Writing Memorable Characters

What would a story be without its cast of characters? Pretty boring. 

Characters make the story, the reader goes on a journey with them through their good times and their bad, the cry with them, cheers with them, and hope that they make it out alright by the time they turn that last page.  

Who would Sherlock be without Moriarty? Harry Potter without Voldemort - Jean Valjean without Inspector Javert - Elizabeth Bennet without Mr. Darcy! (Yes, Darcy is an antagonist and I have a whole 15-page college paper to prove it.) Their stories would not have been nearly as interesting without their own personal antagonist there to be the opposable force they needed to add that perfect conflict to the story. 

Developing Complex Personalities

Your characters deserve to be thicker than the paper they are printed on. They have hopes dreams, ambitions, life goals, and plans. Not just your protagonist, but your antagonist as well. Both characters need to be multi-dimensional personalities with their own strength, weaknesses, fears, and flaws. Your good guy isn't all good and your bad guy isn't all bad just because they want to be. They have different morals, ideals, and goals. Explore their motivations and desires so that your reader is able to relate to both sides of the story. 

Crafting Compelling Backstories

Your protagonist wants to stop the big corporation from building a road through the marsh because he lives and plays there. Your antagonist works for the corporation and wants to build the road because he also used to live there and knows it'll make the area safer. 

Your character's past shapes who they are and the choices they'll make. Give them backstories with formative experiences, pivotal moments, and if you need to - lots of trauma. Trauma can either raise a man up or bury him, just depends on how he deals with it.  

Unique Physical Descriptions

You want these two characters to stand out. It doesn't mean you have to turn the antagonist into a noseless snake man but give them something to make them stand out from the other supporting or background characters around your protagonist. Give both characters distinct physical attributes, appearance, style, mannerisms, and gestures. You want your readers to be able to draw your characters from memory if they have to because that's exactly what you want - to make them memorable.  

Dialogue and Voice

Your protagonist and antagonist are two different characters and so their dialogue and voice should be distinguishable in some way. Their dialogue should reflect their background and personality. Pay attention to their word choices, tone, and speech patterns.  

Goals and Conflicts

Your protagonist and antagonist have one major thing in common. They are on opposing sides to the same goal in some way. This is where your attention and conflict come into play for your story. Your protagonist wants something and your antagonist is the force in the story that is directly standing in their way. Whether the conflict is internal or external, it has to be overcome and force your characters to make difficult choices and evolve throughout the story. 

Relationships and Interactions

Eventually, your two characters are going to have to come face to face. Create meaningful relationships and interactions not only between them but your supporting characters as well to show off the differences in their dynamics. These dynamics could be friendship, romance, rivalry, or unwilling alliance. If these characters are meant to be on opposite sides of the wall to each other give them moments together to show it. 

Flawed Heroes and Sympathetic Antagonists

As mentioned before your good guy is not all good and your bad guy isn't evil for evil sake. Your characters will be more relatable to your reader if you show them as realistic and relatable as possible. 

Your protagonist is going to have flaws and vulnerabilities while your antagonist needs to find sympathy in the reader so that they can understand their side of the conflict and bring some depth and complexity to the struggles your characters are facing. 

Character Arcs and Growth

If you don't have character growth, you don't have a story. 

Your protagonist and antagonist are embarking on a journey where their experiences, challenges, and choices are going to shape who they are. They need to overcome fears, learn important life lessons, or even succumb to an inner darkness, either way, character growth is going to be essential for creating your memorable charters and your story. 

---

Your characters make your story so it'll do you well to give them the attention to detail they deserve. Make them as fully fleshed out as you can and you'll ensure that your protagonist and antagonist leave a lasting impact on your readers.

Best of luck and keep writing.

With love, 

B.K. xo

*If you've liked what you read you can show your support by subscribing, pledging your support, or leaving me a tip that directly supports and aids me as a writer.

By joining Vocal+ you can earn more per read on every story you publish on Vocal.

Click my link to start your 7-day free trial today and start earning more for your stories.

_____________________________________________

This story was originally posted on Medium.

If you would like to experience Medium yourself, consider supporting me and thousands of other writers by signing up for a membership. It only costs $5 per month, it supports us writers, greatly, and you have the chance to make money with your own writing as well. By signing up with this link, you'll support me directly with a portion of your fee, it won't cost you more. If you do so, thank you a million times!

If you love what you've read you can also show your support by buying me a cup of coffee to fuel my writing. 

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barbaraking