How to Write Believable Characters: Character Development Tips for Novelists, Poets, and Scriptwriters

by Kristina Adams

Do you want to create characters that jump off the page and hook your perfect reader? Do you want to develop multi-dimensional characters your readers can relate to? What about getting to know their deep, dark secrets and motivations more clearly?Go beyond common character traits and delve into what makes them human. Using personal anecdotes and pop culture examples, this book explores how to dig deeper into your characters’ backstories, motivation, beliefs, and more.Each chapter contains tips and activities to get you thinking about your characters differently.Some of the chapters Stop creating characters. Start writing humans. Grab your copy today to get started.

149 pages, Paperback

Published November 2, 2020

About the author

Kristina Adams is an author, poet, and blogger. She has a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Derby, and an MA in Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University. When she’s not writing, she’s baking, sewing, or finding another way to avoid the real world. She lives in the UK with her partner.

She blogs about writing and productivity at www.writerscookbook.com.

Reviews

[Alexa Whitewolf]

Whether you’re a new writer or an experienced one, there’s something in here for you. Creating believable characters can sometimes be a hard thing, especially under pressure to write more and more, and in an internet world where every type of character has already been written before. This book gives you new angles to consider with helpful “how to” bits that will bring your writing to the next level!

[Cassie Kelley]

I love to read character-driven plots, therefore I love to write character-driven plots. Because of this, I know that writing three-dimensional, believable characters is difficult. But it is quite possible to do this, and the tips in this book are a great place to start.

Full of Kristina’s personality, this is an interesting nonfiction book that takes a look at the psychology that makes up humans and how to weave together a character that feels like you know them from next door. After she dissects a subject, she offers useful tips and fun activities to help you to learn more about what makes your character tick. With examples from her own books (with minor spoilers) as well as examples from popular media and literature, this book is a great place to begin to unravel who your characters are.

I would recommend this book to all writers, but especially new writers who struggle to make three-dimensional characters. Kristina makes the point that all plot lines have been done before, but if you create unique, relatable characters, that will make your novel stand out. If that is your goal, this book is a great place to start learning who your characters are.