In my opinion, the best villains are the ones that are at least partially sympathetic. He’s a bad guy, but there’s something about him that you’re drawn to. Maybe he’s physically attractive, or he likes children, or he’s good to his dog. Maybe you get a glimpse into his life, and you see why he’s turned bad, and you’re rooting for him to come around before the end.

No matter what the reason, this villain is two-dimensional. Rarely do you run across someone who’s arguably all bad or all good. Have you met someone like that? So why should your characters fall into that trap. Your main character should seem real, faults and all. Balance that with a villain who seems real too.

Here are some ideas that might get you started.

• Have your villain and main character complement each other in their traits. For example, your villain may have a good quality that your main character lacks.
• Your main character might be attracted to the villain because of the good traits he has.
• Their personality difference might be the source of their conflict.
• Think about why your villain has turned bad. This can often advance the story and give you insight into how he’ll act throughout your plot.
• If you can’t understand why your villain does what he does, then your readers won’t understand it either. If they don’t understand it, the story will suffer.

Read More

Characters

Character Creation Worksheets

Creating Villains People Love to Hate

How to Create a Character

Real people have real problems

If a character has a perfect life, then your character probably isn’t coming off as real to your readers. People have problems with money, relationships, jobs, friends, landlords, etc. If your character doesn’t have a problem, they you do.

Are all your characters your age?

While your character may have friends her own age, are there other people in the book who are older or younger? How many people do you know who don’t have people of all ages in their close circle of friends and family?

Are your characters one race, religion, etc.?

Think about your own friends, family, coworkers, etc. Are they all the same race? Are they all the same faith? Are any disabled? Are any poor, homeless, struggling? Many of the interesting things that happen to us happen because of our different backgrounds and beliefs. Don’t miss out on that in your books.

Do your characters seem too familiar?

It’s sometimes difficult to avoid stereotyping characters. Think about your character and ask some questions.

• Is the character predictable? Will your readers be able to guess what he’ll do next?
• Have you read another book or story with a character that’s very similar?
• Are there jokes that mock characters like yours (think nagging mother-in-law, etc.)
• Is your character’s story “typical” (think alcoholic homeless man)

I have some character creation worksheets available for download to help you map out your characters.

As promised, here’s the link to download the character building worksheets. These are based on the series I recently did. However, I turned the information into a some worksheets and added some new material that didn’t appear in the posts.

Please let me know if you find them useful.

Now, it’s time to start putting all this together.

Who it the protaganist?

You may already know (or think you know) who your protaganist is, but don’t let that blind you to other possibilities. In my current novel, I thought I knew who the protaganist would be. Cheryl is smart, resourceful, and completely wrong as the lead character. I was surprised to learn that Fred not only turned out to be a decent guy, he stepped up and took charge of the novel too. If that happens, don’t resist it.

Getting along, or not

How do the characters get along? Who likes whom? Who can’t stand to be in a room together? These personality conflicts may play into the novel’s story line, or they may just provide fodder for sub-plots. Either way, letting your characters relate to each other naturally can make the novel much richer for your readers.

Remember, your novel needs conflict to keep readers turning pages. Will one of your characters be the antagonist, or will it be something outside of them? How do they relate to the person or force they’re up against?

As your characters struggle, you’ll be able to show how they react under stress. Doesn’t that often show what people are really made of.

Avoid repeating yourself

Watch out for things that can make your novel awkward. I started off with characters named Jen and Jan. Big mistake. How will readers tell them apart? If your heroine is named Paris, you’re going to be inviting your readers to make associations (with someone currently wearing an orange jumpsuit). Do you want that?

Don’t make your characters too much alike in other respects either, unless you’re aware you’re doing it, and you’re sure it’s right for the book. Think about their economic status, professions, religion, etc. In all likelihood, there should be some big differences between them. Those differences, and the conflicts they cause, can help build realistic characters and situations.

Avoid cliches like the plague

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. I like a crappy joke as much as the next person.

But to be serious, avoid cliched characters, unless you really mean to do it. See if you recognize this person.

• She’s extremely attractive. Large eyes, long hair. She’s very petite, probably around 5 feet and under 100 pounds.
• Although she’s quite sensual, she’s practically chaste. Maybe not a virgin, but chaste.
• She’s tough. Amazingly, unbelievably tough. Despite her size, she can kick butt. She can kick many, many butts, in high heels and a tight dress. Don’t mess with her.
• She has a talent that no one else has. Maybe it’s supernatural, maybe not, but she’s special.

If this sounds anything like your heroine, rethink her a bit. It’s been done. A lot.

Worksheets

I’ll try to get some worksheets together in PDF format later this week. They’ll recap what I’ve done in the series, and give you something to write on and keep for each character.

How much does the name matter?

Consider the following men’s names.

• Raoul
• Dirk
• Freddy
• Sam
• Alice

What does each name bring to mind? Maybe Alice is defensive about his name, or he could see it as a good story to break the ice. Dirk sounds like he belongs in a romance, or maybe an adventure novel. Freddy sounds positively normal, doesn’t he?

My point is, each name will bring with it certain impressions and assumptions in your readers. You can go with that, like making Sam a typical business man, or you can go against the grain. Maybe Alice is a mobster and Dirk is a coward!

Where to find names 

For ideas, check out one of the many name sites on the internet.

