Creating Believable Characters

by Yen Cabag

When we read a novel, we want a story that grips us, and characters that feel so real they’re almost our friends—or enemies, as the case may be. And when we turn the last page, we feel an almost bittersweet parting because we had been so involved in their lives for the last three hundred pages.

But believable characters don’t just walk onto a page all by themselves, even if that’s what it feels like sometimes. As a writer, you have the power of creating three-dimensional characters that your readers can relate to from the very first time they meet, and follow their journey all the way to the last page.

How to Create Believable Characters

So when you start to write a book, here are some tips to help you create characters that are so real, they become a part of your readers’ lives:

1. Be meticulous about their backstory.

Some writers shy away from creating backstory because they think it’s unnecessary or bogs down the narrative. But knowing what makes your characters tick is crucial for making them come to life both for you and for your readers.

Explore your character’s past experiences, especially things that make a deep impression on him. From there, you will find logical responses that you won’t have to invent but just automatically springs up as you write that character out.

One of the most important things you need to decide from the get-go is what drives your character. What are his fears, dreams, ambitions? What’s hindering him from achieving those goals? What is a lie that he believes about himself or about the world that’s keeping him from all he wants in life? And how does he need to change in the process?

2. Give them strengths and weaknesses.

There’s nothing more boring than a character who’s always predictably good or always predictably evil. After all, in real life, people always have different facets to their personality, and no one is strictly black or white.

One way of doing this is to create a character profile for each of your main characters. Think especially of strengths and weaknesses that will affect how they react to the events in your plot.

3. Explore colloquialism and other nuances in your characters’ language.

One way of creating characters that live on in your readers’ minds is by giving them a distinct voice. Is one of your characters from the South? Then give him a Southern twang. Do you have a well-educated man conversing with a man whose family had always been farmers? They will obviously use different words.

Colloquialism, when done well, is a great way to bring characters off of the page and have their voice ringing in your readers’ ears. For example, L.M. Montgomery’s Pat of Silver Bush effectively uses the Irish twang for one of the main characters, making her identifiable even without dialogue tags.

4. Show your reader how your character responds.

A piece of common advice for writers is, “Show, don’t tell.” This is an even more crucial tip when it comes to character development. Don’t just tell your readers that Miss Prissy is meticulous about her clothes; show how she smooths it down every five minutes, and yells at the maid for a missed spot, or immediately goes back in to change when she gets a tiny drop of tea on it.

Creating Compelling Characters

In the end, look at creating memorable characters is like making new friends: when you get to know your friends, you see aspects of them that you don’t always observe from your first acquaintance. Add layers to your characters’ lives, and they will become clearly more interesting people to know and remember way after the story ends.

And who knows, if you succeed in endearing your readers to them, maybe that will inspire you to write a second book!

Author Bio:

Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans.

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