INTRODUCTION:
Characters are crucial to any story because they represent your reader and take your reader through the story. They are the vehicle in which your reader experiences the world of your story through. Think about it—you, yourself, pick up a book because the main character/hero entices you. There’s something relatable about the character, and you want to learn about them, and see how they face the challenges in the book to make it to “the end.”
HOW DO YOU WRITE COMPELLING CHARACTERS?
- Give the Hero a Desire/Want
- Introduce a Secondary Character and Their Want
- Allow Both Characters to Chase Their Desires, to Drive the Plot
- Give the Hero a Desire/Want
To begin with, give the hero of your story a desire or want. This desire is what kickstarts their journey. Without a desire, your character would be living their mundane life, and there would be no story to read nor write.
Here are examples: The hero wants to win back their ex, they want a job promotion, they want to travel and see old friends, they want to catch the bad guy, etc.
- Introduce a Secondary Character and Their Want
In order to make the main character more compelling, or complex, introduce another character and their desire. This is the secondary, or B, character.
This role is important because we get a better understanding of the characters as they engage with those around them; we learn a lot about a character by how they interact with others. For instance, we may learn that the hero is shy; they are controlling; they gush and are at a loss for words; they feel jealous or insecure, and so on.
- Allow Both Characters to Chase Their Desires, to Drive the Plot
Now you have the hero of your story, plus a secondary character. Both characters have a desire of their own. Their desires actually conflict with one another. And the way they try to get their individual desires, or chase after them, drive the plot.
These three things—giving the hero a want, introducing a secondary character and their desire, and allowing the characters to chase their wants—actually gives you three-fourths of a story. If you focus on this, you have an almost completed novel.
To help you create compelling characters for your novel, grab my Novel Writing Kit, which includes a character profile chart. This chart helps you break down each character to make them real and relatable to your reader. And then you’ll have your hero and secondary character set to go.
SOME TAKE-AWAYS TO CONSIDER:
If one character gets their desire, the other character must lose theirs. Let’s look at a Doctor Who example: The Daleks want to kill mankind and claim earth. The Doctor wants to stop them. If the Daleks win, we’re all dead; if The Doctor wins, the Daleks may be dead. If one dies, the other actually loses their purpose. (Hey, sounds like Batman and The Joker.)
Personal example: Back in 2013 I flew to Daegu, South Korea to experience teaching abroad. That was my desire, my want. However, this brings me to a very important piece in novel plotting:
The ending of a story is not about the main character gaining their waint; it’s about the hero learning a lesson–their need. It is only once the hero of the story has learned their lesson that the tale comes to a conclusion.
My life lesson, when it came to teaching abroad, was to learn how to be an adult for the first time. I have never needed to live with my parents since this experience, and I have been on my own ever since.
CONCLUSION:
In order to create compelling characters, there are three things that must happen: Give the hero a desire, introduce a secondary character and their want, and allow both characters to chase their desires, to drive the plot. This will give your reader a better understanding of the characters in your novel. And it is because of the characters that your reader remains engaged in your book from start to finish. So take my advice and start creating those compelling characters today.
Good luck, and have fun writing!
