My absolute favorite part of writing is creating characters. You can make them any way you want. It’s like creating a
Sims 3
character, except you have to describe it to someone with no visuals. A well-written manuscript can make the reader feel connected and that creates a bond. A strong bond will enable the author to push and pull the reader’s feelings and take them on the journey with the characters.
Descriptions
Many times, authors are eager to jump into the story and they often forget that they haven’t properly introduced the main character(s). They get caught up glorifying one character and giving the bare minimum about others. This happens a lot with web-novels and it’s a critical mistake that will cost you readers. It creates an imbalance and causes detachment from other characters. Of course, not
all
characters need a full blown description—just the important recurring ones.
When you introduce a new main character, you must give the reader something to visualize. It doesn’t have to be done all at once. Once you’ve introduced the character, you can spend a few chapters dropping tidbits about their physical appearance and personality. This ensures that you’re not overwhelming the reader
and
it keeps them interested in the characters themselves. My rule is to always include the following information upfront: eye color, hair color, hair length, hair style, at least one or two things about their facial structure.
Example:
Jayne looked at the random guy sitting next to her and saw that his brown hair was short and unkempt. She couldn’t see much of his face through his Spiderman mask, but his blue eyes looked friendly.
“Hi, I’m John,” the young man said.
“I’m Jayne,” she said quietly.
John didn’t expect any nerdy girl attending the movie premier to have a voice as sultry as hers. He watched as she shifted through her purse and a moment later, she pulled out an extra pair of 3D glasses and handed them to him. He kindly thanked her and proceeded to put them over his mask; Jayne giggled at his failed attempts. As he took off his mask, he said, “I guess I can wear this some other time.”
She was finally able to get a good look at him. Although John was red from embarrassment, she could see he had a glowing tan on his clean-shaven face. The two stared at each other for a moment before the theater lights dimmed the room to black.
With this, we’ve found out quite a bit of information about John. He’s young with blue eyes. His hair is short, messy, and brown. He’s tanned and clean-shaven, plus, we’ve picked up a few hints about his personality too. As for Jayne, there wasn’t much information given, except that she has an attractive voice. From her interaction with John, we can conclude that she appears to be a nice person, since she was willing to share her extra glasses with him. The last line of the excerpt implies that they’re both pleased by each other’s physical appearance. This helps foreshadow that they’d be more than friends later on and it makes the reader wonder about Jayne’s appearance and why John is instantly interested in her.
Character Traits
Character traits are essentially what will shape your character. These often influence the characters' decisions and behavior. For the most part, these traits are non-physical, descriptive words to mold your character with. If you have a character who is a single mother, some of her personality traits could be loving, hardworking, and stressed. There are long lists posted all over the internet about positive and negative character traits, some even broken down by category. These are 100% necessary;
Do not skip them!
Character Growth
Depending on the length of your story, the readers expect the characters to grow. Even in short children’s picture books, there is growth within the characters. The
Little Critter
series, by Mercer Mayer, is a brilliant example. Throughout the collection, the reader follows an anthropomorphic character and his family. They go through all sorts of ups and downs that any child may possibly face. Each book typically starts out with Little Critter being faced within an issue he hasn’t experienced before and then as the short story progresses, he finds ways to overcome the challenge. By the end of the book, he has become more knowledgeable, responsible, or whatever it may be.
While you’re writing, ask yourself the following questions:
What is his character's end goal?
What will they gain?
What will they lose?
How does their gain or loss affect the plot or others around them?
How do they overcome what was tossed at them?
What character traits do they gain or lose in this process?
Do this for any character that you see fit. Use the answers to these questions to shape your characters throughout the story. Hopefully it will reduce writer’s block in difficult scenes.