Out of the three elements that make up a story--style, plot, and characters--the most necessary is characters. Not to say the other two aren't important, but listen to someone raving about their favorite book or movie.
Yeah, they'll probably mention something about the plot, and the style will probably help their opinion along, but most people will talk most about the characters. How they could relate, who was their favorite, how they felt when so-and-so happened to someone, how happy they were when it turned out okay for them, etc.
So, how do you get strong characters?
1. Know about them. Make a character profile chart that shows their characteristics. It's not so much that you need a reference to constantly refer back to (although it can be useful) as to making you really think about your character's personality. On that profile chart, ask deeper questions than 'What's your favorite food?' Ask what their confidence level is, how they would respond to betrayal or violence, how they feel about issues, and other things that define them.
2. Care about them. If you don't like your characters or feel bored, your reader is going to know. When you genuinely care, you feel attached to them and responsible for them. You feel bad when something has to happen to them for the sake of the plot that will hurt them, and you feel happy when everything is nicely resolved. Caring for characters comes best with time. I've been writing a book for almost four years now. It's not a great book, and I don't think I'll ever publish it. There have been a lot of stops and starts, but what always brings me back to that book are the characters. That really can only happen with time, just as you are comfortable with people you've known for a while.
Tips on this to share with us? Just feel free to comment!
Yours without wax,
Izori
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