Writing Strong Characters

Writing strong character’s is what can make or break a book. When writing a book you want the reader to fall in love with the characters just as much as you do. So how do you create strong and believable characters?

Create your characters beforehand

If you are a plotter this will be a no-brainer but for those who like to write by the seed of their pants this might not be so obvious. My characters are the only part of the book I plan out before starting. I like to have a good grip on who my characters are. I suggest getting a piece of paper and filling it entirely with stuff about you hero/heroine. What do they like to do? How did they grow up? What problems or issues do they have? How do they eat do they scarf their food down or take small bites? Write down everything even if it’s not essential to your story line. If you don’t have a good idea of who your character is your reader won’t either.

Be consistent

Once you start writing you might discover that your character is more self-conscious than you thought. Or maybe they are coming across on the page different than you intended. Either way you want to make sure you are consistent in your writing. I often have to go back to the beginning of my story and ask myself, “Is this something X would really say?” In the beginning you are still learning your character so make sure to go back and check for consistencies.

Dialogue, dialogue dialogue!

This is something that I personally struggle with but I’m getting better. You can tell a lot about a character by the way they talk. Are they a people pleaser? Do they say yes a lot when they really mean no? Do they have a accent and say the word Y’all all the time? Don’t forget that dialogue is going to be a huge part of creating strong believable characters. Also make sure the dialogue is actually matching who they are. If you character is uneducated they probably aren’t going to be using big descriptive words when they talk.

Your character will develop

Your characters should go through some kind of change. Isn’t that the point of a story, to see a character go through change? So just because you have this perfect plan about who you character is don’t forget by the end of the book they are going to change a little bit. They shouldn’t be a completely different person but there should and will be character development.

I hope these tips were helpful. Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter for more information.