Creating Realistic Characters: part 1

Does anyone here struggle with making their characters realistic? Or does your character just seem to fall flat on the page? Well, today I have six tips for you that I'm hoping will help.

This is the first of a three–part blogging series on characters, so stay tuned!

Tip 1: Personality

Ah, yes, personality. The number one thing that makes each character different from one another, just like people in real life. We each have our own personality: what makes us different, the same, and unique at the same time. There might be a girl who's extroverted but afraid of heights. A boy who's introverted but talkative around the right people. A girl who loves baking, training her dog, and a number of other things. Giving your characters personality makes them more realistic, and can keep your characters engaged if they share the same interests as them. (Put realistic characters with worldbuilding, story flow, suspense, and a number of other things can really make your story a hit).

Tip 2: Description

Ahh, this one is so important! Another bug step to making your characters more realistic is by writing good descriptions. For example, I don't think this will keep us very interested:

The girl ran as she cried.

Or this:

The boy was sad because his dog was gone.

Or even this:

Pancakes make perfection.

None of those stir emotions in you, do they? I know I don't feel any reading them. We want to know why the girl was sad. We want to feel the sorrow with the boy at losing his dog. And we want to know... why pancakes make perfection? (Sorry, I'm hungry as I wait for breakfast, lol.)

Let's reword the first one:

The girl ran through the forest, tears sliding down her cheeks. She had to get out of here... before the Nazis came. They had taken her family, and would take her too.

See the emotion in those lines? Now we understand that the girl–probably a Jew–is running from the Nazis. They had taken her family, and would capture her as well.

Onto the second one:

The boy stared at the wall, sullen and depressed. Never again would his dog sit at his side; lick his hand. Even then, the empty spot by his feet made his throat tight. His dog was gone.

See, now we know why the boy is sad, and we can share in his despair. Plus, it keeps us more engaged as well.

Tip 3: Dialogue

Another thing we can do to make our characters seem more realistic is to make their conversations more realistic. Instead of writing a convo like this:

"Oh, hi!" She said.

"Hey, how are you?" I said.

"I'm doing good," she said back.

We could change it to something like this:

"Oh, hi!" The girl smiled, her eyes brightening. She was a lot older than when I had last seen her, and I wondered if she was still interested in crocheting.

I grinned. "Hey, how are you?"

"I'm doing good," she responded with an eager nod. "How's your sister?"

We get a LOT more interaction there, which is important. Even if it's something other than using the word "said" repeatedly, it really peps up the scene.

Tip 4: Flaws

Ugh, I hate it when people make their main character (or even a side character) "perfect". In fact, it's so easy to do, and I've even caught myself doing it. But really, think about it. Have you ever met a person in real life who has no flaws, never makes a mistake, and does everything perfectly? No? I thought so.

In this case, what we need to do is allow our characters the freedom to make mistakes. Everyone does. It's just a part of human nature. But no, this doesn't mean that you have to make your character an emotional, traumatized wreck (though there's times for that too 😉). Perhaps your character burnt the food. Maybe they're having a rough day. Or perhaps they got into a fight with their sibling. Whatever it is, keep in mind that sometimes it's ok to have a character that seems flawless on the outside but is scarred on the inside.

And also, your first draft is a first draft. Things are messy. Sometimes you have to go in and edit your characters to make them seem more realistic. And hey, that's ok. I actually had a character once that was completely flawless, so I had to go in and edit. But hey, we're writers, and we can do this 😄

Tip 5: Motives

Giving your character a motive strengthens their character arc sooo much. Your character wants something, they can't have it, so they're motivated to get it. It's pretty simple, actually, once you think about it.

For example, in my novella Country Girl, the main character, Faith, goes to the animal shelter and sees a dog she wants. Her parents don't allow her to get it, but she's so motivated that she decides to start selling paintings in order to save up enough money to buy the dog. Everyone has motives, and so should your characters. It can be something as small as getting a dog or something as big as saving the world 😆

Tip 6: Hopes & Fears

Ah, last one! This one actually ties together with the Motive Tip pretty well. As you all know, we each have our own hopes and fears, and so should your characters.

Going back to the Country Girl example, Faith hopes that she'll be able to buy the dog, but fears that she won't earn enough money in time. Weaved between that is her motive for why she wants to buy the dog.

In Where the Tunnel Ends, Laura hopes she'll be able to safely deliver the Key to the Silverwood, but fears that it'll fall into the wrong hands on the way.

Basically, there's a setback to every hope, and that's fear. Fearful that something will go wrong, ruining your hopes. Personally, I hope that this blog post will help lots of writers, but I'm fearful that I may lose/delete it before I can get it posted, or that not many people will read it (see what I did there?).

So keep in mind that giving your character both hope and fear can really spice up their personality, and it help make them more realistic.

Conclusion

That all said, I hope this helps! I honestly may find myself looking back on this post for character development reasons, lol. Remember, making your character realistic means making them as alive as possible! That includes adding personality, dialogue, flaws, motivations, and last but not least, hopes and fears. Another thing I like to do is write down a bunch of random details about my character such as their date of birth, what their name means, what their deepest fear is, etc. That helps me to get to know the character better personally, while I may not include all the details in the story itself (though details are important, we don't need to know what John ate for supper last Saturday, do we?).

Annnd, that's all for today! Next up will be Creating Character Arcs, so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, happy writing!

Until next time,

~Maya