OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
Creating unique characters is something every fiction author has to focus on because it can make the difference in writing a book that resonates with the audience, and that means sales.
I love the Lee Child Jack Reacher novels because the character stands up for justice in a cruel world in every book, and I am also trying to create a memorable heroine in my own Morgan Sierra in the ARKANE thrillers. But what is it about characters that keep us coming back and how can we achieve the same affect in our novels? Today, guest author Jen Blood shares some tips.
From television to movie franchises to fiction in every genre imaginable, the world loves a good series.
But why?
Plot is certainly part of it, but, with rare exceptions, we can just as easily see the same story played out in a standalone feature. The reason we keep coming back to the series – whatever medium it may be – is because of the characters. We want to know how they’re doing, where they’ll end up, who they’ll hop into bed with next. We want to see them conquer the bad guy… Or get conquered doing it. We become invested in them; they become like better looking, cooler versions of ourselves, our friends, and our family.
As a writer, the question of how to craft the perfect serial character may seem on its surface to be no different than how to craft any great character: Just come up with a general background, give them great hair and a few charming quirks and… Voila, you’ve got yourself a bonafide hero – someone the world will love to come home to, time and again.
Not so fast.
Because there are things like character arc, consistency, story arc, believability, and the matter of maintaining interest over the long term, creating a great serial character is a whole different ballgame. Here, then, are five steps to creating a character who will stand the test of time.
(1) Know Your Character.
Before you publish that first book, I think it’s always a good idea to know your main character(s) inside and out. What color is her hair? Eyes? What’s her birthday? Birth sign? Does your hero believe in God? Why or why not? Maybe a lot of this will never come up in the first book – in fact, you may never explore some of it over the course of the series. But you need to know, one way or the other, so that you don’t put your foot in it in book four by talking about how your hero has been an atheist since age five only to have it pointed out by fans that he was a devout Catholic in book one.
To help me in crafting my Erin Solomon mysteries, I keep a file readily accessible with all of my characters’ vital stats and what I’ve actually mentioned in each novel, so that I can maintain consistency throughout the series. Nothing pulls a reader out of the story faster than realizing the author doesn’t actually know her own characters.
(2) No One Lives in a Vacuum.
In other words, the events in your novels should have some impact on the characters. To me, there’s nothing worse than a character who never learns from his mistakes, never draws from past experience, and doesn’t seem in the least changed by the events in their past. Particularly if you’re writing a mystery, thriller, or adventure series, those events are pretty significant. Stuff is blowing up, people are dying, treasures are lost, prisoners escape… This is bound to have some effect on your protagonist. We are the sum of our experiences – our characters are no different.
In Dennis Lehane’s award-winning Patrick Kenzie/Angie Gennaro P.I. series, the last novel in the series – Moonlight Mile – deals specifically with the events in the fourth novel, Gone Baby Gone, and the fallout from that case twelve years later. Beyond that, it explores the impact such close contact with violence and a hardened criminal element has had on Patrick and Angie as they now strive to be loving parents in a world in which they’ve seen the absolute worst.
You don’t have to go that deep, obviously, but if in book one your character loses his dad in a fire, and then five books later must pull someone from a burning building, don’t miss the opportunity to draw on that experience. It will make your characters richer and that much easier for readers to invest in as the story progresses.
(3) Be aware of your character’s journey.
I’m referring here to your character’s arc – the way that he or she changes and grows (or fails to) from story to story. This may be within a single novel or the entire series. The nature of writing means that our characters are always surprising us – insisting on going left when we really, really wanted them to go right, which means that a character’s arc may well shift from what you originally thought it would be when you first set out to write the series. But if your character is making the same journey and struggling with the same issues (and making no real progress) in every single novel, it’s bound to get old. Likewise, it’s to your benefit to move the journey at a believable pace, rather than leaping from Point A to Point X in a single story.
Let’s say your main character is a buttoned-down executive assistant afraid of her own shadow in the first novel. Rather than having her evolve into a flaxen-haired vixen who can kill a man with her stiletto by the end of the first book, try to think in baby steps: She lets her hair down by the end of the first book. Fires a gun for the first time. By the fifth book, she can totally be a flaxen-haired vixen killing men with her stilettos, and your readers will love her (and you) because they’ve been along for the ride; they’ve seen that evolution.
