If you want to write a story with believable characters, you need to create characters that are realistic. You can do this by giving your characters personality traits and flaws that are common in real people. For example, your character might be really friendly but also a little bit pushy, or they might be shy and insecure around new people.
Adding realistic details like these to your characters will make them feel more like real people, and readers will connect with them more easily.
When you’re creating characters, it’s important to think about who they are as people. What is their background? What are their likes and dislikes? What motivates them? Answering these questions will help you create characters that feel real to your readers.
It’s also important to give your characters distinctive personalities. Make sure they have their own unique voices and quirks. This will help your readers tell them apart and make them more interesting to read about. One way to do this is to base your characters on people you know in real life. This can help you understand how they would act and react in different situations.
Another way to create realistic personalities is to use personality tests. These can help you understand your characters’ strengths and weaknesses and how they might react in different situations. It also allows you to delve deeper into your character’s personality to uncover traits you may not have thought about before.
Finally, it’s important to make sure your characters’ actions make sense in the context of the story. Doing something that doesn’t make sense will jar your readers and take them out of the story. Make sure their actions are consistent with their personalities and motivations and that they help move the story forward.
This is for the majority of the story, of course. If you want to have a story containing a plot twist which involves your main character, there is always a possibility that this may lead to your main character acting differently from before, but this should still make sense within the story.
Once you understand who your characters are, it’s time to start writing them. Here are a few tips to help you bring them to life on the page:
- Try writing in the first person. This will help your readers feel like they are inside your character’s head and will make them more believable. It also allows you to explain your character’s actions and reasons for them more thoroughly.
- Use dialogue to bring out your character’s personality. What do they sound like when they speak? How do they interact with other characters?
- Use description to help your readers visualise your characters. What do they look like? What are their mannerisms?
– Show, don’t tell. Instead of telling your readers what your characters are like, show them through their actions and words.
By following these tips, you can create believable characters that will help your readers get lost in your story.