How to Develop Realistic Characters In Your Writing
Four ways to dive deeper into character creation.
Writing quality characters is a beautiful medley of psychology and creative voice. Readers want entertainment, but they also wish to read about characters who resonate with them.
Each character should be like a real person. Their thoughts and actions need to make sense. The more realistic you can make a character, the better able your audience is to connect and understand the emotions and reasons behind choices and interactions throughout the story. Consistency is key.
Nothing bothers me more as a reader than diving into a book that is full of characters whose every whim seems senseless, completely random, and inconsistent.
When I am reading, I want characters with depth and substance. I don’t want to be distracted by haphazard creations that are doing one thing when it seems like they should be doing another. Don’t pull me out of enjoying a story. Instead, reel me in.
So how, as writers, do we develop characters that feel real and consistent?
It depends on how well we develop their internal worlds.
