So, here we are again, to give you a few tips that might as well just save your manuscript, this time, about characters!

1- Don’t make your characters EXTRA special, so much so that readers can’t relate

One of the things that prevents the reader to enjoy a book is not being able to relate to a character, and the biggest hindrance to that are characters so perfect, but so perfect they become unrealistic.

Yes, it’s good to have an AMAZING character that is admired by all readers, but that character just doesn’t exist and trying to come up with one is a sure way to cliché away readers.

2- Put flaws. REAL flaws that the characters cannot go around, but can improve on.

Instead of making your characters PERFECT, make them as imperfect as you can. I’m not saying to make them wrong in ALL senses, just imperfect. Put flaws that they can’t deal with, or have difficulties to deal with, flaws that they don’t even notice yet hinder their journey.

This might sound like a very counter-intuitive advice, but mind that the BEST characters we have seen, be it Tyson Gallows and Damien from Steven McKinnon’s books, Coz from Nzondi’s book, or even Rake from Humphrey Hawksley’s Men on Fire, have LOTS of flaws that contrast with their abilities and that they cannot deal with, or are so ingrained in their being that they cannot function without them, and that’s awesome.

3- Don’t focus too much on ONE character as the story progresses

To focus a story in a SINGLE character makes any story boring and sometimes repulsive. In the best stories we have read and reviewed, the writers have spread the spotlight on more than 4 characters, and many times the villain got a LOT of attention and detail.

Books like Six Strings, Garkain, Secret Sky, Water Sight and even the spooky and chilling book by Liz Butcher, Never Never, are great examples of that. Many characters got an important role, to the point that each character moved the story in ways that only the main character couldn’t on its own.

4- Put something that CLEARLY puts it apart, be it a flaw or a perk, just make it intense

When it comes to traits, it doesn’t really matter if the trait that defines the character is good or bad, or even neutral, as long as you as the writer make it intense and memorable.

Our starkest example is Korvan, our FAVOURITE Villain. In Steven McKinnon’s books, Korvan has many traits, but THE ONE THING that defines him, is his sadism. He is a TOTAL maniac that just wants to watch the world burn, for no reason in particular. He just likes causing mayhem. No logic, no morals behind it, no rhyme, no reason. He just likes it.

5- Give motives to each character, not only the main character, even if that motive is laziness

Give a motive of existence that drives each character. I said each character. This is important, because it will help you create and manipulate the actions of each character and it will give a good motive for the reader to resonate with that character, or not, yet, it will help identifying the value of characters and what to expect from each character as the story progresses.

Written by Julio Carlos

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