(4) Use action to define your character.
In plot-driven work, it can be very tricky balancing a complex character with a dynamic storyline. Who wants to talk about how you feel about your mother when there’s a bomb about to go off in the middle of Times Square? The best mainstream writers out there, for my money, understand how to do both at the same time – How someone deals with a bomb that’s about to go off in the middle of Times Square says a lot about that person, after all.
Take for instance a scene in Nevada Barr’s Deep South, the eighth book in Barr’s bestselling Anna Pigeon series. Anna is a forest ranger forever stumbling onto nefarious plots in national parks around the U.S. In Deep South, she’s in the middle of an investigation into the murder of a young girl when someone locks an alligator in her carport. The scene that follows is terrifying and action-packed, not so much because Anna is in danger, but because the alligator gets hold of her dog. The scene ends with, “ ‘You’ll live,’ she hissed to the gator. ‘Unless my dog dies.’ Even as she said it she knew she would wreak no vengeance on the alligator. It had merely been doing what alligators do, without conscience, without malice, without blame.”
In that three-page scene, the reader learns more about who Anna is – her bravery and her fears, her blind devotion to those she loves, and even her feelings on wildlife in general – than any full chapter expounding on her virtues could ever tell. By integrating character with action, Barr makes the reader that much more invested in the outcome of the scene, and gives us just a little more insight into who Anna is as a person.
(5) Study the Masters.
In the case of character development over the long term, I honestly think that one of the best things a writer can do is… Watch TV. Really. When television is done well, it provides a rare opportunity to explore and develop characters in a way no other medium can. Even serialized novels are limited, by their very nature – there’s only so much material we authors can come up with in a limited time frame, after all. TV, on the other hand, follows the same character for between six and twenty-two (depending on the network) episodes a season, for up to ten or more seasons. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Dexter, 24, Prime Suspect… These are all examples of shows where the plot never suffers for the complexity of its characters. The same goes for the great serial mystery novels, of course: Jeffery Deaver, James Lee Burke, J.D. Robb, John Sandford, Nevada Barr, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly…
Read a few books in a series (ideally from the beginning) and watch the way that these writers develop their characters over time.
To me, there is no greater pleasure than finding a series that has a well-thought-out plot, great writing, and characters with whom I can’t wait to spend an evening – or, in some cases, a whole weekend.
I’d love to hear which characters you find yourself returning to again and again, and why. What keeps you coming back? Please leave a comment below.
Jen Blood is a freelance journalist, reviewer, and editor, and author of the critically-acclaimed Erin Solomon mysteries All the Blue-Eyed Angels and Sins of the Father. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing/Popular Fiction from the University of Southern Maine, and does seminars and one-on-one tutorials on writing, social media, and online marketing for authors. Jen also runs the website http://bloodwrites.com, which features reviews, interviews, excerpts, and writing-related posts for readers and writers of the mystery,suspense, and thriller genres.
On October 15th, Jen will be releasing a collection of short stories on Amazon with four other authors of serial mysteries called Serial Sleuths, Volume I: Haunted. The stories feature each author's serialized characters in ghostly or paranormal mysteries, to celebrate the Halloween season. All five authors featured in the collection have agreed to donate 100% of their profits to the non-profit organization Doctors Without Borders. To learn more, visit http://erinsolomon.com/serial-
Top image: Boomerang by Bigstock
Colin Marks says
Hi, a good article, I enjoyed that, there’s some good tips in there, thanks. I remember reading some good advice recently – sorry, I forget where so can’t give the credit. They said to imagine each of your characters making an entrance at a dinner party and visualise how they would behave. Would they hide in the corner by the punch bowl, or would they confidently work the room, shaking hands, introducing themselves? I did find that really helpful!! 🙂
Jen Blood says
Thanks, Colin. That’s great advice, actually — I hadn’t heard that before. I think anytime we can put our characters in a different setting and see how they react/interact, it reveals so much about who they are. The party entrance could be a cool writing exercise, as well. Thanks for the tip!
