The Power of Story Characters in Fiction Writing
by Mary Kole | Former literary agent, now a freelance editor, writing teacher, and IP/story developer for major publishers and creators.
The ability to create compelling story characters is one of the most important tools that you can put in your writer’s toolkit. Relatability and multi-layered story characters allow readers to fully enter the minds and hearts of the fictional people who will lead your audience through your plot.
Readers want to relate to story characters, that’s why they read. This urge to live vicariously is the core of reading. Readers want to gain insight into your story characters’ thoughts and motivations, and understand why they make certain decisions. They also want to see the world through the lens of story characters who are going through an exciting, high stakes, romantic, or otherwise riveting time.
If done right, characterization will draw readers into a story and keep them engaged until its conclusion. But how do you make sure your story characters are well-developed? Let’s find out.
The Importance of Characterization for Strong Story Characters
Character development is essential to good storytelling … and solid story characters. Without a richly layered protagonist or set of secondary characters, we're left with stock personalities who don't have any unique attributes or traits—and that's not interesting at all to readers who have hundreds of options for how to spend their leisure time.
To create memorable story characters, writers must understand what makes them tick: why they do the things they do, what motivates them, and how their actions shape the story. A character’s pursuit of a strong objective, bolstered by logical character motivation, is a great place to start. (Good character development also requires writers to pay attention to physical details like appearance, posture, facial expressions, mannerisms, etc. But these are secondary to the more driving elements of a protagonist personality.)
In addition to helping readers connect with story characters on an emotional level, characterization can also be used to create tension or suspense in a novel by introducing mystery elements like secrets or hidden motives. If story characters have something cooking below the surface that motivates them or gives them another layer of potential conflict, this will engage readers on a whole new level.
This technique can be particularly effective when creating villains or antagonists—story characters who have opposing goals from the main character but who may also possess complex backstories that add depth and nuance to their personalities.
Tips for Creating Memorable Story Characters
When working on characterization, writers should consider factors like age, gender identity/sexuality/ethnicity/race/religion, socioeconomic status, upbringing (family dynamics are a whole other kettle of fish, as it can be tough to write about family members), education level (or lack thereof), skills and talents (or lack thereof), personality traits and quirks, and aspirations and dreams (realistic or otherwise).
Considering how these characteristics shape each of your story characters will help you build an intricate portrait of each fictional person in your story, resulting in characters who readers can become emotionally invested in.
Additionally, giving your story characters flaws and vulnerabilities will make them relatable and more lifelike in the eyes of readers—which is always a plus. Finally, don't forget about dialogue. Dialogue can be used to showcase a character's personality (and writing voice) as well as further develop plot points within a story. Each scene should be bursting with dialogue and action that gives readers new insights into your most important story characters. Each scene should be built around a protagonist pursuing their objective. This is a consideration that many writers skip … to their detriment.
Characterization is one of the most important elements of fiction writing because it helps bring story characters to life. By following these tips you'll be able craft memorable story characters whose presence will stay with readers long after they've finished reading your work.
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