Guest Post Wed: Creating Unique Characters

Too many characters in novels are too much alike. As a result, the stories and the characters' actions (and reactions) become predictable. You'd already know what would happen only a few chapters in the story! This is what you want to avoid when you're writing your own story – having characters that are too much like the other characters. There are way you can create characters that are different enough from each other that your readers won't get bored. Here are a few tips on how to do just that...

Tips for Creating Unique Characters

1. Give your characters character before you give them names.
Contrary to what many writers think, the name doesn't make the character. The name is only incidental and is used to identify the character, but it doesn't make the character. Save naming your characters last. Focus first on defining your characters in terms of personality, family, relationship, situation, education, job and any other number of things that can form the individuals in question.

2. Watch people.
Take a day off and go sit in a cafe for an hour or two and just watch people. This is a fun activity and extremely useful when it comes to defining your characters and giving them specific mannerisms and nuances. Many writers find people watching a major source of inspiration. You can observe how people interact, you can get ideas for personality traits, and you can formulate your own view of just how different people are. Life would be boring if all people were the same; the same applies to the characters in your book too!

3. Write down key story points.
This can help you make your characters different from each other. How would each of your characters react in specific events? Reactions to certain situations are often used to define people -- in the press and on TV, for instance.

4. Read other authors' works.
Reading the works of other authors can give you ideas as to what kind of information you can use to make your characters different from each other. Check out novels by popular or bestselling authors. You're certain to pick up a thing or two from reading their work.

5. Brainstorm your characters.
This allows you to build up individual character profiles. You can compare the character profiles so you can look over each of your characters and identify and eliminate any major similarities that could actually lead to your characters become carbon copies of each other. Make notes about your characters and keep those notes handy; you can refer back to those notes in case you stray later and begin to get characters confused.

More than anything, your character profiles are useful tools you can use when you are writing your story.

You can refer to these profiles whenever you need to to make sure your characters are consistent with their personality and that they aren't starting to act like the same people.

Copyright © Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

Download an excerpt of The Authentic Self: Journaling Your Joys, Griefs and Everything in Between below:

authenticself-sampler.zip OR authenticself-sampler.pdf If you want 3 writing *sparks* delivered to you every day for 31 days, check out WriteSparks!™ Daily HERE for info on how to get started -- it's free :o) Thank you for reading. Keep writing!

Best,
Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
WriteSparks!™ creator
WriteSparks.com

The Comeback of 2D Animation: Why We’re Craving Realness Again

There’s something happening in animation right now that’s worth paying attention to—not because it’s simply nostalgic, but because it’s deeply human. As someone who works in the mental health and creative storytelling space, I can’t help but see these conversations about art, AI, and hand-drawn storytelling as part of a bigger theme: our collective hunger for authenticity. We live in a time where AI-generated content is everywhere—convenient, efficient, and often soulless. It’s not surprising that artists and audiences alike are looking back toward something that feels more tactile, more imperfect, more human. That brings us to 2D animation, an art form that has shaped generations and now, it seems, might just be making a comeback. Here’s what Language of the Soul podcast host, Dominick Domingo, had to say on this trend: There’s been a lot of industry talk lately speculating about 2D/traditional ANIMATION making a comeback. Recent articles confirm that although Disney has not greenlit...

Interview Friday with multi-talented author, Cheryl Malandrinos

Cheryl Malandrinos is a freelance writer and editor from Western Massachusetts . A regular contributor to Writer2Writer, her articles focus on increasing productivity through time management and organization. A founding member of Musing Our Children , Ms. Malandrinos is also the Editor-in-Chief of the group's quarterly newsletter, Pages & Pens . Cheryl is a Tour Coordinator for Pump Up Your Book Promotion , a book reviewer, and blogger. Guardian Angel Publishing will release her first children’s book, The Little Shepherd Boy, in 2010. VS: Cheryl, I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. I know being a parent and writer can be hard and I find myself asking if I am giving my three children enough attention throughout the day. I am sure you have been in my shoes from time to time. So to start here is the first question, how many children do you have and what are their ages? Cheryl: Thanks for having me at The Writing Mama, Virginia. I’m thril...

Five Tips for a More Marketable Children’s Picture Book Manuscript by Mayra Calvani

The world of children’s picture book publishing is extremely competitive. If you’re an aspiring children’s author, you need to make sure your manuscript is in excellent shape and has all the elements editors and agents look for before you begin the submission process. Here are five tips to make your picture book manuscript more marketable: Start right with the problem. Many times beginner writers begin a picture book with back-story. It’s okay to have this back-story in the first draft, but be sure to get rid of it when you edit. Back-story is unnecessary 90% of the time and it only serves to slow down the beginning of a story, making it weaker. You want to grab the reader right from the start. So don’t be afraid to begin your story at the heart of the problem. It’s okay to set the stage with a sentence or two—but no more! Have a protagonist readers can relate to. Generally, children like to listen to stories about other children or animals with children’s characteristics. ...

VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Search This Blog