Lisa Rayns says
Great articles. I think the characters I find myself returning to are the ones who are most like me in personality.
Jen Blood says
I’m the same way, Lisa — And you bring up a great point! It’s so important to have characters others can relate to. Whether I wish I was like them or I see myself in all their foibles and flaws, I’m definitely drawn to those characters I see a little of myself in. Most readers are the same — we’re a pretty egocentric world, so when JK Rowling writes about an unassuming little boy with glasses who secretly holds great power, or Janet Evanovich writes about a bumbling Jersey girl turned bounty hunter, we can immediately relate. We may not actually be wizards (or Jersey girls turned bounty hunters), but I think the fact that these characters are fallible or unappreciated or secretly brilliant and ultimately prevail gives us hope for ourselves. Thanks for the comment!
Shaquanda Dalton says
I love coming back to characters that live a more exciting life than my own whether if they are poorer or richer I loving seeing the drama.
Thanks for the post
Jen Blood says
Agreed, Shaquanda! That’s the beauty of fiction, for me — It transports me to a whole other world where everything’s heightened. The romance is epic, the locations are exotic, the situations are life-or-death. Where would we be without those larger than life stories? Thanks so much for the comment!
Jason Cull says
I enjoy discovering (and creating) characters who are complex, contradictory and unpredictable. I think inside we are all like this and reading about characters that embody these traits is somehow pleasurable and cathartic. Really helpful article. Thank you, Jen.
Jen Blood says
Well put, Jason, and I think you’re spot-on about the catharsis of reading about characters who reflect the human condition in a way we can all relate. In a world that can be isolating at times (even today, when we’re all so technologically connected), it can be very comforting to find that kind of connection in the books with which we surround ourselves. Thanks for the comment!
Sherry Chiger says
My favorite characters are definitely larger than life, with a few surprising contradictions: for instance, Athos in “The Three Musketeers” series (a true nobleman but with a recklessness born of despair); Renzo Leoni in “A Thread of Grace” (a guilt-stricken alcoholic capable of strokes of near-genius and bravery); Edmund Whitty in “The Fiend in Human” and “White Stone Day” (hapless, dissolute, yet quite moral nonetheless). Actually, now that I think about it, I seem to be attracted to characters with substance-abuse issues; I’d rather not think what that says about me!
Jen Blood says
Ooh, great examples of some truly memorable characters! And it’s precisely those contradictions that make them so brilliant! It’s a great takeaway lesson for fellow writers: The square-jawed, fabulously athletic brooding hero can be such a boor… Muddy him up a bit, add some flaws and foibles and the possibility of failure, and he becomes so much more interesting. Thanks for the comment!
Susan Russo Anderson says
Hi Jen,
As always, a great post. For me, the greatest takeaway is your point about using action to characterize.
I love the way you write (or should I say, the way your characters make you write) and Erin Solomon, too. Now I see where she gets her character genes. I remember listening to a lecture by Uta Hagen who said that for her, a great actor must surprise and it’s our surprise that makes the acting, the character, the experience memorable.
Jen Blood says
Thanks, Susan! And so true what Ms. Hagen said about the value of surprise in a character… As a writer, there’s nothing more fun to me than those moments when Erin and company take on lives of their own and insist on going their own way. I’ve talked to so many writers who say the same thing: When the writing is going well, it seems we’re just hanging on for the ride while the characters and the story write themselves!
Turndog Millionaire says
I must say, I’m going to approach my characters differently for my second novel. I understand the guys and girls in my debut very well, but much of it is in my head. This means at time it’s hard to truly express what I feel.
Next year, before I start drafting the book, I’m going to create some in-depth character details so I can REALLY get to know who the most important people are. Live and learn, right 🙂
Matthew (Turndog Millionaire)
Jen Blood says
I think we learn so much with those debut novels, Matthew — there’s so much value in the experience! And one of the hardest parts of being a writer, to me, is somehow making everything that I know in my head come out in a remotely intelligible, relateable way for the reader — so you’re not alone there! It’s definitely one of those things that comes with time and perseverance, I think. Best of luck to you with book two!
Abbs says
Thanks for that, Jen – excellent points, and good to spread the point beyond books to the screen.
