with details going forward.

Here's a list of information you might include-just keep in mind that if there's something you don't know right now, it's okay to leave it blank. You can always come back later and fill it in.

1. Character Name

2. Age (approximate)

3. Gender

4. Socio-economic Background

5. Where he or she grew up/is growing up

6. Where he or she is now

7. Key Character Details (that you already know)

8. What's special about this character or his situation? That is, why are you thinking of writing his story?

...and that's it! I know, this is a short chapter. It's a lot easier to work on developing an awesome character, though, when you've taken time to come up with the basic character idea first.

Here's the character I'll be working on throughout this book*:

1. Name: Luciana

2. Age: 15 or 16

3. Gender: female

4. Socio-economic Background: wealthy family-really rich on her father's side, but poor on her mother's side

5. Where he or she grew up/is growing up: Denver, CO

6. Where he or she is now: Denver, CO

7. Key Character Details (that you already know): mother is originally from Peru; grandfather lives in Peru, but is not native. Magic runs in the family on her mother's side, but Luciana may not know it.

8. What's special about this character or his situation? That is, why are you thinking of writing his story? mother disappeared, father paid her boyfriend to dump her, and she has magical powers just starting to manifest

*You didn't think I was just preaching to you guys, did you? No way! I'm writing this because this is how I make sure my characters aren't flat and predictable! This is a character for a novel I want to completely rewrite. Right now, it's a basic teen romance, set in the present. I want to rewrite it as magical realism, in a slightly altered version of the present.

What about you? Do you have a character in mind? I'd love to hear about it!