5 Tips for Creating Characters Your Readers Will Care About

I love writing new characters, and though I enjoy books with likeable and unlikeable characters, I personally love writing characters who readers will care about. Readers don’t always need to love your characters right away, they can grow on them too – and there’s so much pleasure in revealing a character’s true heart chapter by chapter. But here are a few things I have found useful when putting pen to paper and trying to conjure a new character to fall in love with. 

Identify their vulnerabilities, and their fears, as well as the things that motivate them

Often, though not necessarily consciously, I’ll identify my character’s vulnerabilities or fears. Is there something holding them back from a dream? Is there something stopping them from connecting to others? Is there something huge, or small but with a big impact, going on in their lives that has left them isolated? I always connect with characters in books because of their vulnerabilities, and many readers feel the same. For me, that’s what makes a character relatable – their background or circumstances can be wildly different from mine, but their core, their heart and what has hurt them in the past can really draw a connection between your character and their reader. And on the flipside, what gives your character hope? What is it that your character loves? And what motivates them? What is going to be the key to unlocking their story?

Picture your character in different scenes and situations – challenge them and see how they deal with it!

Is there a scene or situation that can test your characters, to see how their vulnerabilities play out when we meet them at the beginning of the book? These scenes don’t need to make it into your final draft necessarily, but playing around with the character, getting to know them through their actions in different situations, can be helpful in terms of working out where their limits lie, and where they might be headed in the story. Is there an altercation they start with a stranger or a loved one? Do they come across an object or a reminder from the past that causes them to reminisce? Is there someone or something they’re actively avoiding, and what happens if they come face to face with that?

What will build up their confidence?

I love stories where we see characters grow over time, and we can see them overcome or embrace their vulnerabilities to open up new worlds, whether that’s a friendship or connecting with a loved one, or fulfilling a dream or a promise they made to themselves. Can these play a major part in your character’s journey, and what needs to happen to your character for them to feel open to letting these people in, and building up their confidence in the process? 

Immerse yourself in their world and find their voice

Once you have a sense of your character and their journey, it can be useful to pull together a profile of them, so you have all the information to hand and you can really focus in on what your character is like, and what has shaped them to being the person they are. What happened in their past, and how has it built up their vulnerabilities, how does it impact on their hope? It can be a great way to immerse yourself into the character, to understand their very heart. Then have a go at writing prose that captures their spirit – it can be third-person or first-person, but is there a way to dip into their inner monologue briefly to capture their essence in the narrative itself? This adds a sense of wo they are, especially when you combine that with their actions and relationships that play out on the page. Once you understand your character’s heart, play around with the best ways you can share them with your reader through your writing, the prose itself, their speech, their humour (this is an important one for a loveable character, I think!) and their actions – and of course the story you construct along the way.
 

In life there are setbacks, and probably in your character’s life there will be some too

While your character’s story is likely to be one of growth, there might be moments that set them back a bit. Over time, does your character react differently to these setbacks? Can we see their building confidence affect their decisions or the way they support themselves in these scenarios? And dig into their emotions – that’s a huge way for your readers to connect, empathise and sympathise with your character. We need to see their emotions clearly on the page. Dig in to what they’ll be feeling, and don’t hold back! 

Sara Nisha Adams is a writer and editor. She lives in London and was born in Hertfordshire to Indian and English parents. Her debut novel The Reading List is partly inspired by her grandfather, who lived in Wembley and immediately found a connection with his granddaughter through books. The novel was a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Fiction. Her second book, The Twilight Garden, comes out in June 2023 in the UK.