I enjoy reading action thrillers, but if they have flat, shallow characters who don’t turn a hair when faced with danger, dead bodies, etc, I turn right off. I also need to be able to feel for the characters – even the villains – so that I care whether they live or die, otherwise the book or film gets abandoned.
I’ve reblogged you on my site this morning – hope you get the ping-back.
cheers
Jen Blood says
I agree, Abbs! One of my biggest pet peeves are books (or films, as you mention) with great plots ruined by characters who can’t carry the story. And you make a great point about the villains — there are endless possibilities when an author writes an antagonist well! Thanks so much for the mention on your blog; I did indeed get the ping-back!
DV Berkom says
Well said, Jen. I agree about taking baby steps with your character’s arc–having the protagonist skip from wallflower to ruthless CEO in one book is a stretch, unless they’re pretending to be one or the other. Looking forward to your next book in the Erin Solomon series!
Jen Blood says
Thanks, DV! And those baby steps are always such fun to watch when they’re done well in a series. Kate Jones is a great example of someone you can track those shifts in from book to book; I look forward to seeing what you do with Leine as time goes on!
LJ Sellers says
Great info. I’ve booked the page. Guest blog for us again soon. 🙂
Jen Blood says
Thanks so much, LJ! And I’m always game for a trip back to CFC!!
J S says
In my recently released Paranormal trilogy (out this last weekend!) I purposefully and bluntly included the main protagonist reflecting to herself how she had changed. She not only changed regarding killing vampires – graduating from a fancy letter opener to a stout hunting knife and then to wielding a pair of Katana swords (wooden stakes don’t work in this world) – she also changed in more mundane ways like her wedding dress style and when and where she wanted her wedding ceremony. The story includes international assassins, sword fights, gun fights, blowing things up, treachery, and romance. Something for nearly everyone 😉
Jen Blood says
Congratulations on your recent release, JS! Wow… Vamps, assassins, and wedding dresses. You’re right, it does indeed sound like there’s something for everyone!
J.J.Foxe says
Jen
Interesting post.
What I found interesting in the post was the reference to TV – and in particular 24. I loved 24 when it first come out…but the thing that started to bug me was the ‘unbelievability’ of the Jack Bauer character going through these continuing adventures.
It would have been more realistic if after say two seasons that Jack had been moved from being a field agent to someone who took the role of directing operations from HQ. Of course the writers would have had to do a ‘role transfer’ to other characters for the role of field operative(s).
In fiction Jack Reacher is a bit like this – he’s pretty much the same character in the recent books as he was in the first book.
The two guys who I think do this right in fiction….and have larger character arcs running through the stories of their series characters….are Jeffrey Deaver (with Lincoln Rhyme) and John Sandford (with Lucas Davenport).
Also another example of this done in TV is Joss Whedon with Firefly and then the transition to the movie Serenity – shame the network dropped that show, it was freaking epic.
Thanks for a good post.
JJ
Jen Blood says
Thanks for the comment, JJ — Great points! I think you’ve got a point re: the believability of Jack Bauer as the series wore on and the strength (or lack thereof) of his arc. There was potential there early on that the writers and company just never quite went for as the years wore on. Joss is a perfect example of someone who does wonderful things with character arc, and as far as I’m concerned, Firefly is absolutely his finest work (at least in TV land). And we’re in agreement, as well, as far as Davenport and Rhyme are concerned. Thanks for such a thoughtful and well-considered comment, excellent examples!
Ryan Casey says
Great post. I’m actually in the planning stages of what will probably end up being a two or three book series (that’s all I can say right now), so this advice is certainly well-timed!
I think the best point is probably to get to know the character a little beforehand. I’m not suggesting character profiles, or bios, or anything like that, as I actually don’t like that route. But stream of consciousness exercises can be very helpful. Imagine your character. Become them. Say what they’d say for twenty minutes about the issues in their lives, and the like. Often, rich characters are born through such methods; characters with a backstory that the writer can dip in and out of as required.
Thanks for the post Jen, and cheers to Joanna for bringing it to our attention!
