The following comes from Rachel Ann Nunes, author of the best selling Ariana
series. You can find her site at
www.rachelannnunes.com.
By Rachel Ann Nunes
For a great book that will teach you how to
create likable, complex, and interesting characters that readers will want to
get to know, check out the book Characters and Viewpoint by popular
author Orson Scott Card. Scroll down to the
bottom of the page to see more information about this book, which may be the
nation's best-selling book about fiction writing.
Tips:
1. You must feel deeply about your characters for others to do
so. He/she must be likable.
2. Create your character to be larger than life—and yet realistic, believable!
3. Yet don't give your character all qualities you admire. They
can't be a rainforest activist, a nuclear physicist, a social worker, a popular
speaker, and a champion of children, animals, and old people. Get the idea?
Choose one or two solid talents and stick to these throughout the novel.
4. Character must have weaknesses and make mistakes. And most in
most novels the characters will grow and change over the course of the story.
This is not necessarily the case with adventure novels where the action is the
story.
5. Do not include character's background unless it is vital to
the plot.
6. Create your names carefully.
7. Main characters should be active, not passive. Remember that
at some point she will take charge of the story/action.
8. Use dialog to reveal characters' traits and views, as well as
inner thoughts and actions. Make sure dialog is appropriate to age, gender, and
cultural background.
9. Don't step out of character!
10. Use powerful verbs instead of descriptive words.
11. Motivation—make sure you know what it is and why they do
what they do.
13. How is the character you create perceived by others? Not everyone will love
your character.
14. Character does not have to receive the cake AND the icing in
the end. Does your character have too much? You do not need to resolve
everything in exactly the best possible scenario.
Try writing a character sketch and a short background for every
character in your novel/story. Remember to make this detailed as possible and
then stick to it. If you do have to change something, remember to make the
change throughout the entire novel. And also remember that you won't use
everything on your sketch, but using one will make them feel like real
characters!
Here is a helpful character sketch outline for creating your
character:
Name (and reason for name):
Physical attributes:
Frequently used expressions:
Frequently used facial expression or other physical gesture:
Education:
Main goal (dream) at this point in time (will likely change over
course of novel):
Secondary goals:
Family:
Friends:
Place of residence (city, house, etc.):
Worst past experience:
Best past experience:
Favorite foods:
Hobbies:
Habits (bad and good):
Any other information:
