Developing and Writing Realistic Characters
Developing (and sticking to) realistic characters can sometimes prove to be a daunting task, even to the most seasoned writers. Here are some tips that you can utilize to create the best fiction possible:
Map out the characters
Mapping out the characters’ personalities and relationships helps to strengthen each one and ensure originality. Although you will want to focus on the main characters, the idea can also be extended to minor ones as well. For each character, give a somewhat detailed description of how they look, act, their goals, and the nature of relationships they share with other characters. Once you’ve fully mapped them out, you can refer back to it and see if what you’ve written is applicable to the character(s) you’ve described.
Interview your characters
I know it may seem odd at first, but interviewing your characters can help you understand them from a different perspective. Although seeing yourself as their creator has its merits (particularly when forming plot lines), you can evolve the relationship between author and fiction when doing so. First, you write out a few questions, usually something simple like what they do for fun. Then, while channeling the character, you answer each question how you believe they would. More often than not, you will learn something new about them that you hadn’t considered before, thus giving them a deeper and realistic characterization. Here is a wonderful example of a character interview.
Show, don’t tell
Once you’ve mapped out and interviewed your characters, you can begin writing them. One thing to keep in mind is to show and not tell. This has been a concept that has plagued fiction writers, and is often difficult to accomplish. When showing a character, do not simply state their manner and intentions behind their actions. Use the character’s actions to describe and build their personalities, as opposed to simply telling the reader what they are like. Just like in reality as well in fiction, actions truly speak louder than words. You can read more about it here.
Happy writing!
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