C is for Characters

Characters are one of the most important things in a story. Without your characters, your reader has no one to root for.

You've got to make your reader care about your character. They don't have to like them, as in, want to be their best friend or anything. They've just got to be interested in them, and they've got to care what happens to them.

In order to start creating a character, you've got to know their role in the story.

The Protagonist
The protagonist is the lead character. They are the character your story will focus on. You can have more than one, but usually it is easier to have one particular character leading the story. This character will need to be pretty well rounded to be believable.

Major Characters
The major characters, like the protagonist, have a lot of 'screen time' in the story. They also need to be well developed, as they often have their own subplots. Major characters are characters like the protagonist's friend, or the antagonist (the villain of the story).

Minor Characters
Minor characters, believe it or not, have minor role in the story (le gasp). They tend to be characters like the shopkeeper your protagonist buys bread from in chapter two, or the mailman who brings your protagonist an unusual letter. These characters don't need to be that developed. For your minor characters to add interest to your story, give them one or two character traits, eg, impatient, suspicious, playful, depending on their specific role.


There are several ways to develop a character. Here are three.

1. Writers who like to plan hugely before even starting often use a character profile template to develop their characters, because it literally tells you everything you could ever know about your character. Here's an example.

2. Another way is getting a basic idea of your character, then writing and developing the character as you write.

3. The method I use is a mixture of both.
My version of a character template goes a little like this
Character's name:
Role in the story:
Primary goal (what they wish to achieve, like rescuing their kidnapped friend):
Underlying goals (such as emotional goals, what kind of person they want to be):
Motivation for these goals:
Family and friends:
Basic backstory:

So, not quite as detailed as the first method, but not as vague as just writing an hoping they develop properly.

However, the method that works for you is completely down to your preferred writing style. Do whatever suits you best. You may have a way of creating a character of your own.

Thanks for reading! D is for Dialogue won't be posted tomorrow, but I'll get it out the day after (I have a busy weekend coming up :) )