Characters are the most important part of a story. You can have a great plot with great world building, but if your characters are flat, unlikeable, and un-dynamic, your story will not be meaningful or enjoyable. In fact, a story with truly amazing characters could have the same tired plot as hundreds of other books set in a barely conceived world, and it could still be an incredible story.
It’s easy to talk about unique plots, fascinating settings, and the mechanics of quality writing, but how does one conceive of entirely unique and interesting souls – humans (or not), minds, personalities, lives? It can be a daunting and overwhelming task, but fortunately, you, as a human, who interacts with and views other humans and watches shows and reads books about other humans, have the advantage of experience. So think about your favorite humans – fictional or otherwise – what makes them interesting to you? What makes you interesting?
1. Make your characters passionate about your passions
Passion is one of the defining characteristics of a complex, interesting, and likable person. Every human has passions, so seeing the same drive and emotion in others enables readers to relate to them, and see them at their best and their most engaged. Any good character should be passionate about something, whether that thing is saving the world, building model hobbit houses, assassinating people, or showing no emotion. Readers care about a character who cares.
Now, an effective and believable way to incorporate passions into your characters, is to give them some of your passions. You are the most knowledgeable about the things you love, and that will come across to the reader. It also adds freshness to a story, as we all have unique sets of passions. I, for one, am passionate about circus, sustainable agriculture, and my faith. I have experience riding horses, playing music, and playing team sports. Some of these things are common passions, others are not so common, and the combination of them all is entirely unique. Think about the passions and experiences that make you unique, and brainstorm how you can incorporate these things into characters to make them unique.
2. Conflicting morals and emotions
Everyone loves conflict. It’s what drives us to watch shows and movies and read books in the first place. Giving your characters conflicting morals and emotions automatically introduces complex conflict into your story. This can be the main conflict of the entire novel, or it can add interesting flavor and complement the main plot.
Conflicting morals are something that works great with protagonists or antagonists. If you want to add even more depth to your story, give your side characters some juicy conflicting emotions. This technique not only adds tension to a story, it makes it feel real. Humans as a rule are contradictory things. We can’t make up our minds about things, we can’t decide how we feel about other things, we can’t untangle our emotions, and we can somehow feel joyful, sorrowful, embarrassed, and confused all in the same moment. Mess with your character’s minds and emotions. It’s fun, and readers love it.
Like with character passions, a great way to make believable moral and emotional conflict is to model it after your own. What world issues, emotions, or beliefs create conflict within you? How can you explore this conflict in one of your characters?
3. Reverse stereotypes and roles
Turning readers’ expectations on their heads is a foolproof way to add interest to anything. Characters are no exception. The first thing I think of when considering reversed stereotypes is the Disney Channel show, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. This show is set in a hotel, and the side-character cast includes a brainy blonde, a not-so-smart Asian, a male hispanic bellboy (in lieu of a maid), and a pompous African American manager. Bringing focus to these reversed roles is not the point of the show, but they add an intriguing and comedic note – one that has underlying deeper meaning.
Tired of male comedic side-kicks? Make a 6-foot tall female comedic friend with a hearty appetite. Old, wrinkly mentors getting on your nerves? Make a mentor that’s younger than the protagonist – and make them the comedic relief character while you’re at it. Think of the stereotypes present in our society based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. How can you reverse these stereotypes in your characters? How can you make this add meaningful commentary on your beliefs and passions?
4. Unique abilities and pasts
This one seems obvious, but it really must be included in this list. Everyone loves a main character who can do what other characters cannot, and whose past differs from that of other characters. We all want to be unique, special, and different, and seeing this in book characters brings us a sort of fulfillment and release. Maybe your character can perform magic where others cannot – maybe he can perform magic better, or in a different way – maybe she is a perfect shot, or master crafter of potions, or is the only human in the world with the ability to vanish people’s pants with the snap of her fingers.
Look within your worldbuilding, and think how you can take your magic, your society, or your cultures, and change something about it for your character. This could pertain to the character’s ability, or their past. Do all the children in your society go away to school? Your character didn’t – why? Are all farmers in your world women? Your male character is a farmer – why? Do all people in your world possess a common magic? Your character doesn’t – what can they do instead?
Think of the ‘norms’ in the world you have created (or our world, if your story is set here). How can you alter these to give your character a unique ability or past?
5. Common vs. Super
What draws people to superheroes – to Albus Dumbledore, Sherlock Holmes, or Gandalf? These characters’ incredible, impossible abilities make for fascinating people that readers could never relate to, yet we love to see them achieve seemingly unattainable feats using their talents and powers. Now, what draws people to Harry Potter, John Watson, or Samwise Gamgee? These characters do not possess wild and unique abilities – they are common, everyday people going about their lives with wild and unique things happening around them. Do we love these characters less for their commonality? Of course not! We love them for their relatability, and their perspective that matches our own in worlds of magic, danger, and the unknown.
So which of these characters is more effective? How do you decide to make your protagonist relatable or awe-inspiring? The answer to this depends on the progression you wish to write within your character’s development. Most protagonists are of the ‘common man’ variety for two reasons: 1) a character who starts with little or no special abilities, talents, or power has the opportunity for development in the direction of ‘super,’ 2) a ‘common’ character thrown into danger and adventure provides an opportunity to explain a world from the perspective of a person in the same situation as the reader.
If your protagonist is a ‘common’ character, development and growth are generally easier to write, but this does not mean a ‘super’ character cannot have meaningful development! Maybe a super character develops in her relationships, her morals, or other ways unrelated or even caused by her proficiency. Maybe he slides backward down the scale, losing his power and having to redevelop in another area (Dr. Strange). The important thing to keep in mind, is knowing where your character falls on this scale, and using that to inform your character development.
6. The scales of likability
This is a concept covered by Brandon Sanderson in his writing lectures at BYU, and one that really made me think about characters differently. He explains that every character possess three traits on a sliding scale: likability, competence, and proactivity.
Likability, put simply, is how much a reader wants to be friends with your character. Do other characters in your story like this character? Are they friendly, funny, witty, or good-natured? Or are they surly, bitter, temperamental, or cruel? Readers are drawn to more likable characters.
Competence takes us back to the common vs. super continuum. How good is your character at what they do? This could be their job, their hobbies, their magic, or everyday life and common sense. Readers are drawn to more competent characters.
Proactivity refers to how effectively a character moves the story along. Do they take actions and make decisions with consequences that create conflict, tension, and intrigue? Do they sprint through the plot, dragging the reader behind them, or slowly plod along, often distracted by other things? Readers are drawn to more proactive characters.
Now what do you do with this? By no means should every character be a 10/10 on all three of these scales. A high rating on one scale allows the author to slide the other two down while still engaging the reader. I love the example Brandon Sanderson gives for this. In the Avengers, Thor is a likable character with high competence, but is probably a 1/10 on the proactivity scale. Thor does nothing to move the plot. He just wants to sit and drink beer all day, and if it were up to him, there would be no plot whatsoever. Loki, on the other hand, is quite an unlikable guy with average competence (doesn’t have the incredible powers of Thor), but he has super high proactivity. He takes action and makes decisions that force the plot to move. While Thor’s ‘likability’ and ‘competence’ scales are much higher than Loki’s, lots of people are more drawn to Loki than Thor because of his proactivity.
Bottom line: Try this scale out with your characters. To make characters that keep the reader engaged, make sure at least one of the three bars is high.
Put serious effort into your characters. Get to know them. Map out their past, their abilities, their personality, their passions, their morals, and their emotions. Great characters make a great story. What are your favorite characters? Why are they your favorites?
