Creating Characters That Rock!

        The Great Blogging Experiment has arrived today with over 170 bloggers hitting the keyboards to tell you their methods for creating compelling characters.  This is a ginormous event brought to you by the fabulous Blogging Trifecta of Elana, Jen and Alex.  What an amazing turnout!

Do you want your characters like this?  If so, just skip this post.

        Not that plot, setting, pace and other factors aren't important, but it will be the characters who push and pull a reader through your book--guaranteed.  But what is it about your characters that makes you care about them so much, whether they succeed or fail?  It comes to one all-important thing: making the character real. Think about what you love and hate, like and dislike, about people around you, in movies, in books, and then apply what works.

Keep in mind:

Real people are complex and have flaws as well as strengths.

Readers want to like the characters but don't expect or want perfection, just believability.  They want to identify with the characters.  Even antagonists need both.  Most don't believe they're bad at all.

Real people act, live their lives.  They don't wait around for things to just happen.

Give them goals to work for and realistic conflict to overcome. 

Real people are diverse with backgrounds and experiences to make them unique.

Do they talk, act, dress, interact authentically given their background? Do you have too many characters all with different accents or peculiarities?  A little is good, but too much is unbelievable, unless it's relevant to the story you're writing.

Real people are fairly consistent in how they talk and react to situations.

Know your character inside and out.  What motivates him/her/it?  How does the character deal with obstacles?  What flavor would your character order at Baskin Robbins and why?  Paper or plastic?

Real people are reflected in their surroundings.

Physical attributes, body language, clothing, setting and even a name or nickname can reveal character.

Real people grow as they learn and experience new things.

Some don't change, but the ones that really rock do!

Many writers suggest a character analysis or character interviews to get to know the character better.  One piece of advice above all others that helps me the most is to think about how your other characters would describe your character.  What makes him/her stand out from the others?  How well do your other characters know each other?  I hope something in this post will help someone in the blogosphere!  Thank you all for coming by my post.