Creating Realistic Characters

When I first started writing, I struggled continuously with creating good characters. They spoke and acted in an unrealistic and two-dimensional manner. When writing a villain, for example, it is such a temptation to over exaggerate the evilness in the character so your reader is left in no doubt about how bad they are. But to really convey characters' inner dimensions, subtlety is the key. So how can you make realistic, memorable characters?

Base your characters on people you already know. You will be aware of their funny habits, quirkiness and speech patterns. You will also know how they would react to certain situations. You could base them on family members, neighbours or even yourself. Do they stutter when they are nervous? How would they react in a crisis? Do they smoke? How do they walk/talk? How would you describe them to a friend? By doing this you are creating believable characters. You could also people watch. I do this all the time. I listen to how they express themselves verbally and physically. I do this even when I am not writing so I have an array of good characters for my next project. Make your character come to life. Some questions to ask could be:

What is their eye and hair colour?

 Do they have tattoos or scars?

What is their build? Thin or bulky? Do they have huge feet?

What is their occupation?

When is their birthday?

How old are they?

Who are their friends? Who are their enemies?

What are their dreams/goals?

What do they want to accomplish?

What was their childhood like?

Who is in their family?

Do they have any family?

Any strange pets? Do they allow the dog to sleep on their bed?

What are their favourite things? What annoys them?

Get ideas for your characters' features from the internet. A good idea is to Google search images of people. This will give you great inspiration for the type of character you are looking for. The secret is to give each character a complete history or backstory. Once you know your character inside and out, writing dialogue for them or knowing how they would deal with different situations becomes easy. Keep all your characters in one file; you may not need them all for your next project but you will need them at some point.

Make sure you understand their fears and weaknesses. If someone is afraid of the dark, then exploit this. Do not make your characters (especially your protagonist) perfect as this will just irritate the reader. Remember you are the writer, you’re not supposed to be your characters' friend; you are there to show their weaknesses and flaws.

Make sure you name your character correctly. Remember you will have to type it continuously so make it easy for yourself. Their name must be easily pronounced and fit into the era in which your novel is set. A character in a romance based in Victorian times is not going to be called Brad. If you have based your character on someone you know, don’t forget to change their name! Lastly, do not base your character on another character in a book or film. You can get ideas from them, but do not blatantly plagiarise another author's characters.

Remember this process takes time, so don’t rush it.

For more  techniques on creating a great novel then check out my book  How To Write a Great Novel and Get It Published https://www.amazon.com/dp/179295221X