Written by contributor Khadijah Alam
There is an abundance of writing advice articles out there that you can get from social media or the internet, all with different tips and suggestions to help you on your writing journey. For me, I think these five tips can help you plan out and write a character well, even if you don’t actually write them until later.
1. Don’t presume that you know everything about your character.
People automatically assume that you should know every single thing about your character, because it makes sense, since you’re the writer and you’ll need to expand on them throughout your story. What people don’t know is that your character is allowed to keep their secrets, especially since they will develop throughout the series, naturally.
Maybe your character has a fear of rejection… Their backstory may be planned by you, but there may be quirks to their character which can lead you to a totally different backstory later, told by your character and told to you as well.
2. Don’t make your character a Mary Sue.
For those who do not know, Mary Sues are those people who are an author insert. They have no weaknesses or flaws, and they may have a few people who are interested in them. For example, Hermione Granger could be described as a possible Mary Sue in the first few Harry Potter books. She knows everything, is level headed, and supports Harry when even Ron doesn’t. Mary Sues can be bland and boring and you should never try to aim for one in your Work in Progress.
Instead, your character could have very basic flaws, such as not being very patient and rushing into things, which have a strong potential to do something wrong. They could be bad at school but be an excellent judge of character. Little flaws add more flavour to your story and naturally, they make your character more realistic and relatable.
3. On the other hand, don’t make them an extremely abused, hardened person.
Your original characters don’t have to be perfect, but they don’t have to have suffered terribly to make them interesting. You could have them suffer a little bit, which adds to their backstory, but it shouldn’t define their whole personality. Most characters develop, showing that they can overcome the mild hardships of their past and still function in society. However, if you allow it to overshadow their life, then your character may get boring. They can have flashbacks, sure, but the story should also show them getting over their past and become a functioning member of society. Of course, they could have unfinished business with the abusers by the end of the story, but sometimes your character will just want to deal with things themselves, maybe by taking up a project that requires their full time and energy, or moving away so they don’t have to deal with memories.
4. Make your character diverse.
Your character may have several aspects to their sexuality, for example. They could be LGBTQ+, which is becoming more widely accepted these days, especially within the pages of our books. They could be LGBTQ+, but they know their parents will not understand them and so they stay closeted. They could only share this fact with their closest friends. Or, they could just be straight, which means that they may have less stress with a family that is against LGBTQ+ people. On the other hand, they could be LGBTQ+ and their family will accept them, but everyone else might not, for example, a homophobic friend if they are gay. It all depends on how you want it to fit your character, but if you plan to incorporate diversity into your character and you are unfamiliar with it yourself, research is key.
5. Finally, you could have your character not conform to society norms.
Your character could stand out in a number of ways. For example, they would have several aspects to their personality and freely show it. There is nothing wrong with having a male character who aspires to be a makeup artist, but still loves talking about sports with their friends. You could have a female character who loves to read, but also loves buying clothes and collecting perfume samples in the post. Not everyone has to conform to society norms with the things they like, or they don’t have to be a self insert of the author and thus have a bland personality.
Remember, these are only guidelines for creating a character, and you don’t have to stick to these. Many people are different in regards to making their own characters, so feel free to use your own tips and techniques as well!