• Behind the name is a good, all-purpose name site that includes both first and last names.
• Medieval names galleria lists medieval names from several regions.
• The SSA lists the most popular names, by year.
• Here is a list of unique baby names if you still need inspiration.

Don’t forget other sources, such as the phone book, for ideas.

For this part of the character building series, I thought a list of questions would be useful. You can print this out and use it for each of your characters. Just copy/paste the questions into your word processor. Answer as few or as many as you think helpful. In some cases, the question may lead you to more back story. That’s okay, just go with it.

• What is the accomplishment your character is most proud of?
• What is he most ashamed of?
• What is his biggest regret?
• What was his first love like?
• How old was he when he left home?
• What was high school/college like for him?
• What kind of work does he do?
• How did he get into that line of work?
• What are his hobbies?
• How does he dress? Describe a typical outfit.
• What’s his house like? Describe its size, decor, etc. Is it neat or messy?
• Is he an introvert or extrovert?
• Who’s his best friend?
• Who is his biggest rival or worst enemy?
• If he could do anything with no consequences, what would it be?
• Is he religious?
• What did he do last weekend?
• Who is he dating / married to now? Why are they together (or why is he not dating)?
• What does he want? This might be in the context of the story, or in general.
• What does he worry about?
• What is he afraid of? This might be something big (like dying of cancer like his dad) or small (spiders, the dark).
• Does he have any prejudices? Beware the character who has none. Do you know any real people who don’t?
• Would you want to work for him? Why?
• Would you want to marry him? Why?
• If he were someone you knew, what would you say his best qualities were? What are his biggest faults?

I wouldn’t spend more than a few minutes on each of these, unless it seems particularly fruitful. If one seems to lead you to an interesting trait, or to something that might explain his behavior in the story, then pursue that. If not, then don’t spend too much time (or skip the question altogether).

Most of this will never make it to your story, but you can certainly work in a few that will help your readers understand who he is and why he behaves as he does.

While you’re at it, see if you can come up with a few questions that would be useful to developing your character and post them below.

You need to flesh out (I’ve seen some write it “flush” out, but let’s hope your characters don’t come to that) your characters’ backgrounds.  While most of this information will never make it into your book, it will help you know your characters a lot better. Maybe your heroine is terrified of spiders because her uncle used to tease her with them, or maybe your hero doesn’t trust anyone who reminds him of his mother because she left when he was ten and very sick. You get the idea.

Here are some prompts to get you started.

• Parents. Are they living or dead? Are there any family issues that relate to the character’s development? Is she used to a loving, stable family or a dysfunctional one?
• Siblings. How about some sibling rivalry? Do problems with siblings extend into his current life?
• Extended family. Here’s where you can think about the crazy uncle or the aunt who ran off with the trucker. What events with extended family shaped your character’s development.
• Childhood friends, teachers, neighbors. Does your character keep in touch with any of these people? Who was the biggest influence? Was your character bullied, betrayed, abused?
• Family traditions. Holidays are a great way to bring in some background material without making it seem too forced. Maybe your main character can drop everything to attend that yearly get-together, or do everything in his power to avoid it.
• Neighborhood. Where did your character live as a child? What was the neighborhood like? What did kids do outside all day in the summer or after school?
• Finances. Was she poor? Did she have to babysit to make enough to buy next year’s school clothes, or did her parents buy whatever she needed?
• Events that shape the character. Think about things that happened to your character, whether good or bad, that somehow shaped who he is now.

I think that’s enough to get started. I’m sure you’ll think of other things as you write. The point is, childhood profoundly affects who we are as adults, and the same is true of your characters. If your character is stingy, chances are something in his formative years gave him the tendency to be stingy.

While you won’t want to burden the reader with lots of backstory, a little here and there will make your character seem more real. After all, real people have a history, and so should your characters.

Make some basic notes about what your character looks like. If you have a photo you’d like to use, that works too.

• Height
• Build (stocky, thin)
• Hair color, style, length
• Eye color, shape
• Scars, tattoos, etc.
• Teeth (white, missing, etc.)

You should also make notes of any mannerisms that your characters have. Here are a few examples.

• Blinking
• Fiddling with glasses
• Chewing lower lip
• Hand wringing
• Nail biting
• Adjusting clothes
• Scratching
• Fidgeting
• Foot shaking

I’m sure you can think of a dozen others. The point is, everyone has little mannerisms that you recognize. Think of your best friend. Does she twist her hair when she’s nervous? Does he rap his knuckles when impatient? You can use little quirks like this to make your characters seem more real.

I prefer to let these type of mannerisms develop as I write the rough draft. Then, I may go back during the editing process and work in a few to highlight the emotional state of my characters. I try not to overdo it, or people start twitching and fidgeting all over the place .

Because what makes your characters real to you will make them real to your readers.

Dear Diary

For each character, write a diary entry. You may want to treat this as a freewriting exercise; that works best for me. I set my timer for about 15 minutes and begin writing. I may need to do several sessions for some characters, but only one or two for others.

Here are some beginning lines that might help you. I try to focus on entries that show a wide range of emotions.

• If only I could…
• I wish I had never…
• If (name) would only stay…
• If (name) would only go…
• I don’t know what I’m going to do about…
• I’m so happy that I finally…
• I’m so relieved that…
• One day, I want to…

I tend to focus on relatively negative diary entries. After all, a character who had no problems would make for a dull book.