As the author of 11 novels, I’ve learned some effective techniques for creating memorable characters. Developing characters that are realistic and evoke emotions in the reader is key to writing page-turning books – books that will keep your readers clamoring for your next novel.
I’ve found the following ways to be the most effective methods of creating memorable characters:
- Characters cannot be perfect. This is especially true in your main characters, both the protagonists and the antagonists. For example, your protagonist cannot just have good qualities. He or she has to have flaws, either physical or emotional, and better yet, a little bit of each. Remember that perfect people don’t exist – we all have flaws. In order to make your hero/heroine believable, you have to include things about the person that are not necessarily positive. For example, one of the main characters in my J.T. Ryan FBI thrillers is John Ryan, who works for the FBI. He is one of the heroes in the book, and he has many good qualities in his personality. But he’s also impulsive and hot-headed at times, which puts him and the people around him in some dangerous situations. It’s also important to make your antagonists not be all evil – be sure to include some good traits. Even people with evil intentions have a few good traits.
- Characters have to have conflict in their lives – if there is no conflict, no problems, you will have a very boring novel. There are two kinds of conflict: External and internal conflict. For example, the external conflict in a novel is usually the main plot of the book. Using my novel The Washington Ultimatum to illustrate this point, the plot revolves around a female terrorist (Angel Stone) who threatens to set off dirty bombs in several American cities, including Washington C. The main heroes in the book, FBI contractor J.T. Ryan and FBI Director Erin Welch are tasked with stopping the deadly terrorist. So the terrorist plot is the external conflict. The internal conflict in the book comes from Ryan’s relationship with the woman he loves and how his work life absorbs most of his time, creating tension and conflict in his personal life.
- Your main characters should always have a back-story. This includes their physical description, their background, their personal history, their family, etc. When ever I start writing a novel, I always prepare a back-story for each of my main characters (both the protagonists and the antagonists). This can be quite detailed (5 to 10 pages for each). The key is not to include all of the info in your book; it just helps you understand your character better. You can drop in pieces of the back-story a bit at a time, to set the scene and illustrate your character’s motivation.
- Be sure to include humor in your book. Even though your novel may be of a very serious nature (life and death, failure, sickness, etc.), you still need to occasionally lighten the mood. An occasional touch of humor or sarcasm will make your book more readable, entertaining, and believable. I find that humor is effective in dialogue, and makes the characters more engaging.
- The characters have to be involved in some action, some plot that puts them in danger. If all they do is talk, your novel will be boring. The heroes and heroines need to be risking their life in some way (this is especially true in action thrillers, such as my novels Skyflash, and Killing West). In novels that are not thrillers, you still need a plot that puts your characters in conflict. An example of this would be a love relationship that is going badly, a family tragedy, a serious illness, that type of thing.
- Use point of view to your advantage. I find that POV (point of view) is one of the most useful tools an author has at his disposal. POV, in particular third person limited, allows the reader to get inside your character’s mind, so they sense and feel what your character sees. The partial aspect of third person limited POV has the added value that your character can’t see what will happen next. This is great for creating mystery and tension, and prevents your reader from figuring out your plot too soon.
- Create interesting minor characters. I find that minor characters can add quite a bit to a novel. They give contrast to the major characters. They are also useful in developing and advancing your plot line.
I believe you’ll find these techniques useful to making your writing more effective. Remember that the key to being a successful author is writing books that readers will want to read. And they’ll want to read your books because they enjoy being part of your character’s lives.
If you have any questions on any of the techniques I’ve covered in this post, feel free to contact me. My email address is on my website. Also feel free to friend me on Twitter (where I have over 50,000 followers), Facebook, Linkedin, Goodreads, Google Plus, and Pinterest.
Lee Gimenez is the award-winning author of 11 novels, including several bestsellers. Visit his website at: http://www.LeeGimenez.com. Visit his Amazon page at: http://bit.ly/Amazon-LeeGimenez.