How Do I Create Good Characters?

Good characters are key elements to your story. They are what keeps the story moving. The characters determine the pace of your story. They are the main heroes of your story. Good characters are important. So in this article, I’m going to dive into a few tips on creating good characters. 

If you want readers to keep turning pages on your story, you need good characters. Good characters help hook readers. If readers don’t care about the character, they won’t care about the story. If they don’t have feelings towards the characters, they won’t keep reading.

How do we come up with good characters? How can we create characters that readers will care about? 

Think about a few of your favorite books. For me, it might be Little Women or perhaps The Wingfeather Saga. Why do you like these books so much? I like Little Women because I can relate to one of the main characters, Jo March. When Jo gets mad, I feel mad. When Jo is sad, I feel sad. Whatever emotions the character is feeling I feel too. This makes me feel very close to Jo and I care about her. I want to know what happens next to her. 

• Readers love characters they can relate to

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Have you ever connected with them because you can relate to them? Can you relate with a character who is not like you? If you read a small book, like Run, Otto, Run, do you feel any connection with the character? Probably not, since Otto is a character that younger children can relate to.

• If you want to have a good character, you must know your audience

Really think about who you want to read your book. If you are writing a science-fiction fantasy story you might be thinking middle-grade to high school level readers. What kind of characters would readers in that age group resonate with? Most likely with characters who are young teens, which is why most middle-grade fiction books have characters between the ages of 12-15. Know your audience when creating your character. 

• Show don’t tell

A good way for readers to relate to your character is by “showing” how the character is feeling rather than “telling”. You could tell me that Sarah is mad, but I wouldn’t feel mad. But if you showed me that Sarah was mad by balling her fists and gritting her teeth, then I would understand that she is mad. Take the following two passages as an example. 

“Samuel left.” Caris relayed to Sarah.

“He did what?!” Sarah said in anger. 

****

“Samuel left.” Caris nervously fidgeted with the hem on her shirt. 

Sarah turned on Caris, her face reddening. “He did what?!” She burst out, her fists balled. 

****

Which passage could you best picture in your mind? Probably the second passage. That’s because it was showing you what Sarah felt rather than just telling you that Sarah was mad. We’ve all been mad before. We’ve all lost our temper. We know how it feels to ball our fists in anger, so we can easily relate with Sarah in the second passage. 

• Use inner dialogue or thoughts

Another good way to help readers relate to your characters is to use your character’s thoughts in your writing. Seeing straight into the character’s head and mind can help your readers understand the characters. It is a good way to show inner conflict within a character, and makes the readers feel more connected with the character. 

• Have admirable characters

You will want characters with good and inspiring traits. Characters that confess, characters that forgive, characters that try to become better. A satisfying character is one who has a good character arc. I personally love reading about characters who inspire me to be a better person. A character who keeps trying when it’s hard. A character who stays faithful to the end. Try creating a list of morals and virtues that you admire, and see how you can add that in your character’s traits. 

Well, those are my top tips for creating good characters. Keep reading, my friends, and you will learn much from studying your favorite characters. Writing good characters isn’t easy, but it is very rewarding in the end. 

If you want more of my writing tips, check out my other posts here!

See you on the next page,

-Ella Quill