Welcome to Tuesday Tips - a weekly blog post for busy writers!
Today’s writing tip focuses on the creative craft of writing. Last week’s action of writing tip came in handy once again as the idea for today arrived at yet another inconvenient moment - I was driving! My phone microphone saved me from losing the thought! If you haven’t yet, give it a try.
Let's talk about crafting fictitious characters. Whether you are writing historical fiction, fantasy, or anything in between you’ll want your readers to be able to relate to your characters and believe they might truly exist.
How do you do that?
Simple, give them personalities. Their actions and reactions will tell your reader more about your character than long physical descriptions ever will. Here are 3 quick ideas that may help.
Give your character a backstory, but don’t give it to your reader all at once. Allow them to get to know your character much the way they would get to know a new acquaintance. The backstory will help validate your character’s actions and reactions.
Allow your character to show emotions. “A single tear krept slowly down her cheek,” or “She stamped her foot in frustration.” Both examples could be used to display reactions by different characters to similar situations.
Give your character fallibility. Every superhero has a weakness that stirs our empathy. Let your fictitious characters show their weaknesses to your readers and your readers will learn to love your characters. What is his /her fallible trait? Is he quick to anger? Slow to act? Does her quick wit come out of her mouth before she considers the consequences? Impatient? Unrealistic? Afraid?
What do you think about this #tuesdaytip? Was it helpful? Feel free to leave a comment, and as always ...