Characters are the heart and soul of any great story. Creating compelling characters means developing individuals with unique personalities, histories, and goals. When they feel real, they breathe life into your story and connect with readers on a deeper level. In this post, we’ll explore how to develop characters that stand out and how to balance Prominent and Peripheral characters without losing focus on your story.
Creating Compelling Characters: Think of Them as Real People
When creating compelling characters, it’s important to treat them like real people. One of the biggest challenges is making them feel authentic. What motivates them? What unique traits set them apart? How have their past experiences shaped their choices? Readers are drawn to characters who feel genuine, flawed, complex, and believable enough to exist beyond the page.
Strong character development requires crafting engaging characters with depth, backstories, and distinct personalities. For your Prominent characters, it’s essential to give them a past, even if not every detail makes it into the book. What happened in their lives that informs their current decisions? What do they want, and how do they act based on those desires?
For instance, a character who grew up in a harsh environment might be more cautious or mistrustful. While one who’s had a nurturing upbringing might be more optimistic. These details help develop memorable characters, making them relatable and emotionally engaging for readers.
Peripheral vs. Prominent Characters: A Balance of Importance
Not every character in your story needs the same level of detail. When creating compelling characters, you should focus on fully developing your Prominent characters—those central to the plot—while ensuring Peripheral characters serve their purpose without overshadowing the main story.
Peripheral characters aren’t meant to take up the spotlight, but they should still feel distinct. Even minor characters can be engaging and memorable if they have unique traits, but this should be done in a way that enhances the narrative rather than distracts from it.
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is a great example of this balance. Characters like Rita Skeeter don’t need deep, complex backstories, but they still leave an impression. Skeeter, for instance, serves as comic relief and as a satirical representation of sensationalist media. She isn’t meant to be a deep, complex character, but rather a symbolic figure who adds humor, tension, and commentary on how truth can be manipulated. Her presence also highlights the power of the media. Characters like her show that not everyone in your story has to be highly realistic. When writing strong characters, remember that not every figure needs a full arc—some can be symbolic, comedic, or thematic.
How Creating Compelling Characters Drives Your Story
Prominent characters are fully realized, complex individuals who evolve over the course of the story. These characters often experience emotional growth or significant internal change. They are at the heart of the story and drive its progression. They need to develop in a way that feels real and dynamic.
For example, in many fantasy stories, the protagonist starts with limited knowledge or abilities but gradually grows and evolves through their experiences. This development is key to making them feel like a well-rounded individual that readers can root for.
Why Prominent Characters Matter More
Your readers will spend the most time with Prominent characters, so it’s essential to make them engaging and relatable. These characters should feel like someone readers can connect with, especially because they have flaws. It’s those imperfections that make them human and allow readers to see themselves in the characters. When you develop a Prominent character well, readers have a reason to keep turning the page—they want to see where the character’s journey goes, how they change, and what they learn.
Bringing It All Together
The key to writing engaging characters lies in knowing which ones need full development and which don’t. Prominent characters are the driving force of your story, and they need to be fleshed out with depth, backstories, and distinct personalities. On the other hand, Peripheral characters can still be memorable without being fully realized, like Rita Skeeter in Harry Potter, whose exaggerated nature serves a specific purpose. You need to balance these characters while keeping the main plot in focus, ensuring your story stays engaging and cohesive. When you focus on creating compelling characters, your readers will stay engaged.
In the next post, I’ll dive into how to craft powerful character arcs that keep your Prominent characters evolving throughout your story.
What’s Coming Next: Character Development in Focus
In the next few posts, I’ll be sharing more about crafting memorable characters. First up, we’ll take a look at the importance of internal conflict and how a character’s inner struggles shape their emotional journey. After that, I’ll talk about building character arcs that can evolve across an entire story—or even a whole series.
Stay Tuned! In the next post of our blog, we’ll jump into what makes internal conflict so important and how it keeps readers hooked on your characters.
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