How to Make Fictional Characters Live and Breathe

Why do some characters stay rooted in our memory and hearts while others dissipate as soon as we read the last page? Why do we feel impelled to share our love of these characters, telling and retelling their stories? Why are we fiercely loyal, always ready to be first in line to buy their newest story?

Readers never ask themselves these questions, yet writers should have these answers memorized, categorized, and organized. When answered, these three questions give fundamentals for building characters readers will love.

Make them memorable

Memorable characters stir our emotions and enlist our empathy.

Whether or not characters are ontologically "real", our familiarity with them renders them very emotionally potent; a kind of emotional truth that we experience at a biochemical level quite the same as we would with strangers whom we get to know over the course of a season - or years, for the loyalist of fans. The Psychology of Fandom: Why We Get Attached to Fictional Characters

Make them shareable

Shareable characters transport us from our world to theirs, convincing us of their reality and existence. If readers empathize, connect, care, and believe in this character, they cannot resist talking about them.

Make them marketable

Imagine if you went to a party and all of the guests were either dislikeable or, worse, deadly dull. How long would it take you to make your excuses and get out of there?

Five minutes?

Well, it's the same with reading a novel….

The First Rule of Creating Fictional Characters

Techniques for building interesting and complex characters

What's in a name

More than you might think. Test yourself. What is your perception of a woman when you hear the name, Candy, Suzy, Elizabeth, Victoria, or Stormy? What about a man whose name is Bubba, Alexander, Dirk, Timmy, or Harry? Did you get an instant personality flash with each name? Most of us experience this and so will your readers.

For a name to stick in the reader's head, it should be as thoughtful as every other aspect of your novel. Character names are to characters as titles are to books… How To Come Up With A Character Name: an Author's Guide

What we see matters

The physical traits you give your character help your reader visualize and form a perception of that character's role, his dominant or passive position in the story. It will affect the reader's emotional connection to the character.

Character appearance should go far beyond just allowing your reader to have an idea of what your character looks like. The way your character looks and dresses can, in fact, deepen the character's personality, make them more realistic, and work to accent their role in the story. 

7 Tips For Choosing Your Character's Appearance

The past opens the door to the present

A character without a background can never be understood. Without a background, a reader will find it difficult to empathize or care about the actions of such a shallow character. A writer cannot show the character's journey, life lessons, and change unless there is a past from which to start. Take the time to profile each of your main characters and reveal the key elements strategically throughout the narrative. Dialogue is ideal for this. When the character himself or someone else drops bits of background information where appropriate, the reader will be intrigued rather than bored by a huge information dump.

How to build a character profile

My favorite way to build a profile is to interview my characters. I have a list of interview questions that draw out the information I need when devising a story. Depending on what genre you prefer to write, your list of interview questions may differ greatly. Since I write contemporary romance, my list reflects that mood or tone. Let me give you a few examples.

• Can you tell me about the first five years of your life?
• What is your educational history?
• How would you describe your family life as a child?
• How did growing up in an affluent/poor family shape your perspective on life, personality, career decisions?
• In your young adult years, what were your hobbies?
• As a young man/woman, what were your dreams?
• Tell me about the first time you fell in love.
• How would you describe your moral standards?
• What is integrity to you?
• Does your conscience matter?
• Have you ever been seriously ill or injured?
• How would you describe yourself emotionally and physically?
• Do you suffer from any phobias?
• Do you have any quirky habits?
• How would you describe your personality type?
• Do you see marriage in your future? If so, can you tell me what your ideal partner is?
• Presently, what do you cherish most? What would you sacrifice to keep it?
• Do you have an important goal, task, or quest, too fulfill? Do you have a debt to repay, monetarily or otherwise?
• How do you feel about children and pets?
• Do you have any enemies?
• Where do you see your life going over the next few years?

Shut up and Listen

If you've thoroughly profiled your character, you should know them better than you know yourself. That knowledge is crucial to the next steps in deep characterization.

When writing any scene, there are times when you need to empty your mind and slip into the heart of your character. How? 1) Feel what they feel. 2) See what they see the way they see it. 3) Analyze, evaluate, form conclusions from their perspective.

Now, shut up and listen! Let them speak to you.

Example: You're writing a scene where a stubborn and arrogant protagonist is furious with the male antagonist. You've decided that she is going to throw a lamp at his head and kick him out the door. But as she grabs the lamp, he says, "we're done" and walks toward the door.

As you slip into her heart and head, you sense her fear of losing someone she loves - again. You feel her vulnerably, her sense of worthlessness, and her plea to be understood. So you, as the writer, pause to see what she wants to do. You're as shocked as she is when she drops the lamp and rushes toward him, throws her arms around his waist, and plasters herself to his back.

Here's your takeaway

Fully profiled characters will come to life - live and breathe real emotion into their stories. You'll know when you've reached this level of deep characterization. How? You will cry when they cry. You will live in joy and despair with them. You'll grieve when the story is finished and you have to let them go. Only then can you hope to create the same connection for your readers.

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Originally published here