5 Ways to Create Nuance in Your Characters

By Janice Hardy

It’s not the big, flashy moments that make characters unforgettable—it’s the subtle differences and distinctions.

One of my favorite writing quotes is: “Readers come for the plot, but they stay for the characters.” It’s a good reminder that stories are ultimately about people and their problems, and no matter how interesting that problem might be, flat, dull characters won’t keep the reader engaged. I’ve flipped to the end of a few “great plot, bad characters” books because I wanted to know the ending, but I didn’t want to slog through the story to get there.

What could have saved those books from such a horrible fate was stronger characters. What could have made those books unforgettable was nuanced characters.

Broken, but Still Good: 3 Ways to Create Character Flaws

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Choose the right flaws and weaknesses to round out your characters.

There's an old saying: "I'm not looking for the perfect man, just one with faults I like." No clue where I heard this, but it always stuck with me, because it’s so true. Everyone has faults, and some are more palatable than others.

This is true for our characters, too. Their flaws and weaknesses make them three-dimensional people readers can relate to and root for. They also allow our characters to make the mistakes and bad choices that lead to compelling plots.

But picking any old flaw isn't going to cut it. Who cares if the protagonist can't cook if cooking never matters to the story? So what if they can’t commit if they’re never asked to? It's important to choose flaws and weaknesses that add to the overall novel.

A Quick Tip for Getting to Know Your Characters--And Your Plot

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

A single item can tell readers a lot about who your character is.

Several years ago I sat in on an RWA workshop on character building, led by romance author Susan Elizabeth Philips. I've attended her workshops before and she's always been entertaining and informative.

She gave a tip (and did an exercise) that I've tried before:

List the contents of your character's purse.

This has never worked for me since my fantasy characters don't usually have purses, but she added the phrase "or their backpack or pockets" to it. That broadened it some, and I realized that ultimately, what she was saying was:

 

What does your character feel is important enough to carry around with them? 

It's a slightly different way of looking at this character-building tip, but a subtle shift in how we consider something is often all it takes to turn a "not for me" tip into something that clicks and becomes incredibly helpful.

How to Use Conflict to Show Character Development

By Angela Ackerman, @AngelaAckerman

Part of The How They Do It Series 

JH: If you want to know who a character truly is, put them under pressure. Angela Ackerman shares tips on how to show character development through conflict.

Angela Ackerman is a writing coach, international speaker, and co-author of the bestselling book, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression and its many sequels. Available in ten languages, her guides are sourced by universities, recommended by agents and editors, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, and psychologists around the world. 

Angela is also the co-founder of the popular site Writers Helping Writers, as well as One Stop for Writers, a portal to game-changing tools and resources that enable writers to craft powerful fiction.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Take it away Angela...

9 Questions You Must Ask Your Main Character

By Laurence MacNaughton, @LMacNaughton

Part of The How They Do It Series

JH: Since characters are the reason a story exists, it's good to know certain things about them. Laurence MacNaughton shares questions to get to the heart of your characters—and your story.

A memorable main character lingers in a reader's memory far longer than any details about the plot. That's why your main character is the single most important part of your story. If you want to create a character that readers will remember for years to come, first get inside your character's head and ask them these nine questions.

1. Who are you and what you do?

What we're looking for here is your character's "high concept." This can be as simple as an adjective and a profession: a notorious outlaw, a heavy-drinking ad executive, a time-traveling detective. Whatever. It's your story.

A Core Question for Getting to Know Your Character

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Even if you do little to no character development before you start writing, asking this one question can pinpoint the core of who that character is.

Since I write science fiction and fantasy, those character templates with tons of questions never worked for me. They’re always rooted in the real world and I spent too much time trying to figure out if “god-appointed assassin” was their employment, religion, or maybe even a calling.

I can see the appeal of such a questionnaire, but I tend to be a minimalist when creating characters. I like to learn who they are by tossing them into the plot and seeing what they do. But it helps to have a starting point for those characters, otherwise they develop willy nilly and feel completely inconsistent and at odds with themselves. They make decisions based on plot (what I want) and not what they want.

How to Shame Your Characters and Win Readers

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

If your characters aren’t hiding shameful secrets, you’re missing an opportunity for a stronger story.

Close your eyes and think about your most shameful secret. Feel that twist in your gut? That flush creeping across your skin? Have you pulled in on yourself, maybe crossed your arms and hunched your shoulders?

