Preptober Step 2: Creating Memorable Characters
What book characters have stayed with you long after you finished the book? My number one of all time is probably Katniss Everdeen.
Characters can make or break a story. The plot can be unique and exciting, but if readers can’t connect with your characters, the rest will fall flat.
We pick up books because of the concept, but we keep reading because of the characters.
During October, I’ll be sharing ways to get ready for NaNoWriMo.
In today's blog, you’ll learn:
🥅 Defining the goals, motivation, and conflict for your main character
🗣 Finding your character’s voice
⚔ Resources to help you build memorable characters
The 3 Things All Characters Need
1. CHARACTER GMC
GMC = goals, motivation, and conflict
You’ll want to have these three things nailed down for your main character(s) and have a general idea for your important secondary characters.
🥅The Goal is the entire point of everything—of every scene, chapter, and the book as a whole.
Once you’ve fleshed out what your character looks like, ask yourself: What do they want? The goal can and likely will change from the beginning to end of your novel, and that’s okay.
In each scene, your character needs a goal. This is where the action will grow from.
Whether or not your character achieves their goal is up to you and the story you decide to tell. No matter if they win or lose, the goal is resolved somehow. How they react to their success or failure will create dimension to your character.
And whether or not they succeed, if the character has strong goals, the readers will be asking themselves: What happens next?
💪🏼The Motivation is the reason behind your character’s goal.
Some examples:
Katniss’s story began when she volunteered as tribute to save her sister’s life.
Feyre's story started when she agreed to go to Prythian with Tamlin to make up for taking his friend’s life and because he promised to provide for her family while she was gone.
I could list several more, but for the sake of keeping your attention, I won’t.
Ask yourself: Why does your character want their goal?
The motivation is going to give your character agency and make them a proactive force as they make their way through the plot. It’s also going to help naturally raise the stakes, especially if it’s very personal to the character.
They have a personal reason to do so, whether it’s intrinsic or extrinsic or both.
As authors, we have to think big picture—how do my character’s goals and motivations work together to build out an entire story? But the character can only see what’s in front of them—how does the scene affect their lives and what do they need to do then and there?
The more personal the reason, the better. That’s what makes readers stay up until 3 AM reading.
Remember, if it feels like the character’s just along for the ride rather than propelling the plot forward, they need a stronger goal and motivation.
⚔The Conflict is the reason why your character might fail. The conflict needs to be personal and be hard for your character to overcome because it’s related to who they are and what they want.
Of course, random obstacles will occur. The Hunger Games is a great example of scaling conflict from very personal, to little hiccups along the way, to greater impact on the wider world.
Don’t use obstacles to simply delay the character from reaching their goal—the more personal it is, the more likely your character is likely to make hard choices.
And readers love to see characters suffer, don’t they?
2. PERSONALITY
Now that we’ve got the GMC down—essentially, the character’s reason for being in your story and what’s going to royally mess up their day, week, or entire life—let’s get into who they are as a person (or mermaid or vampire or fae).
Ask yourself:
What are important character traits you want them to have—positive and negative?
What are their strengths and weaknesses?
Do they follow rules they’ve created for themselves? Does someone or something force them to break those rules?
Do they have any strong beliefs or limiting beliefs about themselves or the wider world?
What important experiences shaped them and what wounds did those events leave?
Do they have important relationships?
Is their voice unique to where they live in the world?
Of course, that’s not an exhaustive list of questions, but they will get you on the path to creating a complete character that will be able to drive your plot forward and remain in the minds of readers.
3. VOICE
Your character’s voice is one way they get to express themselves outwardly and inwardly.
Readers connect to characters via their personalities, but also their thoughts and the words they speak.
Here are 3 ways to establish strong character voice:
Choose a POV—who is going to tell your story?
Focus on dialogue—how will your character speak?
Don’t forget about expressions or body language—how do they react and express emotions?
And finally, it’s not about how likable your characters are—it’s how relatable they are. We can relate to a good guy as much as we can to a bad guy if their personality is fleshed out and we have a good understanding of why they’re going after their goals.
Character Development Resources
For character bibles:
For deciding on what POV to choose:
For help with choosing conflict and psychology wounds:
For help with body language and expression:
Keep the pen moving,
Kourtney