How to Create Memorable Characters Your Readers Will Love

How to Create Memorable Characters

I’ve been asked many times how I create such well-rounded characters. The truth is, I’m not entirely sure myself. Here I am, minding my own business as I think my way through a story, and suddenly these people appear. Who are you? I find myself asking the question aloud sometimes, to the amusement, or concern, of those around me. Sometimes these people appear fully formed and I know who they are from the moment I notice them. Sometimes it takes some work on my part to understand what they want with me. Mainly, I use my imagination. 

Character inspiration can come from anywhere. Like story inspirations, your characters can be inspired by books, movies, TV shows, music, people you know, favorite actors, yourself, or your imagination. 

I use the word character when I talk about fiction writing since that’s the accepted way of referring to our imaginary friends. For me, it’s more accurate to describe them as my people. My characters are my people. There’s a disconnectedness to the word character, at least in my mind, that doesn’t fully describe what I’m doing when I write about my people. I want to write multi-dimensional beings who happen to be figments of my imagination. They are my imaginary friends, and I want them to become my readers’ imaginary friends too. 

As with other aspects of fiction writing, there’s a woo-woo element to creating characters that I can’t explain. In general, I start with a vague concept of the people I’ll need to tell the story, and I keep my “cast” down to as few characters as necessary. I don’t enjoy reading stories with dead weight, and I don’t enjoy writing stories with characters that hang out on my pages just to take up space. 

For me, a memorable character is more than a name and a list of traits. My characters are people. Yes, they’re invisible people that exist in my imagination, but to me they are real, complex, and emotionally alive. Hopefully, they seem that way for my readers as well. 

Here are some things I consider when I’m creating characters. In some ways, being an author is similar to being an actor since we ask ourselves many of the same questions when constructing our people.

What Does the Character Want?

Every compelling character wants something. At the same time they fear something else. This conflict drives decisions and prompts growth. Whether it’s a need for approval, a longing for revenge, or a fear of a secret being discovered, grounding your character in emotional truths gives them depth.

It’s In the Details

Generic descriptions that could describe anyone from anywhere aren’t interesting. Instead of telling us that your character is kind, show them doing kind things such as rescuing stray cats or helping someone no one else notices. Physical details matter, certainly, but go beyond hair and eye color. What makes them tick? That’s the meat of your character.

Let Them Make Mistakes

People are full of contradictions, and characters should be too. Inconsistencies add authenticity and tension while keeping readers engaged. In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen is hardened and sensitive, independent yet protective of those she loves. These conflicting qualities make her relatable.

Perfect characters are boring. I don’t know any perfect people, and characters shouldn’t be perfect either. Characters become real when they act out of jealousy, make bad choices, misread situations, or make mistakes. Readers want to see how characters evolve. Mistakes create emotional stakes and invite reader empathy.

Craft Distinctive Voices

I love writing dialogue. It’s one of my favorite parts of writing fiction.

Dialogue is where characters come alive on the page. Each character should speak with their own rhythm, vocabulary, and tone. This isn’t just about accents or slang. It’s about how the characters think about the world. Make sure your characters’ speech is realistic and easy to understand. Don’t overdo the dialogue. This was one of the most common problems I saw in short stories submitted to The Copperfield Review. Many of the stories submitted to the journal contained dialogue that was forced, artificial, and unwieldy. Such dialogue weighs the story down and pulls the reader out of the experience.

Another frequent problem I saw was when all of the characters sounded the same. If you have a cast of five characters, you should have five distinctive voices. Readers should be able to tell who is speaking without dialogue tags. That’s why it’s so important to have a clear understanding of your characters’ personalities as you’re writing.

Take a look at your favorite novelist’s approach to dialogue. Study how they construct their conversations among characters. This is the one fairly easy fix that will make your manuscript more readable.

Give Them a Past

Even if it never appears directly in the story, your characters’ past shapes their present. What formative event shaped their worldview? What secret do they carry? What do they regret? A fleshed-out backstory creates rich subtext that informs every scene, adding depth and nuance to the narrative.

There are no secrets to creating characters. If an idea works it works, and if it doesn’t it doesn’t. Eventually, all the right characteristics will fall into place, but it might take time. Developing characters comes down to allowing the freedom of our imagination, dreaming through our characters’ traits, wants, and problems, allowing the characters to materialize in front of us, and then writing down what we see.

A Character Questionnaire

If you like to use questionnaires to flesh out your characters, you can use the one below. It was inspired by Lessons That Change Writers by Nancie Atwell. Write your responses from first-person point of view as if you are the character. 

1. What is your name?

2. What era do you live in?

3. When were you born? Where do you live?

4. What is your biggest hope?

5. What is something odd about you? How are you different from those around you?

6. How old are you?

7. Who are your family?

8. Who are your friends?

9. What color hair and eyes do you have? How tall are you? Do you have any unique physical characteristics?

10. Who or what do you love?

11. What keeps you up at night?

12. What is your biggest challenge? Your biggest fear?

13. Why do you make the choices you do?

14. What is a secret that only you know?

15. What challenges do you face based on the time when you live?

Categories: Character Inspiration, Creative Writing, Writing, Writing InspirationTags: creating characters readers will love, creative writing, creative writing inspiration, how to create memorable characters, how to write a novel, writing, writing inspiration, writing tips