by Abigail Zinnecker (PWR 2027)
Ronald Weasley, Peeta Mellark, Newt, Annabeth Chase—what do all these names have in common? They are characters readers adore, and without them, their stories wouldn’t be the same. That’s why writing strong, memorable characters is essential to a crafting an unforgettable story. Creating lovable characters for a novel can feel impossible—especially when you begin to compare yourself to the famed writers of our time—but it’s easier than you think.
Great worldbuilding and an exciting plot can only take you so far—if your characters fall flat, readers won’t stick around. That might sound intimidating—creating characters is super important—but not impossible. As you read in this article, I hope you will see that creating characters your readers will love is not as daunting as you think. Allow me to walk you through the process of creating characters your readers will never forget.
Step 1: Build a character cast list
Usually when starting a draft, especially when its fiction, writers come up with a plot and then create their main character. While that can be a good way to start, it can easily lead to very dull, one-dimensional supporting roles.
What I like to do is start by creating what I call a “cast list.” This doesn’t include minor characters or characters that are only important to a few chapters of the book, although you should still take time to develop those characters, but rather it includes all the characters that appear in about two-thirds of the book. A cast list is made up of all the characters who are crucial to the story. The characters your readers interact with consistently throughout the book.
Here is an example of what I consider to be the cast list of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling:
- Harry Potter
- Hermione Granger
- Ronald Weasley
- Albus Dumbledore
- Lord Voldemort/Professor Quirinus Quirrell
- Professor Severus Snape
- Neville Longbottom
- Rubeus Hagrid
- Professor Minerva McGonagall
- Draco Malfoy
You could even go further into detail by including the rest of the Weasley and Potter families, as well as some other professors and students. Once you have your list, you are ready to move on. It’s easy to assume the next step is choosing a main character from the list—but not yet.
Step 2: Give every character a story
The next step is to create a backstory and personality for each of these characters. Ask yourself these following questions:
- What drives them?
- What are their flaws?
- What are their physical and mental strengths?
- What are the hardest and easiest parts of their lives?
- What are the little quirks that make them unique?
- When they’re placed in the plot of your story, how would they handle it?
- How do they know one another or how will they meet in the story?
- What parts of each character fit well with the others? What parts don’t?
- Are certain characters closer than the others?
All this creates a dynamic, and now each character has a life and story to tell. Instead of having a main character and a bunch of secondary characters whose lives revolve around one, you have a diverse group of people all with their own stories and motivations. Your reader is going to notice that. They will be able to connect with each character in different ways because each character is unique. Your characters won’t just blend and mix . . . it will be easy for readers to see why each is crucial to the story and why they make the choices that they do.
Step 3: Choose a main character
Now comes an important step: choosing your main character. With a well-developed group of characters, each with their own story, it’s time to decide which one to focus on. You’ll usually find that one or two characters have a story that stands out. If you can’t narrow it down to one, consider writing from multiple points of view. That’s what I did with my current manuscript. I initially focused on one character, but soon realized that two characters had compelling stories—so I adapted it into a dual POV book.
Step 4: Continue to flesh out your characters
Once you’ve decided on your main character or characters, flesh them out further. Explore their journey in your plot and why their story is the most compelling. Dive into their backstory and what has shaped them to the person they are now. Expand on the ideas you came up with during character creation.
Don’t ignore the rest of your cast list, however. How do they interact with the main character? Why do they help or hate them? Remember, they are the main character of their own story, and they have just as much potential to be the main character of the story you’re writing. So don’t let their stories revolve around your main character. Keep their personalities, actions, and thoughts unique to them throughout the story.
Doing all these things will create characters with many dimensions. Characters that readers will connect with and characters that readers will love. Suzanne Collins did this well with Haymitch Abernathy. He plays a supporting role in The Hunger Games books and isn’t talked about nearly as much as the main characters, but Collins gave him his own story and motivations—even if they aren’t directly explored in the books. Because of the way she wrote him with his own story and personality that heavily contrasted with the main characters, readers loved him. He easily became a fan-favorite character, despite his abrasive personality. And now, years after the initial trilogy was released, Collins has published Sunrise on the Reaping, an entire book talking about his story because fans continue to love his character. This goes to show the importance of creating unique supporting characters that have stories outside of the one you chose to write.
Final thoughts
Creating characters that readers will love isn’t hard—it just takes time and care. Get to know your characters and let them get to know each other. Giving each character their own story makes the main character’s journey worth telling.
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