A good story relies on an enjoyable plot, articulated writing, unexpected twists in the story, and the most important part for many people, well-written and unique characters. However, as writers, sometimes we tend to become overwhelmed and caught up trying to make our main characters stand out. We unintentionally make them have similar personalities to each other.
It can be frustrating sometimes because we want the readers to differentiate our characters without the help of our story's narration. This is usually the case because, well, these people are being described by the same person: you, the writer who writes with your own distinct style. In this article, however, you will learn some techniques and tips that came from experiences with writing and creating characters.
1. Know your character's background and backstory
Even if you are writing a mysterious character, you should always consider what kind of person they were and how they changed into who they are in the present time where your story takes place. Did they have a bad childhood? Did they experience anything in their past that changed them? How did the environment they were in during that time change them? You can ask questions like these to help you understand your character, and this technique will be fundamental for the other tips in this article.
2. Figure out how they react to certain scenarios and/or characters
Creating a character is like getting to know your friend even better, as you will observe how they react to certain events that may happen or how they react to certain people. Do they hate it when winter arrives? Do they have fear towards certain animals? Are they respectful towards older people but despise children? You can use certain reactions to scenarios or other characters to build more personality for your cast, and you can use the first technique to establish a reason as to why they react this way.
3. Consider planning out their character development ahead of time
You can try to plan out if your character will remain static or change drastically as the story progresses; this can be a technique in writing or re-writing the plot if you feel stuck as well. When your character starts to change after the event that will cause them to, their interaction with other characters needs to change, allowing you to differentiate them from the other characters. Consider what influence the event will have on them and how they will act for the rest of the story. This is especially useful for creating plot twists, as you can create what seems to be a mere background character into the main hero or villain in the climax of the story.
4. Writing detailed descriptions
Try creating detailed descriptions of your characters as much as you can; it will assist you in being able to differentiate each characters' strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you were to write a character who is described to have a very muscular and fit build, who was the most likely to have moved the boulder blocking the path in the story? This will help the readers determine which character will shine on the scene, as they already know what capabilities the characters have with these descriptions, all while having an easy time determining who is who.
5. Select unique vocabulary for each character
This is what I consider to be the most important technique for creating distinct characters because most of the time, the readers will need to differentiate them in times of conversation. Pick different types of words and terms that are being used by characters to add up to their individual personality. Do they stutter a lot? Do they use swear words most of the time? Do they use deep and sophisticated words in their conversations? You can list down notable words, terms, nicknames, greetings, sayings, or linguistic descriptions that differ between each character. This way, the readers will begin to identify with each character just with the words used alone, and it will give them a more enjoyable experience when a conversation comes up in the story. You can use the help of thesaurus.com to expand your own vocabulary and find similar words you want to use in a different term.
Image from medium.com
So these are some tips to help you create more lively and diverse personalities for your characters which are honestly harder to create on written stories as they only rely on dialogue and descriptions. It can feel like you are not moving forward with what you are currently writing, but this shows that you will eventually find ways to make your writing better, especially if you are seeking improvement for something that you are passionate about.
Nice article
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