7 Ways to Make Your Character Better

1. Begin with the little things: Everyone has their own unique little quirks and your characters should as well. Without these little traits your character may fall flat with audiences. Brainstorm habits they may resort to when they get emotional or establish weird little obsessions they cling to.

2. Don’t rush into establishing who they are: A little mystery can go a long way and drum up interest for your character. In some instances all it takes for a reader to become attached to a character is a little bit of intrigue. Save a few details about your character for later and work up to them.

3. Give yourself time to get to know them: Sometimes a character will feel distant to you in the writing process and that’s alright. It can take time to learn what really makes your character tick. Writing a scene with the character and then rewriting that same scene in a different way can sometimes help you feel out what’s natural for the character. Let yourself explore different ways to write your character.

4. Give them a trait of your own: Pick a small trait that you possess in real life and give it to a character who you don’t feel much connection with. This is a great trick that can make you feel more attached to character and help get those creative juices flowing. Don’t completely write yourself into the novel, just a small trait or two. Writing yourself into a novel in my opinion is the second worst thing you could possibly do when writing a novel.

5. Don’t underestimate kindness: Everybody loves to write morally grey and flawed characters, there’s nothing more popular in modern fiction. However, never underestimate the power that a kind soul can add to your story. A kind character can make readers fall in love with the story and the character. There’s a star man waiting in the sky.

6. Figure out what the character desires most: Knowing what a characters motivation is can be an absolute game changer. Understanding what the character wants is one of the key components of any story. If you’re having troubles connecting with a character the first thing you should do is make sure they have a clear motive. It’s one of things that make the television show Lucifer so brilliant. In the show, Lucifer has a power that allows him to get people to tell him what they desire.

7. Then figure out why they can’t have what they desire: Nothing worth having comes easy. Once you understand what your characters want, you must come up with a reason why they can’t have it. It helps if your character possesses a flaw that prevents them from acting on their goal.