Fictional Character Development
One of the most important parts of creative writing is the effectiveness of your characters. You need to make characters that are believable, characters that act the way real people would act, and think the way real people would think. There are a number of different approaches to fictional character development that can all help you build better characters in your story, and portray them to the readers in a way that makes sense. Here are some of the best strategies we've come up with to help you do better characterization.
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Build a Backstory
As you write a story, take time to build out a sketch of each of your characters. Think about what they like, what has happened in their lives, where they come from. Even if all of these details don't make it into the actual story, they might help influence how your characters act and give you a better understanding of who they are.
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Give Your Character Drive
Every character should have a motive for their actions. People don't act in an isolated state and so, you shouldn't let your characters fall into this rut. Be sure as you write that YOU understand your characters rationale and desires or else their actions won't make sense to the readers.
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Give Your Characters Quirks
Think about the people you know. The traits that make each of them stand out in your mind are their nuances and unique tendencies. Don't leave these out of your writing, and instead, give your characters their own unique traits. It will help to make them more memorable and likeable.
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Love Before Death
If you want readers to be invested in your story, it's crucial that you make sure your reader falls in love with your character before you \kill them off.\" Note: This doesn't only apply when you are actually killing a character but applies in most situations. If your reader doesn't feel a strong connection with your character, then he or she won't care about the things that happen to your character. If you talk about how sad it was when you lost your best friend, make sure the reader loves your best friend too."
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Spread the Details
People like to get characterization out of the way by bombarding the reader with all of the details at once. This strategy is just going to overwhelm the reader and cause many of the details to be lost. Sprinkle the characterization throughout the story, allowing the reader to learn more about the character when necessary.
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Let Your Readers Be Cheerleaders
To ensure your audience enjoys your book, it's good to provide them with a character they can root for. If your reader feels no sympathy for any of the characters in the book, or never develops an attachment to their cause, then the reader will lose interest.
These are just a few tips to help you with your fictional character development. Remember, even a boring story can become appealing with the proper characters. As such, take some time, build the characters that fit your story, and let them work their magic. In time, your rich characterization will take your story in directions you never thought imaginable.
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