15 Quick Writing Prompts To Bring Your Character To Life
Have you ever been embarrassed to talk about your characters?
I used to be really embarrassed when talking about my characters. I’d quietly whisper their name if someone asked and I’d shrug them off and laugh like it didn’t matter. Like it wasn’t serious. But what I’m slowly realising is this awkwardness and embarrassment when discussing our characters, is stopping us from creating characters that are real, vibrant and life-like. We end up cutting corners, creating 2D versions of characters that we can easily dismiss. This isn’t good.
We need to start talking about our characters like they are our friends. Understanding how they think, how they feel and understand what they want. This information is key to creating characters that come alive. We all want to read books with characters that come to life. That’s the point of fiction. The transportation to other worlds. Into other lives. It’s the escapism we love.
Why You Need To Get Inside Your Character’s Head
Spending time getting inside your character’s head, is never time wasted.
It will help you see the world through your character’s eyes.
It will help you find the story that your character must tell.
It will help you show the reader what your character’s life is like, rather than tell them.
However, this can be easier said than done.
Think about the books you love, the ones you come back to time and time again, more often than not it’s because of the characters. We fall in love with the protagonists. Yes, their stories are important, and we want them to win, but we remember who they are and how they made us feel.
Developing Your Characters
To create these characters that readers love and really care about we need to develop them as fully formed beings. This means they need a backstory, a personality, and a physical description. But they also need to go on a journey. They need to be motivated by a goal. This is key. When we give our characters a journey their story then unfolds as we watch them go after this goal. The problems that get in the way of their goals, that’s going to be your plot. That’s the conflict, the stakes, the tension. This is the start of your story.
But it all starts with your character. Before you can fully develop their arc, you need to know who they are and what they want. You need to know them inside out and back to front. What makes them tick? What do they love? Who are they really?
Prompts To Help You Develop A Character
1. Describe your character in three words.
2. Pick one event from your character’s past that has had the most impact on them – write about it in detail.
3. What was your character’s family life like? How did this affect who they are?
4. How would your character react if they were: Happy? Sad? Excited? Scared? In love? In danger? Hopeful?
5. What values does your character have or believe in? Do they work hard? Are they trustworthy? A good friend? Do they believe in love? Are they cynical? Are they loyal and reliable? Do they take risks?
6. What does your character care about above all else? Why do they care?
7. What are your character’s deepest darkest fears?
8. What are the secrets your character carries?
9. What does your character look like? How does their voice sound? What clothes do they wear?
10. How would others describe your character?
11. What makes your character special or different?
12. What does your character want? Why do they want it?
13. Why should the reader care about your character?
14. What is your character like at the start of the story? What will they be like at the end? How has your character changed? Can you describe this change?
15. The change needs to be a direct result of what happens in your story – Think, about how the story forced this change in your character.
Character And Plot
You don’t have to like all your characters, they don’t have to be nice smiling perfect people, but they do need a goal and they need a reason to work towards that goal and that reason needs to be really strong to keep the story moving forward so when things get tough, they keep going.
Characters and plot are so closely linked, that it’s hard to separate them. How your character changes and develops, that’s the story, but without knowing in great detail who your character is and what they want, it will be hard to know the shape of the story.
The Work You Put In Now Will Pay Off
Developing your characters won’t be a quick task. It should keep you on your toes throughout the novel, as the story unfolds your characters will develop and grow and you’ll need to ensure this growth fits with the character arc and the story. You’ll need to do this work for all your characters too, no matter how big or small, you’re going to have to put the work in to bring them all to life.
The payoff though, the reward, is a compelling story. With characters that your reader can’t stop thinking about and characters that keep your reader wanting to turn the page.
In our ‘How to Write Your First Novel’ course, we talk about this further. Looking at the magic formula you need to create not only your characters but also their story arc. If you’d like to find out more information or book onto the next cohort check out our shop.
We’d love to help you develop your characters.
Would you like to learn how to:
✅ Create life-like characters with purpose.
✅ Make your story come alive.
✅ Understand why characters are so important.
✅ Create characters based on their motivation and desires.
✅ Link characters to your story structure.
✅ Build your characters through a step-by-step process.
✅ Understand the tools available to you to sustain your character development.
Our Creating Characters Workbook will take you through a step-by-step character creation process. You’ll teach yourself how to build characters that your reader can’t stop thinking about and characters that keep your reader wanting to turn the page .
