Crafting A Compelling Character: Tips from Author Sydney Conteh

Suitable for all ages

The core of every good story is well developed characters, an exciting character can not only engage your reader, but in some cases fuel more stories after the reader has finished.

So follow us in this guide on creating your next anticipating story! 

1. Giving your character traits

Don’t let your character say something like, “My name is Marge, and I hate all things colorful like rainbows, puppies, unicorns, and glitter.”

While monochrome is always a safe bet, let’s add some flair! Trust your reader, you can show your character’s traits by their actions throughout the story, the saying show doesn’t tell is a powerful weapon. 

For people who are good at drawing, making illustrations of the character can make you get more ideas whether it's making it look innocent or deceiving don't be shy if you wanna add chicken wings add ‘em!

When you're trying to give your character traits, try naming them look up names and their meaning once you find one you like, or fits the character use it.

A good activity for the character personality a simple list will do, we have given an example below, this is simple and effective; if you want to go further you can write how you are going   to show these personality traits in your story, it can be another character saying it, there actions or them saying it themselves. 

2. Character description 

When you're trying to give your description make sure its detailed.

You could literally say “A tan girl with a ponytail.” And the reader can imagine hyperpigmentation girl or more things! Make sure you add thing that can make people see it clearly in their head so don’t say “A tan girl with a ponytail” say “A tan girl with deep dark green eyes pink blushy cheeks, a curly and long wide ponytail with fish, hibiscus, and cheetah print hair clips.” Or something else.

3. Story arc and planning how their personalities will change 

It is not enough to show a character's personality trait, as a writer you most always ask why, because that is what your audience will be doing while they are reading your story.

There is freedom in revealing this extra context about your character, it can be during a main story plot, or maybe when revealing another character, linking two characters together and making your world seem bigger. 

The ways to add context to your character is only limited by your creativity and world that the characters live in. 

A character is only as strong as the journey they go through, give your character personality traits that are bad and then take them through a journey of healing, or opposite, create a villain arc as the good person we started with becomes twisted as the story goes on.

Unforgettable characters are not only initially captivating but also gain in intrigue as readers connect with their story, fostering either love or hatred. 

4. Make your relatable 

To make your character relatable, you must give them flaws, in writing there is something I call the superman paradox. Superman is awesome, is very powerful, strong and overall is the strongest character in comics. Because he’s a relatable, flawed human who triumphs over adversity—unlike Superman—Batman is more popular, in this writer's personal opinion.

Powerful characters with great personalities attract readers, but relatable flaws are what keep them hooked; imperfections make characters more engaging. 

Another example is seemingly flawless characters whose arrogance is their downfall; I find this ingenious blurring of strengths and weaknesses.