Characters are the beating heart of any story. They don’t just prop the story up, they are the story. Who they are, what they want, what’s holding them back, how they overcome and are changed by their experiences. Without that, you have no story.

With that in mind, here’s some of my favourite tips for creating a character who will really shine.

Get to know your character

Before you even start writing, get to know your characters as deeply as you can. Broadly speaking, there are two ways to do this, though if you take my advice you’ll do both:

First, you can write out detailed biographies of your characters. Detail every little fact about their physical appearance, their personality, their backstory and anything else that feels relevant.

Secondly, experiment with your characters by writing brief zero drafts to ‘audition’ them in various settings. Observe how they interact with other characters to get a sense of their unique personalities.

Goals and Motives

In any story, your protagonist is trying to achieve something. Maybe he wants to ask Cindy to the dance. Maybe she wants to overthrow humanity’s alien overlord. Maybe they just want to learn to juggle. That’s their goal. It’s the thing we spend the whole story hoping they’ll achieve.

However, it is important to also understand why they want to achieve it. If Sam wants to learn to juggle for no reason, the audience will quickly lose interest. But if we know Sam is desperately in love with one of the clowns at the traveling circus then it suddenly matters. Sam will never find true love unless he can master the art of juggling and join the circus that’s coming back to town in two days time. That’s your motive.

Show, Don’t Tell

This old rule frequently crops up in writing advice articles for one simple reason: it works. Giving us long-winded descriptions of a character’s personality traits interrupts the story and drags the pace to a crawl. Instead, show us your character’s traits by the things they do and say.

Create a Strong Character Arc

Your protagonist should not finish the story the same way they began. The conflicts they endure and their eventual resolution should leave your protagonist changed in some way.

When your story begins, your character should be mostly passive. Then, as the drama begins to unfold, they should take an increasingly active role, fumbling in the dark at first until they finally have the knowledge to attack the problem head on. When the conflict is finally resolved, they should have evolved into something new as a result.

Experiment with Character Traits

When we talk about character traits, we mean those little quirks that make your character the person they are. For example, are they brave or cowardly? Are they logical or emotional? Are they rude or polite?

You probably already have at least one trait in mind for each character, but if you want to make a really meaty character, try blending a few traits together in unexpected ways.

(Click here to see our handy list of character traits)

Give Your Characters a Unique Voice

No two people speak exactly the same. We all have our own little inflections, catchphrases and regional dialects we default to.

By developing a unique voice for each of your characters, you will not only set them apart from one another, but will also be able to subtly reveal things about your character’s personality. For example, if a character’s dialogue is laced with qualifiers (e.g.: ‘I think…’ or ‘if you don’t mind…’) it creates the impression of a character who is hesitant or nervous.