Five Traps and Tips for Character Development - podcast

We all have the same goal as fiction writers: to transport our readers inside the pages so that they feel like a part of the story. Characters are an extremely important part of making that happen. And characters don’t just transport the readers—they drive the story. In this interview, author and professor C.S. Marks teaches you five traps and five tips for character development. First, she discusses the five potential traps that can lead to ineffective characters: creating characters that are one dimensional, stereotypical, too perfect, inconsistent, or dull. Marks provides tips on how to avoid these common mistakes in character development. Next, you'll learn five tips to make your characters even better. First, the devil is in the details. When you first introduce characters, you should include a few details, but the rest of their personalities, motivations, and back stories should be revealed gradually through their actions. Second, consider basing characters on real people. Third, remember that every character should have a history. Fourth, don’t neglect your secondary characters. Finally, devote plenty of attention to the villain of the piece. Whether you write good characters or poor ones will determine whether your readers stay with you to the end of the story. If the characters fail, the story fails. Hopefully these character development tips will help you avoid that.