Creating Characters
Creating characters is arguably the single-most important part of novel writing. At the very least, knowing how to create a character is as important as plotting a novel.
Without a page-turning plot, your readers will soon be - well, not turning the pages.
But even with a compelling story, the audience will only be interested in "what happens next" if it cares about the fictional characters at the heart of the action.
That is what creating characters boils down to, ultimately: making the audience care...
Put a character that the reader has no strong feelings about - or, worse, doesn't know at all - on a high window ledge, and they won't be that bothered if they jump or not.
Make the character one that they care about, just like they care about people in the real world, and they won't be able to put the novel down.
An Introduction to Creating Characters
(If you don't want to read all the detailed articles right now, you can start with my Quick Guide to Creating a Character.)
Characterization vs. Plotting
If you have been studying the art and craft of novel writing for some time, you have probably come across this question: Is character more important than plot? It is actually a totally pointless question, as this article explains.
The First Rule of Creating Fictional Characters
I mentioned above that creating characters is really all about making the audience care. But how, precisely, do you get your readers to become emotionally involved with the novel's characters? Here, you will learn the eight ways to do it.
Creating a Character Readers Love or Hate
Just like people in the real world, some of your fictional characters will be more heroic than villainous, and some will be precisely the opposite. And that is what makes fiction (and real life) interesting.
Assembling the Novel's Cast
Minor Characters and Major Characters
Not all characters in fiction are created equal. At one end of the scale is the protagonist. At the other is the lowly "extra" who won't even get any lines to speak. In the middle are all the shades of gray imaginable.
Creating Round Characters
Having defined all the different types of fictional characters, this article shows you how to create the most important type: round characters.
Creating Flat Characters
Flat characters are still important, of course, and here you will learn a few tricks of the trade for making them stick in a reader's mind.
Choosing a Novel's Protagonist
Before moving on to actually creating some characters, there is one thing you need to be sure about: the identity of your leading man or woman. Not being clear who the novel is "about" at an early stage can only lead to problems later on.
How to Create Characters In Two Steps
1. Getting to Know Fictional Characters
This article introduces you to the importance of getting to know your characters before you begin to write. In fact, if you don't know them - or don't know them well enough - you can't hope to bring them to life in a believable way.
I then get down to the nitty-gritty of getting to know your characters in these two articles...
2. Bringing Fictional Characters to Life
Getting to know fictional characters was all about familiarizing yourself with each character's personality. Bringing them to life on the printed page involves working out what aspects of their personality you will reveal in chapter one, in chapter two, and so on, all the way through to the end.
And in this article, I look at the Six Ways of Writing Characters Into a Story.
Final Thought On Characterization
Create a Character the Readers Won't Forget
Creating fictional characters that the audience care about is one thing. But make the characters live on in their imaginations after they have put the book down and the audience will queue around the block when your second novel is released.
And that is it.
Don't worry if it seems like a lot of information, because characterization is actually a very intuitive process and one that will become second-nature to you after you have read through these articles two or three times.
Related Questions
Listed below are the questions readers have sent me in the Fiction Writing Q & A section related to creating characters in novels...
- Handling Character Emotions & Thoughts in a Novel
- More on Creating Character Profiles
- How to Create Characters with Continuity
