How to Develop a Compelling Character

Writing fiction is one of the strangest and rewarding things I have ever done. It is much like being a parent: your character is "born" from scratch following your intent and you give them a name. You dress them and grow them, and as you are writing chapter after chapter you find yourself with hopes and dreams for them- how they will act and react, who they will end up with, how you wish to see them at the end of the book.

But a funny thing happens. Much like a parent, after a while your "child" starts to exercise free will! And you find yourself watching your character doing their own thing. Writing their own story.

It is a very interesting phenomena to be a part of!

If you start out with a detailed character description, half your work is done for you. So before you start writing your story, set aside some time to fully develop your characters.

1 Physical

Start out with what your character looks like. Hair color, eye color, height, weight, build, skin tone. Go into details like "high cheek bones" or "square jaw". You want this part to be as detailed as you can get. Are there scars, tattoos or piercings? If you have trouble with this, look at a photo of a person who resembles how you wish your character to look and break it down. Lips, collarbone, abs, get those details written so anyone who looks at your description page will have a clear image in their head.

2 Demographics

This is going to affect the rest so give some thought into this.

How a person is raised and the type of environment they live in is going to affect the rest of their inner and outer description. If they were raised poor they might walk with a tough no nonsense gait. If they were raised terribly wealthy but recently lost their money they will walk high and mighty yet falteringly and unsure as they keep remembering how they were knocked from their throne. Develop their early childhood, teen years, types of education, jobs or career, areas lived, etc.

3 Characteristics

Now it's time to watch your character in action. Have them walk, run and dance in your mind. Are they graceful or clumsy? Do they walk with a slight limp on the left? Watch them when they think they aren't being watched- how do they act in their own living room when alone? Is it different when surrounded by people? Do they have an intense stare or are they shy? Are they talkative or more on the quiet side? Which side do they sleep on? Do they run their hand through their hair? Chew gum?

4 Hobbies

Give your new character hobbies, because everyone needs something to enjoy when not working ;)

5 Hopes and Dreams and Hates

Everyone has wants, needs and dreams. Decide what your character hopes for. This may be easy because it is central to your story, or it may be a bit more difficult, but necessary. Similarly, everyone has something they wish they could change about themselves. It may be economic status, lisp, weight, or eye color, but everyone has something.

6 A Secret

I'm going to share a secret with you. This has helped me develop well loved characters in my stories ever since I first started doing it. It really works!

Give your character a secret.

You must never tell anyone the secret, not the reader, not your best friend. The secret is between the character and you only. This little bit of magic will bring your character to life in a big way! I don't know how this works exactly but when I started doing this I received much more profound feedback on how loved (or hated, for the bad guy characters) each character is!

Each character in your story should have their own detailed desctiption. If they are important enough to be mentioned in your book, they are important enough to develop a back story.

Remember that not every single bit of this will end up on the pages of your story or novel. That is not the point of this exercise. This is for you. The better you know your character the more they will come to life and off the page and into your readers hearts.

What brings your characters to life? Share your tricks in the comments!

Images via Leonardo DaVinci and Pexels

I appreciate your support :)