Let’s talk commitment. When developing a main character it is imperative that you commit to him or her. Discerning readers expect characters with depth. Discerning readers expect multi-dimensional characters. Discerning readers buy books and if you give them what they deserve, they will remain your loyal fans for life.
Resist the urge to dive head first into plot development, descriptive paragraphs and thought provoking dialogue. Get to know your main character (MC). Now, you could go the boring (and sometimes effective) route of making a character outline. Or, you could indulge in the borderline mental illness that all gifted writers possess and start off by flirting with your MC. What does he or she look like? What’s their style like? Where do they hang out? Then step it up a notch. Start dating your MC. Find out where they went to school. What are they passionate about? Where did they grow up? Nuclear family? Single parent home? How old were they when they had their first kiss? First fell in love? What do they do for a living? Where have they traveled? You get the picture.
So you’ve flirted. You’ve dated. And now you’ve decided that this character is worth delving into. So take the plunge and get to the nitty-gritty of a relationship. What are his or her buttons? Deepest fears? Greatest regrets? Most annoying habits? At this point your character should constantly be on your mind. Having a conversation with your MC while driving down the street should be the norm. Adding his or her name to your Christmas shopping list shouldn’t give you pause.
Totally give in to the psychosis that is creative imagination and marry this person. Live and breathe who he or she is. Think about them while you brush your teeth, hustle through your day job, and clip coupons online. If you’re doing it right, your actual spouse should accuse you of cheating. If you’re really doing it right, you should feel a momentary flash of guilt because you kind of feel like you are. At that point, reel that junk in. We want to commit, not get committed.
If you like your character, put a ring on it. The more time and effort you put into character development, the greater the return on your investment.
Writers: What’s your process for creating characters with depth?
Readers: What makes a character stand out as the real deal?
Chime in!
Faith Simone 
What makes a character stand out for me is a character who I believe I can be friends with or a character that is written in a way that makes me care about or believe in them. I want them to succeed. The writer makes me care about what happens to them.
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I agree. Whether I am enjoying a good read or writing, I want a character I can relate to. He or she needs to be real to me. If I’m not invested, it all feels useless. Thanks for sharing!
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http://sambathelionking.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/writing-characters/
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[…] I started my blog on October 16, 2013. I’m a newbie! You can read my very first post here. […]
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[…] A good group will challenge you with feedback regarding character development (read more about that here), continuity, plot pacing and so much more. You are personally invested in your novel (and if […]
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Faith, I just noticed your FB page. Going to “like” it :).
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Hey Luanne, I’m starting to wonder if it’s worth having a fan page as opposed to a regular FB page. I may leave it for a while and see what happens. Thanks for the ‘like’!
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I’ve gone through that cycle of wondering myself. The page prevents some viewers from reading stuff on your wall, but then without the page, friends get sick of writing links and links to one’s own blog.
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Yep, and with the way FB is set up now, a lot of posts on a fan page are not seen unless it has a lot of ‘likes’. You have to post constantly if you want any kind of exposure. But I’ll keep plugging away at it and see how it goes after a year or so. But, I do see a great blog post in this!
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Yes, write a blog post about it! You’re right about FB. The way they changed things kind of destroyed smaller pages, I think.
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For me, it’s all about getting into the mind of the character. If I can get a hold of the character’s unique perspective on the page then that determines that character’s actions for me, and I don’t need any character outlines or sketches. As a reader, I like a character with a unique perspective on life, who can shock me, and who takes action.
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Good points Quanie! I’m curious about how you ‘get into the mind of a character’ without an outline or sketch? I do it by constantly thinking about the character through out my daily life. I be shopping and think, “Character X would love that skirt.”
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