Making your Characters Real

Making your Characters Real

Well before I start, sorry it's been a while since I posted! I had finals, then I was engrossed in many a writings, but I'm here now, and ready to get back into it!

How do you make your characters real?

Everyone wants their characters to feel so real that their critique partners will call them up and be like, "Why is Mary so mean to Bob? God, I hate her!" or "Bob so deserved that! I hate him! Good for Mary!" (If the story is eventually published, you will likely hear both about the same character if you wrote them well.)

Believe it or not, it isn't that hard.

Is Good and Bad good or bad?

The most important thing to do is to make sure they aren't a pure breed. You don't want someone to point to a character and be like "Mary is bad." or "Mary is good." You want them to think about it and say, "I think I like Mary, but I didn't like it when she yelled at Bob." In other words, your good characters need to have a bad side and your bad characters need to have a good side. Every character that is in your novel for more than a few pages should be double sided. Writing is where the mutts rule.

Make them human.

Then you need to make your character human. What's the first thing you want to know about a person (after if they're nice or not/what they look like.)? You probably want to know what they like/dislike and they're hobbies. And you can't just say watching TV. Then you want to know what shows. Think of your characters like your friends (that you'll later torture). 

And make sure you give them a specialty. That could be anything as specific as being able to name every star on a star map or as general as music. It just matters how well we know the character and how broadly they think. But keep in mind, just because two characters like the same thing doesn't mean they have to connect. If two kids each like playing Barbies, you might think they'd get along. But one girl likes doing their hair and picking outfits for them. The other likes acting out stories.

Voice: the hard part made easy

Now for their voice. Think about it. You already have their voice. How did they grow up? Here, watch.

Take the sentence, "That movie was great! I loved the part where they kissed!"

Say your character is a 15 year old who likes watching youtube and doesn't really like to read. They might say, "Wow! That movie was awesome! I loved the part where they made out! It was so cute!"

Say your character is an English major who is teaching their first year of English at a local high school. She loves to read and has been writing since she was very young. She's also a bit show-offy. "That movie was magnificent! I especially enjoyed the moment where the two protagonists kissed by the lake. It was quite well done."

Or your character is a film student. She grew up watching movies and has wanted to be a director forever. She likes reading, but mostly about film and loves watching movies to learn to be a better director. "That movie was so well done! The part where the two main characters kissed was lit really well! The lens flares were placed perfectly. I wonder if they were in camera? And the sound was done perfectly! I should take notes next time."

See? Find what your character knows and that's how they talk. This will especially come in handy if you're writing first person or close third person, but will come in handy no matter what. More times than not, a character will need to speak at some point.

Now, go forth, and create new people! Ah-hem... I mean, characters....