Jen Blood says
Very cool points, Ryan. I think your right: It sounds a little out there, but when you can actually inhabit your characters on some level, they become that much more authentic on the page. You might check out my post on Method Writing, where I talk more about that very thing:
Best of luck with your writing, and thanks for the comment!
Renee DeAngelo says
Very interesting post. I think you made a lot of great points.I will definitely be using some of this when I write. Thank
Jen Blood says
Thanks so much, Renee — So glad you found it helpful!
Raina says
Love this article. Thank you. One of my favorite series is the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. I love Stephanie and she’s just so believable. One thing is when an author writes a book and develops a character so wonderful that when the book ends you want to find the next in the series and … there isn’t one. There was just this one book, telling about this one wonderful character and boom, that’s all folks.
Jen Blood says
I’m a huge Stephanie Plum fan, Raina! And I agree, there’s nothing worse than falling in love with a cast of characters only to find they’re a one-hit wonder. I’m completely addicted to the series for just that reason!
Jessica says
I love that you mention Buffy because that is the show that I come back to over and over. Anything Joss Whedon, actually, because the characters are complex, layered, fallible, and believable. Things that happen in season 1 of Buffy have an effect on the third season of Angel. There are never character inconsistencies or “wtf they’d never do that” moments. And still, we suffer along with them. I think they are some of the best drawn characters ever.
Bookfan says
The best characters are the ones you fall in love with, the ones that you keep on dreaming or thinking about, even though you’ve finished the book weeks ago.
An then, in all of a sudden, comes the strange thought that he doesn’t really “exist” in “real life”.
Olny when you get that feeling, a character’s good to me.
Laurel says
I am working on the first book of a two or three book series, and I need help fleshing out my four characters. I set up a love triangle between three of them: Ben, Darius, and Rose… the fourth one is a girl and she’s nine–neither Ben nor Darius are pedophiles–so yeah. Rose, Ben, and Willow are all slaves, and Darius is their master. I know that that’s an odd topic, but whatever. I write books about what I am interested in, not what is the most popular right now. Some details about my characters are:
Rose is eighteen and has long wavy golden hair and sapphire eyes. She’s arrogant, funny, a good fighter, and a healer. Oh, and she can do magic(don’t judge, I’m a fantasy nerd). Ben is a redhead with pale green eyes, he is a mediocre fighter and can’t do any magic. Darius has brown hair and has a short temper. He is a pretty good fighter and enjoys teasing Rose(all in good fun) and he’s a joker but can turn from kind to cruel and brutal in days. He hates disrespect, which earns Rose a few scars and pain. Willow is the youngest, at only nine, and she grew up with Rose on the streets of a city called Aera, notorious for crime. She was found by Rose when Rose was nine, and Rose named her and raised her. She adores Rose, calling her “Rosie”, and has long golden curls and sky-blue eyes. She’s optimistic and happy. I’m having trouble writing good parts for them, and I only have… six or seven chapters right this moment, but I don’t know what else to put and I’m too shy to let any of my friends or family read it–plus it’s full of cursing and slavery and violence and romance, and none of that is my family’s thing. Or my friends’ thing. So… I’d be so happy if you could help… or read what I have so far(101 pages) and tell me what I need to fix and what’s fine. If you want to, email me at laurelwatts@mtcscougars.org. Please be totally honest with me: No sugarcoating. My feelings are invincible… I’m an epileptic(I have seizures) and I get enough laughs and bullying at school… I’m 13, don’t judge that I want to write a book, and middle-school kids are cruel, especially when I get “retard”. The last time someone called me that, I broke his nose and told him to piss off before I broke his nose again.
He left me alone.
So yeah–again, if you’d deign to read my book, that would be fantastic. I love fantasy novels and dystopian books like “The Hunger Games” and “Unwind” and “Throne of Glass”. My stories always have romance, violence, and badass female characters that are funny, and I throw in a few of my traits too: Brown-gold hair, my love of eating, and my playing the violin and fencing, etc. So yeah… please contact me if you’d want to see my story and tell me what I should fix. I’d be honored.
Joanna Penn says
I’d suggest you post your chapters on https://www.wattpad.com/ It’s a great community for YA books and I think you will find a community there too. All the best.