One of the trickiest issues when writing fiction is creating plausible characters. It doesn’t matter how terrific your plot is or how brilliantly the backdrop of the story is executed, if your characters are two-dimensional duds, the story won’t fly. Think about your favorite book. What kept you reading it? Was it the gripping plot or was it the characters immersed in that gripping plot? Most likely it was the characters. If you find yourself caring about them or identifying with them, you read the book to find out what happens to them.
But how to create an engaging character? The Well Storied blog outlines 33 tips for fleshing out your character and making them more 3 dimensional. It may sound like a lot but if you are serious about creating believable people in your story, its what you need to do.
One problem that can crop up when creating your characters, is that it’s easy to settle on a few basic types of people and not diverge from that. I can remember reading a fantasy series of novels back in the eighties. They were quite good and I read the series (there were about five or six books I believe). Then the author wrote a different series (in a different fantasy universe). This also was quite good but I had the strangest feeling I had met the characters before. It quickly dawned on me that the people in the second series were the same people in the first series, just with different names and back histories. The snotty princess in the first series was practically identical with the snotty princess in the second series. The wise ageless sorceress from the first series changed her dress and name and migrated over to the second series. Everyone had a droll sense of humor.
The problem is that people in the real world aren’t like that. Humans are products of both their genetics and their life experiences. Since everybody is different then no two people will ever be exactly alike in every way. Even identical twins will have differences, largely because of differing experiences. Even if you have two snotty princesses, they will be snotty for different reasons. When it comes to humor, some people will be droll, some will be crude, some go for slap-stick and others for double entendres. Some sad souls will have no sense of humor at all.
If your characters are the victims of violence, how do they respond? Does the experience made them bitter and cynical? Are they traumatized and too afraid to leave home? Do they become violent themselves? Or do they rise above the trauma and become stronger as a result? What happens to your character depends on their inner makeup and this will be what drives them in the story.
What level of education do your characters have? Are they college-level? High School dropouts? Illiterate? Their outlooks on life will be affected by that. Are they Renaissance people or one trick ponies? Do they live a rich and famous lifestyle or are they impoverished? Are they straight, gay, transgendered or asexual? All will have an effect on how your characters react to situations. Is your character a child or a great-grandparent? Are they married or single?
Read up on various cultures. Study the outlook on life that people from different parts of the world have. What are their perceptions of other cultures? Are they very religious or are they atheists? Are they torn between tradition and the modern way of doing things? Are they proud of their culture or trying to distance themselves from it? If so, why?
The more you read, the more grist for the mill. And the better you will be able to make your characters stand up on their own two individual feet and not just be pale copies of all your other characters
