Linda K Sienkiewicz

Writing life, line by line

10 Character Tips Every Novelist Should Know

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a woman in a dark shirt and hair has her hands covering her eyes so only her nose and lips are visible, but eyes are drawn on her palms

Create compelling characters

  1. Give your characters opinions. Passive or malleable might seem likable to you as you writer, but it’s poison to your readers.
  2. Give readers a reason to root for your character. We admire characters for trying more than we do for their successes.
  3. You have to create ways for your readers to identify with your characters and their situations.
  4. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Put them in an uncomfortable position. Challenge them.
  5. It’s okay to stack the odds against your characters.
  6. What is at stake for the character? What happens if they don’t succeed?
  7. Do the main character’s goals remain clear and strong throughout? Make sure that not only do readers see your character’s goals, but that in each scene they have a clear, strong immediate objective.
  8. Do readers understand why your character wants each goal, and do they see those reasons vividly and compellingly throughout?
  9. Does the development of the story make sense for the character’s journey, or are you being a puppet-master? Depending on how they develop, a character’s goals may need to change, or their feeling about them may shift. Don’t stick to a predetermined path that no longer fits their story.
  10. Creating coincidences to get characters into trouble are great. Coincidences to get them out of trouble are cheating.

Understand that this takes time and work

When I was drafting Love and Other Incurable Ailments, I had to determine why a woman would give up her life and her job and move to another state in pursuit of a man she didn’t know–it wasn’t enough that Serenity was simply unhappy or lonely. It had to make sense to the reader.

I also wanted Serenity to be a prickly character with boundary issues, but I quickly realized had to make her relatable. I had to give readers a reason to cheer for her. I had to allow them to see her emotional growth.

Along her journey to find a mystery letter writer, she realizes she’s actually trying to find herself. As a writer, I had to create a journey with constantly mounting challenges.

My goal is that the end is a payoff for the reader, as well as Serenity.