writers_loft | Character Ramblings (Reply)

Everyone has at least heard the term Mary Sue and has least some idea how to avoid it. But there are a lot of other things to keep in mind when creating and writing a character. Here's some thoughts I've had on just a few of these things. I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts on writing characters.

Realism - Is the character reacting realistically given their experiences and personality? If your character has a particular profession (such as law enforcement) are they acting accordingly? If they aren't, is there a plausible reason for it? A little research can go a long way with making things realistic. The more grounded in the reality things are, the easier it is for the reader to maintain a suspension of disbelief.

Motivation - Why is the character doing what they're doing? Why does the bad guy want to blow up the world? Why is the main character going off on that quest? There has to be a believable reason for everyone to be doing what their doing. That motive can change over the course of a story, and this can even be part of the main plot or a subplot. The push-pull of outside factors on a character's motives are one of the most essential things to cause a plot to move and flow properly. Your character wants X but they can't because of Y. How are they going to overcome it? Someone is trying to push them to do Z instead because of A, B and C. What will they end up doing?

Supporting characters need attention too - there's nothing more frustrating than reading a story and not being able to keep track of the characters. You don't need to give the entire back story of each character in the story but your supporting characters should at least have one or two distinguishing characteristics. A distinct way of talking, a nervous habit, etc. can help your reader keep track of who's who.