“The writer must always leave room for the characters to grow and change. If you move your characters from plot point to plot point, like painting by the numbers, they often remain stick figures. They will never take on a life of their own. The most exciting thing is when you find a character doing something surprising or unplanned. Like a character saying to me: ‘Hey, Richard, you may think I work for you, but I don’t. I’m my own person.’” –Richard North Patterson
We must create real, authentic characters that absorb our readers. Will our readers find our characters believable? Will the readers identify with them? Will they seem them as being too flawed or too perfect?
The following articles provide some important lessons as we strive to create characters that will stay with our readers long after they have finished reading.
I have writing exercises to help with creating stronger characters.
Five exercises to create authentic characters
Do your readers see your characters they way you see them
Creating characters of the opposite gender
Understanding Character and Plot
An Editor’s take on characters
An interview with the great Anne Tyler on creating memorable characters
The Moving Word
