How I Create Interesting Characters in my Books

Hello, there! I hope you all enjoyed the three day weekend!

Most of you know that I’ve written two adventure/romance novels, and also that I aspire to make a living from my writing some day. So today, I thought it’d be fun to share my tips on how I create my book characters.

Characters, I believe, could be the most important part of a good story. Even if a book has an amazing plot, if the characters are mediocre or unrelatable, that will definitely take away from the book as a whole. On the other hand, if a book has amazing, interesting, and relatable characters, yet an average storyline, you might still really enjoy the book.

So when I was writing my books, I wanted to make certain that my characters were the strongest element. I wanted them to be passionate, goal-driven, relatable, and accurate. Here are some of the ways I did that.

(These tips are my personal tips, not every author’s guidelines. I use them personally.)

 

 

I’m going to tell you about my favorite character that I have ever created. His name is Jack. Jack William Valesteine. He is English and German. He’s nineteen. He has orange hair, dark blue eyes, and he’s tall, thin,  and handsome. He’s a big romantic and a flirt, but he isn’t the love interest in my story; he’s the brother to my main character.

Let me tell you how I created Jack, and how he ultimately became my favorite character.

 

He’s based off a person in real life.

A lot of my characters are based off people in my life. Either they look the same, act the same, or have a similar relationship with the protagonist to my relationship with them in real life. It helps me keep each character different and unique. It helps me know how to describe them, and how they should react to certain situations.

Jack, for example, is based off my brother, Jake. He doesn’t look like my brother, but his mannerisms and beliefs are very similar. Jack’s personality is also very similar to Jake’s, and Jack and the main character have a similar relationship to Jake and I.

I think that having characters represent people in real life is very beneficial and helpful when creating good characters. Plus it’s fun to see people’s reactions when you tell them that they’re “in your book”.

 

 

His attributes are exaggerated.

When creating a character, it’s pretty obvious that you have to figure out a list of personality traits, or characteristics. Are they sweet and kind? Mischievous and sly? Flirty and seductive? Confident and independent?

Jack is kind, godly, and pure, but he’s also a bit mischievous and cocky. He’s playful and likes to dance and flirt with all the ladies.

So, my tip, is this: if your character is funny, don’t make him/her just a little funny – make them REALLY funny. If they’re arrogant, make them really arrogant. If they’re sweet, make them very sweet. If they’re feisty, make them extremely feisty. Exaggerate those attributes. That’s how you make a character memorable and entertaining.

What if your character is rude and coldhearted, but has a small soft spot? Exaggerate that little bit of kindness that they possess.

 

He has a distinct voice

Each character needs to have a voice – especially the main characters. They need to have a way of talking that is identifiable without a dialogue tag. The majority of the time, Jack is humorous and a bit dramatic. He’s mischievous and likes to tease his sister.

His voice goes along with his personality, and because of the connection between the two, that strengthens his character.

 

Photos by Wildly Authentic.

 

All right, that bring us to the end of this post! If you have any more questions about creating characters, or writing in general, feel free to leave me a comment below.

Thank you for stopping by! Happy Monday!

Love,

Gabriella