Four Tips for Creating Engaging Characters

Not liking the characters–not finding them interesting, relatable, or believable–is one of the main reasons people DNF (did not finish) a book. Whatever genre you’re writing–mystery, historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, etc.–your characters need to be engaging. Characters are often what people remember about a story. The best books are the ones that make you a little bit sad at the end because you have to say goodbye to the characters.

To help you make irresistible characters, we have four pieces of advice, one from each Embers’ editor.

What makes a character so engaging that they draw you into the story and make it hard to put down?

Madeleine

Every hero and heroine, and really every character in your story, must have a “must.” They need to have something concrete that’s driving them–something to achieve or reach or get away from. They must be driven to get from one part of the story to the other. And if they’re not, then there are missing stakes. The story isn’t as exciting, and we don’t feel that anticipation with the characters.

Melissa

The characters have to be relatable in some way. Real people are quirky. They have strengths and weaknesses, and we’re all a little bit weird. No one is “normal,” so if you can embody that in your characters, people will be able to relate to them and want to root for them.

Rachelle

The character needs to be flawed but have a redeeming quality that makes me care about them. And then that character needs to change from who they are at the beginning of the story. I want to see them grow by going through challenges, failing, then overcoming.

Tracy

I tend to like smart or witty characters or characters who do unexpected things. I do also tend to agree with the "save the cat" concept of the person needing to do something likeable or worthy or small for me to want to keep reading. It's not enough that the character suffers tragedy or lives in a cool world, they have to have some quality that shows their potential for growth.

Four Questions to Ask Yourself

So, to create characters that will draw your readers in and linger in your readers' minds after they finish your story, ask yourself these four questions:

• Do your characters have a “must,” something that they want or need that is driving the story?
• Are your characters quirky and unique?
• Are your characters flawed, like real people, but grow and change throughout the story?
• Do your characters show the potential for growth (not just having things in the story happen to them)?

If you're interested in more advice on character development, check out our FREE Rock-Solid Fiction Foundations Workbook.

~By Melissa Burnham

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