Tips on Character Development in Novels

Writing a novel involves an endless amount of planning and consideration. Who are the characters? What is the genre? When/where does it take place? What is the plot? Some writers get so focused on plot that they forget to properly develop their characters, and as such, their novels as a whole become less interesting. After all, characters are the heart of novels; they are the reason why people will reread the same novels over and over again. So, let’s go over some tips on character development in novels.

What is Character Development?

First of all, let’s define character development. One definition of it is the process of creating a character, from their name to their appearance to their deepest flaws. Another definition is the process of a character changing throughout a story (yes, characters should change over the course of the story, though there are exceptions for this).

Whether you’re just creating your character or figuring out how the big event of your story will affect them, there are a number of rules to keep in mind to ensure high-quality character development.

Creating a Character: Dos and Don’ts

You’ve just started plotting out your novel and you’ve gotten to the characters. Some people can create a complex character in no time, but for others it can be a struggle to materialize a unique, interesting person out of thin air. No matter which kind of person you are, you could benefit from these tips.

Do: Give them a backstory. Your character (probably) didn’t appear from mid-air with no recollection of who they are (though if they did, you should still know their backstory because that’s definitely relevant!). You don’t have to know every detail of their childhood (see next point), but you should have some idea of why they are the way they are and how that relates to your story.

Don’t: Focus too much on little details. Sure, it might be fun to listen to hours of classic rock to determine which song is your character’s favorite (I may or may not be guilty of this), but is your character’s favorite song really going to be relevant to the story? Probably not, so it would be better to focus on more important details that will actually come up in the novel.

Do: Make them realistic. Nobody wants to read about a character who’s completely perfect. It’s always a good idea to give your character flaws, even if they aren’t major ones. Additionally, it’s smart to base some of your character’s traits or mannerisms on your own or those of people in your life. It’s always easiest to write about what you’re familiar with, and readers gravitate to characters they can relate to. Creating flawed, relatable characters can elevate your story to another level.

Don’t: Assume you don’t need to do research. I know what you’re thinking—I’m a writer, why would I research something when I can just make it up? You can pretend to know what it feels like to lose a loved one, but if you haven’t experienced it, it may help to talk to people who have lost one and see how they coped. Even when it comes to personality traits, jobs, and races other than your own, you can never not benefit from doing preliminary research.

You may think you know what people of another race experience, but you can never really know unless you talk to people of that race and read about their experiences. Basing your character on research can create a more realistic, well-rounded character.

Developing a Character’s Arc

You’ve created your character and know everything about their personality, hobbies, backstory, and more. What you may not have thought about is creating an arc for them. Very few characters come out of a story exactly the same as they were going into it, so as a writer, you need to figure out how they’re going to grow and change over the course of the story.

Don’t: Assume that it has to be linear, or positive. When thinking about a character arc, you may picture it as the process of your character slowly becoming braver or more confident, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Real people don’t go straight from being anxious to brave; progress typically looks like a zigzag rather than a straight line. A person may start getting more confident, but then they are hit with a scary situation and revert back to their anxious self.

Setbacks are a normal part of progress and should be reflected in fictional characters. Also, not everyone becomes better over time. Some people become more entrenched in their ways, or may become even more bitter and angry. That’s okay! It’s good to go against the grain sometimes, and as long as your character is changing throughout the story, readers will be satisfied.

Do: Create inner conflict and reflect it through the character’s actions. All characters should have some type of inner conflict in addition to the external conflict they may be dealing with, and sometimes these two types of conflict can coincide. This inner conflict is often what fuels your character’s arc; for example, a character struggling with self-doubt may become more confident when their decisions have good results, or they may become even more critical of themselves if their decisions backfire on them.

Do: Look to other character arcs as examples. If you’re really struggling, it may help to examine the character arcs in your favourite books. You can even write them down if that helps you plot them. Look at their inner conflict, motivation, and personality at the beginning, middle, and end of the story and note how it changes. Think about what you like and dislike about them. Some arcs follow established patterns, so you can use one of these and tinker with it to make it unique.

When you understand how character arcs work and can point to examples of well-done arcs, it’ll be easier to come up with your own.

Describing a Character

Okay, so you know everything you need to know about your character and their arc. Now you just need to introduce them in the story. Easy, right? Actually, there are many potential mistakes you can make, so keep the following in mind.

Don’t: Go overboard with exposition. Your readers don’t want to be inundated by your character’s entire life story or a page-long description of their appearance. Both of these take the reader out of the story and make it less realistic. Think about it: when have you ever looked at your best friend and decided to describe their appearance or life story in full detail in your head? Instead of following that method, write a short description of their appearance when you first introduce them and then spread out facts about their interests or life story so readers can learn more about them as they continue reading.

Don’t: Tell, Do: Show. You may have heard the term “Show, don’t tell.” But what does it actually mean? When you reveal information about your character, try to do it in an interesting way: show snippets of their backstory in flashbacks, reveal their morals in their actions or inner thoughts, and reveal facts such as their hobbies through casual conversation. It is better to show a character’s personality than to tell the readers about it. Readers don’t want to read that Jane is funny, they want to laugh at the jokes she’s constantly making.

If your character is angry, don’t simply state, “Bob was angry.” Instead, describe how Bob clenched his knuckles until they turned white. It conveys the same thing, but in a much more interesting way.

Do: Give them unique mannerisms and ways of speaking. To make your character stand out amongst the others in the story and seem like a real person, you need to give them specific mannerisms and ways of talking. Mannerisms can include specific looks they get on their face (e.g., a raised eyebrow to signal annoyance) and unique ways of walking or physically interacting with the world. Many people engage in specific behaviors when they are nervous, such as pacing around a room or biting their nails, and these actions create individuality and authenticity.

Additionally, not everyone speaks the same—some people use a lot of slang in their speech, some make grammatical errors because they don’t know the language very well, and some use repeated catchphrases. If your reader can tell who is speaking even without attribution, you have done your job correctly.

Creating and developing characters is no easy feat. It requires a great deal of thought and work, especially if you want to create memorable characters. Now that you have a definitive list of tips on character development in novels, you can create interesting, well-developed characters that your readers will love.