Written by Ashleigh Lowry
Characters can make or break a novel. When you are writing, you want to make believable and relatable characters. So, to help all you writers out, I’m going to give you a few tips that myself and a couple of my writer friends have used over the years. I hope that you will find one or two tips that will help you out.
Tip 1: Build a character profile
This one is a must. You use these profiles to get the know the major characters in your novel as well as their likes, dislikes and fears. Using all this information, you can create real characters that feel like they could jump out of the page and talk with you. One, master tip I would have for all you writers out there is give your characters unusual likes, dislikes and traits, or at the very least spice them up a little bit. So instead of just simply writing, “They like coffee, dislike sweets and fear spiders,” I would write, “They prefer barista-made coffee but will drink instant if they don’t have any other option. They have never enjoyed sweets unless they are raspberry or lemon flavoured. Spiders are little creatures of the devil according to them.” Stuff like this makes a character seem more believable. Turning likes, dislikes and fears into quirks brings out personality, making them more human… if that’s what your character is. I enjoy these kinds of profiles when writing as they allow me to further personalise characters' responses to events.
Tip 2: Make a character themed playlist
This is one I was told about by a writer friend that had already been published. So, it must work! (Kidding, kidding.) It is a brilliant tool. Music is a form of communication that transcends language barriers. Now, two master tips I would have for this is, firstly, section off your playlist into lists of three or four songs for a variety of different moods. I can guarantee that the songs your character listens to when they are happy are going to be different from the songs they listen to at the gym or when they’ve had a bad day. Knowing these types of songs can provide you with an ambiance of emotion to write to. Second, write out a little blurb to why the songs are on the playlist. This one requires a lot of deep soul searching for both you and your character. Write a good 50 to 200 words on why each song in important to the list. Music has a way of allowing people to understand each other more, allowing for lines of communication and so much more to stem from one song. Using that connection to form deeper and more vibrant connections with your characters gives such a strong sense of understanding for the writers as they continue to write the emotions and thought patterns of their characters.
Tip 3: Pinterest boards (trust me)
This one is a little bit debated between a writer friend and I. I, on one hand, think Pinterest boards are an extremely useful tool to help writers gather ideas and inspiration for their characters and novel. My friend thinks it’s unnecessary as you will never find photos that truly match your visions and it will just annoy you. So, if you want to, you can skip this tip. Still here? Good, I’ll continue. As I said, I use Pinterest boards to form a holistic idea about the novel. I know I won’t get perfect representations of the characters (I came to terms with that during my first novel themed board, after lots of time and coffee was consumed), but I can get a very solid idea of the story, the characters and the feeling of the novel or series I’m writing. Now that Pinterest has sections, it really does make it easier, as I can separate world and setting from characters. I have these extensive and, at the same time, detailed boards that express a rough idea of the novel.
Tip 4: Avatar creators and the Sims
This tip really shows my geek flag, but I assure you that it is a good tip. Free-to-play avatar creator games and simulation games such as the Sims are a great way to have a mock-up of your character with no drawing needed. Myself and another writer I know use this tip quite a lot because it provides us with clear visuals of the main and minor characters in our stories. We can have an idea of hairstyles and clothes, giving this wonderful glimpse of the characters that have spent so long in our mind's eye. In the last two generations of Sims games you have been also able to sculpt the facial and body features, giving writers an even bigger canvas to work with. The one downsize is height, but I’m sure one day it will be a thing (crosses fingers and toes). Though it may not help with writing, it is a fun way to still do things for your novel and chill out. I do recommend trying it out sometime if you wish to have a visual representation or if the characters refuse to leave your head.
Tip 5: Make some (fake) social media accounts
I strongly recommend this one for the sake of fun. Primarily, because it’s a whole lot of fun! Even if your character is not in the modern day. Building fake social medias is just a great way to see how your character would express themselves today. There are a good number of sites that will help writers of all levels create fake social media accounts, aka a ‘fake social media creator/generator'. Take some time figuring out if your character has an aesthetic or not, what their screen names would be (a personal favourite) and other little personality quirks you can put in online. There are even some generators where they allow you to create test conversations. I’ve seen this primarily used as fan art, but went on to adapt it for myself a couple of months ago and have loved it since.
I really hope these tips and tricks that my friends and I have shared today help you with your writing. If there are any character tips that I missed or didn’t know about, please share in the comments or on our social media pages.
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