Do you want to know how to create realistic characters?
Watch my video below, or read the post, and I’ll share my secrets with you.
Hello my lovely writers!
Today I want to talk about how to create realistic characters because it’s something writers are always interested in.
The first thing to do is to give your character a flaw, or what other people would describe as a lie or a misbelief. This is something they think about the world, the way they view the world or the way they view themselves. Something they believe at the beginning of the book but which, by the end of the book, they will have transformed or changed their view.
Usually it’s something that happened to them earlier in their lives at an age when we’re influenced by outside experiences and something happened that shaped how we view ourselves. You probably remember something that happened to you when you were in primary school that still has an impact on you – it’s the same for your character.
Think about something that happened to your character early on in their life that has impacted the way they view themselves by way of a flaw, a negative way of thinking or a misbelief they have about themselves. By the end of the book, you would have taken them on a journey where they realise that that belief is not true.
How to create realistic characters
The second way to create realistic characters is to give them goals and desires. What is it your character wants more than anything? What is it they are trying to achieve that they believe will make their life so much better?
It might be they achieve that goal and it does make their life better, or perhaps they realised that was a false goal and it won’t make their life better. Or maybe they achieve it and they realise it doesn’t make their life better and so, towards the end of the book, they have to have a rethink.
The thing they’re always striving for can be tangible. It can be a real physical goal or something they’re trying to achieve or it can be emotional and more of an internal goal.
Create a backstory for your character
The third tip I have for you to help create realistic characters is the dreaded word, ‘backstory.’ When we talk about backstory in terms of creating a character, this is not the info dump you hear about at the beginning. By all means do the infodump in your first draft and take it out later, but you want to create a solid backstory for your character.
For me, that is not about which supermarket they shop at or what brands they buy. It’s about the important things in their lives such as what was their schooling like? What was their relationship like with their siblings, parents or grandparents? What were some of the key events in their lives that have shaped them into the human they are today?
This is really important because this is giving not just a backstory to what’s happened in your character’s life but these are all the things that shaped your character as well and, as you explore those things, you really get to know your character so much better.
A bonus tip
A bonus tip for you is to actually write that backstory out in longhand in a journal. Don’t go to your computer. Use handwriting if you can because that connection between your brain and your hand is so, so powerful and it will connect to your subconscious. You will be amazed at what comes out when you handwrite. It’s phenomenal.
Those are three tips to get you started on how to create realistic characters. We want to give our characters that flaw, that lie, that misbelief about themselves that you will disprove by the end of the book.
We want to give them a solid, clear, dream, desire, goal or ambition that they may or may not achieve by the end of the book.
Then think about the backstory. Who is your character? What has led them to the point that they are at just now? What have been the transformative moments in their lives that have shaped them into being the individual they are?
I hope you find those three tips useful. Let me know in the comments if you found them useful, if you have done them, or any tips you’ve got for creating wonderfully realistic and juicy characters.
Emma xx
Emma Dhesi
Emma Dhesi is a Certified Author Accelerator Book Coach and bestselling author who helps writers let go of perfectionism, self-doubt and writer's block through her signature programme, Unlock Your Creative Block.
She is the host of the YouTube Channel, Emma Dhesi, where she interviews debut and experienced authors alike.
Through her 1:1 coaching programme, Emma helps new authors start and finish their first novel.
Emma provides personal written feedback on their pages and guides them through the emotional rollercoaster that is writing a novel!
