A Guide To Creating Characters

Characters are the backbone of your story. Do you know who they are?

When you are thinking about your novel or story, it’s your characters and their backstory that shape your content. It’s not easy and doing it properly takes time and thought.

I have some advice on how to do this.

Of course, like all of us, we have our own complexities and your characters hopefully have that fully formed. Sometimes your characters fall from the skies fully formed. If so, that’s great.

“You cannot have an effective protagonist who simply responds to events happening around him or her. Your protagonist must act, not just react.” — Rachelle Gardner

On other occasions, your characters have little been going on, with just a name. They are nothing more than an idea. That is more problematic.

As the writer, you need to have your characters fully formed so you know who they are, and what they are doing in your story? You need to keep moving forward and your characters are helping you do that. Who are they? What do they want? These are the pieces that tell your story. If they are not fully formed, how can you tell your story?

“Usually, we combine internal and external conflicts for a richer story. That means we have to understand how our characters approach and resolve conflict.” — Jami Gold,

Here are some tips, quick start guide for creating characters and making notes.

Their Childhood — Do they have a big family or is the character an orphan? How did they grow up? Were they rich or poor?

Physical appearance — What is their hair and eye color; How did they dress? What is their physicality? Weight and height

Mental state — Is your character comfortable with himself? Is he brave or hesitant? Is your character in a positive frame of mind or are they facing challenges?

Their goal or function in the story.

It is also helpful if you can go even further and fill in a character questionnaire.

Is your character online? What would their profile look like? Are they honest? Are they secretive? Are they on Tinder?

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