Seven Story Publishing

Character development is one of the most important aspects of any fiction story. It is what gets readers invested and holds their attention throughout the journey, whether it be a hero’s journey or an enemy to lover journey or a zero to hero journey, crafting real and relatable characters is a pivotal, if not, the most pivitol part of making any story come to life.

This post is going to be for those whose stories are mainly character driven, meaning what the characters do drives the story.

1. Actions- making a character relatable means focusing on their actions as what we do defines us as individuals. A character that does nothing is lazy, a character that does too much is a busy-body, and a character that makes big things happen is ambitious and enterprising. Define the characters by their actions and they will seem more like real people.
2. Personality- personal traits are what make people rather than a physical description. Showing a character’s narcissistic streak or demonstrating their tendency to go into a blind rage sometimes or the way they bite their nails when they are nervous will go much farther than just physical attributes.
3. Values- what a person holds dear tells much about them. A father who values family connection above all else and is a priest; a mother who ensures all her children keep in touch and talk to distant relatives; a man who graduated top of his class and constantly strives to achieve more; a woman who is fiercely loyal to her husband and performs wifely duties without complaint; a criminal who keeps a close eye on his associates and a closer one on his enemies. What a person values tells more about them than any surface level information ever would.
4. Defining Description: One defining physical description that serves as a trademark of the character like a dragon tattoo or hazel eyes that change by their mood or silver hair, something that others notice and that introduces the reader to the character will do wonders to steer the reader’s imagination as to what the character might look like and even inspire loads of fan fiction.

Remember, you’re creating a person and not a caricature. To make your characters believable you must create them from the inside out. What actions do they take, what choices do they make, what paths have they traveled in life, etc. This is what great character development takes and it’s not as hard as it sounds.

Simply think of someone you don’t like in your life and describe everything about them without using their name or any physical description, leave it alone for a few days and come back to it and I guarantee you when you read that description you will think of the same person or someone else that resembles that description.

Try it and comment how it goes below!