Linda K Sienkiewicz

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10 Character Tips Every Novelist Should Know

May 19, 2025 By Linda K Sienkiewicz

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.

Doing 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.


Thank you for visiting.
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist
Books: In the Context of Love | Gordy and the Ghost Crab | Sleepwalker
New novel,  Love and Other Incurable Ailments, coming fall 2026 from Regal House Publishing
Connect with Linda on social media: LinkTree

2 Comments Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: characterization, Fiction, writing, writing tips

A (Mostly) Clean Challenge: Writing a Novel with Minimal Profanity

April 7, 2025 By Linda K Sienkiewicz

The question was: Could I do it? First of all, I didn't think profanity fit my forthcoming novel, Love and Other Incurable Ailments, and secondly, I like to give myself challenges as a way of … Continue reading >>

2 Comments Filed Under: It's Personal, Writing Tagged With: dialogue, Fiction, profanity

What, Why, How: author Kate Woodworth

March 10, 2025 By Linda K Sienkiewicz

Book: Little Great Island, by Kate Woodworth

What: Little Great Island tells the story of a small Maine island community needing to reinvent itself in the face of climate change. Told from the point of view of a handful of community members, … Continue reading >>

Leave a Comment Filed Under: What, Why, How Tagged With: climate change, Fiction, point of view

Magical Realism: Blurring the Lines Between Reality and Wonder

March 3, 2025 By Linda K Sienkiewicz

Why veer into magic realism for a third novel? Magic realism is a literary style that blends the real and the fantastic, presenting extraordinary elements as a natural part of everyday life. Unlike … Continue reading >>

1 Comment Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books, Fiction, magic realism

What, Why, How: Author Carolyn Korsmeyer

February 24, 2025 By Linda K Sienkiewicz

What: Two of my three published novels are historical fiction. For the first, Charlotte’s Story, I assumed the voice of one of Jane Austen’s characters, Charlotte Lucas, so that book is set in the … Continue reading >>

Filed Under: What, Why, How Tagged With: Fiction, ghosts, Historical Fiction, spiritualist movement

When Writer Meets Reader: Intent and Interpretation of Theme

February 10, 2025 By Linda K Sienkiewicz

Theme's the Thing: 5 Points Themes are the universal lessons and abstract ideas that we draw from our own experiences when writing and creating art, as well as when we read, and interpret art. If a … Continue reading >>

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: books, Fiction, interpretation, theme, writing

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About Linda

Award- winning writer, poet & artist. Cynical optimist. Super klutz. Corgi fan. Author of two novels, a children's picture book, and five poetry chapbooks. More here.

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