Write Better Characters with 4 Surprising Steps

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Write Better Characters with 4 Surprising Steps

How do authors like Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games), Ryan Coogler (Black Panther), and J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) create iconic characters like Katniss Everdeen, Killmonger, and Hermione Granger? As a beginning writer, you want readers to know your characters are cool, powerful, and beautiful. Here are four simple steps to help level up your writing!

Blog: The Wizard Wanders //

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Who is StonerSteve?
A time-traveling wizard. A fearless starship captain. The dulcet-toned host of cosmic broadcasts. StonerSteve is always ready for an adventure, as long as he can tell you the story later. These stories are filled with groups of whimsical friends and foes who join the rye wizard as he trips his way through the universe. Consider this your invitation to be part of the next quest by following StonerSteve wherever you get your social media fix.

About the creator:
StonerSteve was created by Stephen Biller, a multimedia storyteller with a passion for gentle nonsense. While earning a degree in English Lit, Stephen reconnected with the fantasy stories and fairy tales they loved as a kid. Their stories are made for anyone who wants to take a journey of imagination.

Transcript:
Do you have a favorite character from a book, movie, or TV show? What makes them iconic?

Let’s talk about character design. My name is Steph, and I’m a writer and artist. I have been writing stories about original characters for over three decades.

Create a backstory for your character. It doesn’t have to be long, and you may not put the whole backstory in your finished story/book/script. We all come from somewhere, and our past experiences have helped to shape us into the people we are today. The same is true about fictional characters. To have realistic and engaging characters, the reader needs to believe the characters have a life outside of the story.

Give your character a personality. In Rise of KillerClaw, the protagonist Sebastian is on a journey of transformation. To save his friend, the character becomes embroiled in the seedy world of space crime. At the beginning, Sebastian tries to convince his friend not to go on a fateful journey alone, demonstrating the character’s fear. Fear drives many of Sebastian’s decisions until he is confronted with a moral dilemma and chooses compassion, even at the risk of his own life. To demonstrate the character’s personality, I confronted him with opportunities to make decisions. Through the decisions, the reader can start to understand the character.

We connect with characters who have emotions, and you can create a realistic character by letting them show how they feel. Is your character in a situation that makes them angry? Show not tell: Describe your character’s response. How do they act when angry? For example, they may slam their fist on a table, or they may stop talking, quietly plotting revenge. Instead of just naming the emotion, show the result of the emotion. Be purposeful with physical descriptions

If it is important to you that the reader knows the character’s wardrobe, think about what those clothes say to the reader about the character. Is your character wearing a red shirt? Tell your reader why the character chose a red shirt: “Hannah felt unstoppable when wearing her red shirt. It was a costume, like Spiderman. When she put it on, the villains of the world were less frightening.”

This is also true for hair/eye color and skin tone. Show the reader why this aspect of the character is important. Whenever possible, try to save specific physical descriptors for important moments to make them more impactful: “Aiden was mesmerized by the sparkle in Kim’s brown eyes.”

Resist the urge to use comparisons when describing colors. It is difficult to make the comparison meaningful, and the color name works just as well. I like to use specific color names whenever possible. Instead of dark blue, light purple, and shiny brown, you could use azure, lavender, and bronze. When used sparingly, obscure words can add zest to your story.

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