4 Tips for Fiction Character Development Part 1

In a good story, the author gives the characters goals, challenges, and conflict. Writers make characters sympathetic to engage readers. Character development is a common literary term, but it's a vital part of fiction writing and a creating a compelling narrative arc.

Why Is Character Development Important?

Character development gives a character individuality, complexity, and depth that drives your story. Character development is how a character changes over time.

Three-dimensional characters are believable and realistic. Each has a relatable appearance, personality, and biography. Motivations drive a character's actions and decisions, generating the story's arc.

​Here are four tips to help you:

Character Motivation

Consider Harry Potter, who was driven to seek revenge on Lord Voldemort for the deaths of his parents. The best fictional characters have a strong internal motivation for doing what they do. This helps develop compelling protagonists and antagonists and establishes a narrative arc. One of the first things to figure out in a novel is what motivates the protagonist, as that's what the rest of the plot will revolve around.

Pick the Voice

How will the story be told? First person point of view lets a character, usually the main character, tell the story using "I" and "me." A voice from outside the action is a third-person point of view. How a character's information is revealed over the course of the story depends on the point of view of the narrator.

Reveal Character's Slowly 

Avoid giving away too much about a character when you first introduce them. As you narrate the story, reveal details little by little, just like how people get to know one another gradually over time in real life. 

Conclusion

We  just covered a lot of ground today! Stayed tune because tomorrow, I'll have 4 more tips for you!