Remember those feelings, because you can make serious use of them in your writing.

Few things motivate a character like the fear of shameful secrets coming to light. It doesn’t even have to be a really bad secret, just one that makes a character cringe and wish it never happened. Maybe they bullied someone. Maybe they stole something. Maybe they dropped the vial of zombie virus and started the apocalypse.

Whatever it is, it hurts them to think about it and horrifies them that someone else might find out—or worse—call them on it. It saps their confidence, pops into their mind at the worst times, and can ruin an otherwise excellent day.

And that’s a good thing.

An Exercise in Layering & Depth: 25 Questions to Ask Your Characters

By Bonnie Randall

Part of The How They Do It Series 

JH: I don't think I know a single writer who isn't interested in better ways to develop characters (grin). Bonnie Randall shares 25 questions to help you figure out just who that character is. 

Some of the most telling moments of character definition—for both real people, and the fictional ones we craft—is when they are

• made vulnerable
• forced to choose
• made to reveal their morals or their values

The following battery of questions, when asked of your MC (or secondary) offer an opportunity into insight as to who they really are…and also illuminates who they envision becoming. 

Character Development with Real Personality

By Jacqueline Myers 

Part of The How They Do It Series 

JH: Knowing who your character truly is can help you understand how they'll act in your story. Jacqueline Myers shares personality theory is a writer's best friend when creating characters.

Jacqueline is currently happily at work on her second mystery series (under a pen name, Gilian Baker) while sharing what she's learned with other writers. Using the synergy of personality theory and brain science, Jacqueline coaches writers using a proprietary methodology that helps them overcome their debilitating creative blocks so they can write un-put-down-able books.

If you are struggling, she'd love to see how she can support you! Schedule your free story strategy session here. You can also email her at jacqueline@intuitivewritingcoach.com.

Grab her first cozy mystery, Blogging is Murder, for FREE here.

Take it away Jacqueline…

5 Ways to Create Likable Characters

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

We've been looking at plot a lot this month for NaNo, so let's shift over and focus on creating likable characters.

Unless you're creating a character you want your readers to hate, odds are you want readers to like the people in your novel. You  probably want characters who inspire, who readers love or want to be, who can sweep the story up and whisk readers away in wonder.

And sometimes, this need to make them awesome can also make them too perfect to be real, because you want them to be the perfect people you see in your imagination. We've all read (and likely written, if we're honest) those Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters who do everything right and have no flaws at all. It's hard to like a character like that. They're just not someone readers can relate to.

5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Character’s Career

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

A character’s job is a useful tool when developing a novel.

I’ve been working hard on a new book this week, and since it’s a bit outside my normal genre (this one’s a science fiction detective novel), I’ve had to do a few things differently. There are elements to this genre I haven’t had to worry about in previous books.

Most notably, has been how my protagonist’s job affects the rest of the plot. As a private investigator, his job is the plot, and that career choice affects pretty much everything else in the novel.

In one way, this makes developing this novel easier. I have very clear parameters to work in, and a specific character type to flesh out.

In another way, it adds a layer of difficulty. The most obvious and easiest path is also the most overused or even cliched. I don’t want that, even if I might want to play with the tropes and cliches a little (I can never resist this—it’s too much fun).

Create Characters in 60 Seconds

By Laurence MacNaughton, @LMacNaughton  

Part of the How They Do It Series (Contributing Author)

JH: Stories need characters, but we don't always have time to spend all day on them. Here's a fantastic way to build a character on the fly.

When you create great characters, they walk onto the page and make your story unforgettable. They can bring every scene to life. But creating characters takes tons of time and effort, doesn’t it?

Not necessarily.

I’m here to show you how you can create an impressively good character in 60 seconds or less. Sound impossible? Here's the secret.

You don't need to write ten pages of backstory to make a great character. All you need is four short sentences.

Intuiting Your Character: A Guided Imagery Exercise

By Bonnie Randall 

Part of the How They Do It Series (Contributing Author)

During a recent retreat, I had the pleasure of participating in a guided imagery which, through symbolic interpretation, offered insight which I immediately wanted to apply to fiction characters I have created, past and present.

