A good character can make or break a story. Think about characters who are household names like James Bond, you might not know every book written about the popular spy but you probably know his name (It’s Bond, James Bond). This is why it is so important to craft a compelling character, that will jump off the page. When done well a great character can drive a series, be the focal point of a world and live forever (being played by a series of British actors).

However, this doesn’t need to be difficult. As writers we can get lost in the planning. But a good character needn’t take much time to create.

As part of your outlining process you want to work on creating a compelling character (or characters).

With these 5 simple steps you can create a character that will lead your story in the right direction:

• Create a need for your character
• Give your character a problem that drives the story
• Remember bad choices make good stories
• We are the people we are surrounded by
• Drip feed the back story

1) Create a need for your character

Often as writers, we can get lost in world building and the basics of building a character. Forget about how they look or the world they are in right now but think about what they need. Once you know your characters greatest desire it’s easier to plan who they are.

For example, if your character wants to rob a bank (because the cost of living is crazy!) they will need to assemble a team and learn the layout to the local bank.

Straight away your character has a goal, they are now making their way into town to scope out a bank, hopefully not wearing all black and a balaclava just yet!

Now your story can begin to unfold. See how easy it becomes once you have a need?

2) Give your character a problem that drives the story

Okay, so my fictional bank robber turns out to be pretty good at stealing money. But there is one problem, their childhood sweetheart works at the bank and she is pretty sure he noticed her when she stole all that money.

Now there’s a problem in the story that the character has to solve. Before they run away into the sunset they need to see if they have been recognised. Queue spontaneous romance plot being thrown into the story.

Giving your character a problem gives you something to work with. It is a task they need to solve and can lead to other situations. Within story telling problems are not actually problems, they are opportunities to create a compelling tale.

3) Bad choices make good stories

Remember not to make your characters too perfect. A bad choice is terrible in real life, but in a story, it can drive your plot.

Maybe, my wannabe robber goes back to the bank out of curiosity and finds herself being interviewed by the police. Or maybe, she spends some of that money too close to home so the police are now searching her local area. People are flawed and your characters should be too. It will help you move the plot on and add some interesting characters to the mix.

Did I mention by police detective was going to have an impressive moustache, a drug habit and be named Detective Wolf?

The little quirks and failings of your characters are important because it stops them being two dimensional and more realistic. It’s also easier to say bribe a character with a drug habit than it would a perfect by the book police officer.

4) We are the people we are surrounded by

There’s a saying, show me your friends and I will show you your future.

We are all influenced by the people around us. So you can use this idea in your story. Let other characters drive the story and influence your character.

Maybe a kind neighbour stops them from escaping with all their money, because they need help just before fleeing.

Perhaps meeting a lost love makes my would be robber stay in the area instead of laying low putting them at risk.

People are defined not only by their own choices but by the choices they make for others.

Remember it won’t just be the world around the character (whether real or imagines) that influences the life your character has, the people they are surrounded by will have an impact on their choices, experiences and the overall story.

5) Drip feed the back story

Let your readers learn about your character slowly. It can be tempting to add lots of background details right away but where’s the fun in that?

Just as you wouldn’t meet a friend and ask them to share their deep, dark secrets right away. Your readers should learn about your characters in time.

There’s no need to rush (unless you are writing flash fiction). Just take your time and let the story unfold along with their backstory with each chapter you write.

This avoids information overload and the reader not taking in all the key details because they were thrown at them at the same time.

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Hopefully this helps you start developing your characters. It doesn’t take much time to add to the story through the characterisation of the people in it.

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