Tips, tricks & discussions: How to make your story better

fcukforcookies · January 28, 2019, 11:23am

Good morning guys.

Today’s topic:

How to make your characters more interesting

If you fill characters questionnaire for the main characters, then your characters must have:

GOAL - it is the base of the character plotline, that also helps to drive the story main plot/conflict.
MOTIVATION - basically the reason behind the goal. Like, if your character wants to be a ballet dancer, it is kinda superficial to let it be without any reason behind. Maybe she is inspired by her mom/grandma or any other reason. It adds depth to your character and also helps the reader to understand your character better, be more emotionally connected to it.
FEAR - it also adds a depth to the character, as well as helps driving the main plot, and character’s personal plotline, plus it makes the character more real, and helps to create conflict situations within their own plotline.
FLAW - I already touched this subject in the earlier post.
HISTORY - this is supposed to explain what the character is now like, and how he/she became this way, as well as gives reasoning behind his/her present decisions.
PRESENT HISTORY and INTERESTS - what are they all about? Don’t let it be only about them having a job or going to school/college. Small details also matter. What is their daily routine? Habits? Don’t create a flat history, when the character doesn’t really do anything besides partying and shopping. Incorporate hobbies/ habits. Maybe your character drinks his/her coffee every morning on the park bench while watching other people? Or walks his/her old neighbor’s dog?
PERSONALITY - You may try to do this while coming not from some specific traits, but for example using MBTI: the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. There are 16 personality types, that can help you to build the basis of your characters. Check short description below:

MBTI

QUIRK - everyone has some kind of strange or weird habit. Something that distinguishes you a tiny bit from other characters. Add them. Maybe your character can’t use a bathroom unless it’s his/her own? Or your character drinks his coffee with peper?
NAME - now this is IMO more important than most authors think. The name can point on the time period that is in your story. Something about character’s ancestors, or maybe a place real or fictional. Don’t just go with the name you simply like. Think more into it. It also adds a drop of personality to your character.
DESIRE - these can be great motivators, to make your characters do something great, or really bad. These things can make your character act irrationally.
LOVE - that doesn’t mean you have to go with the love interesting right from the start. Your character might love relatives or friends, or his/her dog or cat. It should go for a villain as well btw. This makes the character more likable and adds to the motivation, and might affect his/her decisions.
POWER - power can go in all shapes. Now, I don’t mean here supernatural abilities. I mean human strengths. Maybe your character is super organized? Or smart? Or maybe he is very emotionally-perceptive? Also remember, that it is not necessary that your character already knows about his strength. Maybe he/she is yet to discover it.
COMPLEXITY - your character may be well-developed, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he/she is complex. Out your character into different diverse, controversial situations, explore how he/she reacts on them, how these situations change his perceptions of the world and other people.
RELATABILITY - it is relatively easy to do with the main character, with the help of flaws and some habits and likes. But don’t stop just at the main character. Make villains and MC friends and family relatable as well.
FAIL - make your characters fail. All humans make mistakes, and your character is no exception. Show him/her fail, and deal with the consequences however you feel will work the best. Second-hand embarrassment is a good thing to do as well
STRUGGLE - Don’t let everything go well along your character’s way. Create some obstacles, that might make him/her suffer, or struggle, or fail. The thing is to combine some external struggles, that are out of character control, with his/her own decisions that make him/her fail.
IDENTITY - it is about their sex, religions, race, ancestry. How do they see themselves? Because a lot of times we see ourselves in a different light than people around us.
PERSPECTIVE - it is how we see the world. Explore your character’s religious and political beliefs, education, social influences, and relationships to better understand how they see the world and other people around them.
TYPE - what is it that your characters want in friends, romance and family? What is that that they seek? What is the type of character they feel attracted to?
LANGUAGE - your character may have an accent, or burr while speaking, or swear a lot, or use a lot of popular culture references. This also adds some depth to the character.
ATTITUDE - is your character a pessimist, optimist or realist? How he/she sees the world affects his/her decisions.
HAPPY PLACE - what is something that makes your character truly happy? Show it. Showing character at their best might impact the whole reader’s perception of the character at their worst.
SUPPORT - who helps your character, not only physically, but mentally. Maybe he/she has a guide or mentor? Or show affection in another way. It may be not only a human but an animal.
GUT - or a sixth sense if you wish. It can tell a lot about your character’s history and personality, likes and dislikes, and also add to the suspense. Their gut feeling might be reasonable or not.
BANE - what is the point where your character simply breaks? What is the event, or maybe words by someone that can absolutely crush him/her?
REFUGE - where your character goes when everything is in ruins? It might be a person or a place that holds some special memories.
REDEMPTION - your character will do some bad shit (hopefully), but what is that thing he/she can do to make up for it? Or at least try to? It may redeem character in the eyes of a reader, but not necessarily in eyes of other characters. Other characters might not even find out that he/she did something heroic or meaningful, but the reader should.
RESULT - if your character changed for the better show how his/her life is different, what good it did to overcome all the struggles? If the character changed for worse - how it affected his/her life.
THE STORY - you may get all these things created for your character, but there is more to it.
What you truly need to make your character memorable is their story.
Who is your character at the beginning of the story, how he/she changed during the story, what launches them into the story that will change them, what mistakes will they make in their journey, what struggles will they face, and how will they will affect your character, and who will they become at the end of the story.

Some additional tips:

GIVE A SECRET - give your character some kind of secret. Maybe a secret hobby, or fear, or desire, or something he/she did in the past.
LOWER INHIBITIONS - a lot of us tend to suppress their emotions in real life. But what if your character doesn’t? Maybe he/she is easily irritated, or easily angered? Consider this.
PROACTIVE VS. REACTIVE - let’s say your character is kidnapped. What he/she will do? Reactive will mop and cry, and wait when someone will save him/her. Proactive will try to come up with the plan, explore surroundings, try to do something to save themselves. Of course, there are both types, but proactive is definitely more interesting to watch, as they are more dynamic.
PLAY AGAINST THE TYPE - give your character some trait that is not really common for his/her type. Maybe your character is a firefighter that knits in his spare time, or primary school math teacher enjoys riding Harleys. By doing this you make the character more memorable and interesting.

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