1. Not just Faults, but Contradictions Perfect characters are BORING! But in addition to giving them some quirks and character flaws, go farther. Give them contradictory details. Make the bad guy have a soft spot for small helpless fuzzy things. Too easy? Make your main character hold a strong opinion about something and then act in a hypocritical fashion. 2. Go Beyond Stereotypes & Archetypes Yes, they exist because they’re familiar and recognizable. Are they interesting? Where’s the surprise? Where’s the mystery? Most people don’t like cardboard pizza. They don’t like cardboard characters either. 3. Go Beyond GMC Deb Dixon‘s idea of Goal, Motivation and Conflictworks well at the larger scale. But how many authors drill down with it to the smaller scale? How do those three elements color even their smaller actions and decisions? Weave it in, so it’s an integral part of the story fabric. 4. Vocations & Avocations So your character has a job or a hobby. That’s nice. Go deeper. How does that influence their vocabulary, their insights, their relationship with others, their smaller actions and decisions? Do they live and breathe it? Or is it just a gloss coat? How does this profession or passion affect the plot? WHY did you make this choice? If you can swap it out easily, you haven’t gone deep enough. 5. Use Varying Degrees of Focus and Distance You know how some photographs are more interesting because not EVERYTHING is sharp and competing for your attention? Think of the difference between your mental definitions of “snap shot” and “photograph”. Good photos tell stories too. They also leave a bit of mystery and interpretation to the viewer. Writers can do similar things. By focusing on different aspects of your character at different times in the book, you can draw the reader in and let them explore what makes your characters tick. Then, only when you absolutely need to, reveal what you’ve hinted at in the shadows and the murky background to bring the whole picture into sharp focus when it will mean the most to the reader. 6. Go Big or Go Home Don’t settle for making average characters doing ordinary things. What can you do to pump them up and make it so the reader believes they may not overcome the high stakes they’re up against? What about your characters keeps the reader’s hope burning that they WILL succeed? This is where many characters who are deemed Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) fail the reader. The reader has lost all hope for this character and may actually be rooting against them. 7. Dig Deep, Put Yourself In There This is probably the hardest one for me to do. It doesn’t have to be the biggest, most traumatic event in your life, but we all share common experiences: happiness, sorrow, regret, hope, frustration, anger. Find ways to channel situations you know into your writing. It doesn’t have to be autobiographical, but use the feelings, both emotional and physical to connect your characters to your reader. For me, this is “write what you know” writ large!
vaporwave
gummygunk
snowghoul
stormborns
izzy806
kaledo-art
andulkaphoto
