| Stories are usually told through the characters, which makes it very important. A character needs to capture the interest of the reader. There must be something unique and engaging, and they must be believable and become real in the imagination of the reader. This is difficult to achieve if the characters are not adequately described or are shallow, “wooden” or stereotyped. You can use people you have known, after scrambling up the elements of course, or you can simply discretely observe strangers in everyday situations for ideas. Start with the physical description, then imagine a history or “back-story”, and then add inner feelings and motivation. Having decided on character do not simply provide a description; reveal the details gradually through the story. Some details are not needed – for example if hair colour is not relevant to the story you can omit it and let the reader imagine. Make the characters believable. |