Directions: In order to partake in this exercise, you must be willing to fully immerse yourself into becoming your character. In other words, when faced with the following series of questions, do NOT answer with what you think, but rather write down—in as much detail as possible—the FIRST AND MORE INTUITIVE IMPRESSION your character receives after being faced with each of the following scenarios:

Now let’s start:

Do Your Characters Have the Right Flaws?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

“Characters must have flaws” is one of the cornerstones of fiction. Flaws create more interesting people, they give you the foundations for your character arcs, and they help you write more relatable stories. But just having flaws isn’t enough. You want the right flaws that will best serve your story.

So what are the “right” flaws?

Flaws that help illustrate aspects of the story you want to explore.

Taking a Love Inventory Of Your Characters

By Bonnie Randall 

Part of the How They Do It Series (Monthly Contributor)

Any of you who follow my posts have become aware that I love to get into my character’s heads. I enjoy sifting through their mores and values to see where their choices and resulting conflicts come from when their stories get played out ‘on screen’.

The following is a worksheet I have adapted from an excellent Psychology Today article I saw on social media. It affords super potential for anyone crafting a romance (or who is crafting romance as a subplot) for it examines the minutiae of your character’s attitudes, beliefs, and values about love and connection. Executed interview-style, this inventory allows your character to say as much or as little as they like on each topic as most questions are open-ended. As a writing tool it can help you define such critical story elements as

• Sexual tension
• Romantic tension
• Conflict

Remember—always ask your character ‘Why’? after any answer they deliver, but especially the answers that confound you. Example, from a male character: “Men think of women as…. “Machines who can do it all.”

What "Malcolm in the Middle" Can Teach Us About Characters

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

One of the things I like about Netflix is the ability to watch shows I missed when they were on the air. One such show is Malcolm in the Middle, and my husband and I recently finished watching the entire series. It’s a decade old at this point, so for those who aren’t familiar with it, Malcolm in the Middle is a quirky sitcom that ran from 2000-2006, telling the over-the-top tales of “A gifted young teen who tries to survive life with his dimwitted, dysfunctional family.” (Their description, not mine). Malcolm is the middle child (more of less) in a family of four boys, a genius who would much rather be normal and fit in with his peers.

Are You Creating Complexity or Chaos in Your Writing?

By Shanna Swendson, @ShannaSwendson

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: A good novel has a lot of moving parts, and it's easy to think more means better. But that isn't always the case. Please help me welcome Shanna Swendson to the lecture hall today, to share some thoughts on complexity vs. chaos in our writing.

Shanna Swendson is the author of the Enchanted, Inc. and Fairy Tale contemporary fantasy series and the Rebel Mechanics steampunk series. Her next book, REBELS RISING, the third book in the Rebel Mechanics series, will be published April 4.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Blog

Take it away Shanna...

The Triangle of Likability: How to Make Your Characters Come Alive

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Part of the Your Writing Questions Answered Series

Q: How can I make my characters come alive so much so that the reader will be ready to flip the page before they reach the end of that page?

A: You’d think creating a compelling character was the goal every time we created a character, but often we only do enough work to create someone who can carry out our plot. We want to explore the idea we have, and their personality and history gets made up to support that idea. This isn’t necessarily bad, and some great characters have been born from such a process, but it’s easy to create an actor for the stage, not a person readers will care about.

Want Better Characters? Get Rid of the Dialogue

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

In novels, we often rely on what a character says to show who they are. Their actions also play a role, but the focus is usually on the big stuff—the choices made, the sweeping gestures, the plot-driving tasks. Yet, it’s often the little things people do that make them memorable.

I once read a book (I don’t remember which one or who wrote it it was so long ago), but there was a scene where something had happened and the police were talking to witnesses. The protagonist did not want to be remembered. So a character with her scrunched up the side of his face so it twitched, limped over to police, and answered questions with a strong southern accent. She was appalled, and thought he’d just given them away. He said, “Nope, all they’ll remember is the twitch, the limp, and the accent.” Funny thing, after probably twenty years, that’s all I remember about that book as well.

Are Your Characters Contradicting Themselves?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Back in June, I caught that nasty flu that was going around and spent a few miserable weeks napping and watching a lot of TV. One of my distractions of choice was the show, Bones. It had been a long time since I’d seen the first few seasons, and while it was fun to re-watch them, one thing did annoy me.

The character Temperance “Bones” Brennan is a world-class forensic anthropologist who is very literal-minded and repeatedly says she doesn’t like psychology and doesn’t do motive.

Yet…

She’s a bestselling author who writes mysteries.