Memorable Characters
What makes for unforgettable characters are that they possess at least one of the following characteristics—power, fun, or perseverance. We love characters who are courageous, characters who are smart or funny, characters who have that extraordinary “star power.”
We want to read about characters who seem real, people who make us understand something about life that we may have missed and confirmed things we already appreciate.
Because if both your main characters are a hundred percent fearless and honest and kind and everything else, not only will they seem unbelievable, but there won’t be any conflict in their relationship.
Conflict drives motion. Not just the external conflict of the situation at hand, like a kidnapped child or a murder, but what makes for great characters’ is that internal conflict that keeps each person from being perfectly happy within themselves.
If a hero is completely satisfied with himself and his life from page one, and completely satisfied with his partner or lover from page two…well, you’re not going to have much excitement or intrigue for a romance or suspense novel. For a great romance to bloom and conquer all as we all love happy endings, we first must have a conflict between your characters.
The most intriguing conflicts are the ones that come from within your main character’s personality. What stops them from falling in love and getting married? Is it your main character’s backstory? His weakness (flaw) because of something that happened in his past? His parents are always fighting; maybe he’s afraid of being too much like his father, abusive and violent. Or maybe his first love or first wife was killed, and he blames himself? I think you get the idea. That’s what makes your story fascinating! Your main character’s flaw.
You also need an external conflict between your main characters. Something that is keeping them both apart. Maybe a feud between both families or some bad blood spilled in the past. But make sure you have that internal conflict going on within each character. They each must have a fatal flaw they both have to overcome, so they can learn and change so they can finally be together by the end of the book.
You’ve got to make your character suffer, internally and externally to make a great story!
The conflict needs to come not just from a situation but from the character’s quirk in his own personality. The character’s needs to be in conflict with themselves, to make for a great story. You want your reader’s asking themselves, “Despite the odd’s, will these two finally get together in the end?” or “Will he finally get the guts to conquer his fear and rescue his damsel in distress?” So they keep reading to find out.
Listed below are just a few suggestions as to a characters flaw, (personality faults) that you could give to your main character’s when outlining each character profile. They could be:-
- A Perfectionist – He needs everything to be perfect. He doesn’t feel like he is where he’s supposed to be at this time or stage in his life, so he makes excuses and never pops the question in a romance novel.
- An Achiever – His inner voice is telling him he cannot fail. He cannot fail in his job, his relationships, his life.
- An Observer – Someone who would rather observe other people from the sidelines. They guard their time and privacy and personal space. This can often be because they fear to fail and possibly get hurt.
- Defender – They are very loyal, steady, always on the lookout for danger, good to have on your side. They are people who accomplish their goal or mission. They’re very aware of any possible threat to their well-being or to the people they love. They are determined to stick to the rules, or always break them.
- Adventurer – They want to have new experiences, no matter what they might be. They’re interested in everything and everybody, at least at first glance, and they love to plan things such as new activities or adventures—whether or not they carry them out or not. They like to keep their options open rather than settle on one thing. They are fascinating to be with—exciting, fun, intriguing, and usually delightful people.
- Controller – This person is self-confident and a natural-born leader. They take charge in any situation and get the task done. They go after what they want, always keeping an eye out for the little people. They are independent individuals who take it upon themselves to defend the weak…kind of like a Superhero.
- Anger – He’s going to be angry because of his backstory. You can reveal the reason’s for his anger through dialogue, as well as violent actions. Someone possibly wronged him, so he’s always angry at himself for not doing something to change his circumstance or situation in his past. So, he walks around with a chip on his shoulder. So you’ll get this wonderful personality growth as the hero realizes, with the help from another main character, or maybe on his own? That he has to let go of his anger and be more tolerable and forgiving in order for him to grow and achieve his goal and be happy by the end of the story.
There has to be a conflict between your two main character’s, your protagonist, and your antagonist to make the story work and keep your readers turning those pages. That conflict must leave room for growth. They have to learn something about themselves. That growth has to happen for your main character for them to reach their happy place so we can have a happy ending to the story, and the reader is satisfied.
Now, that growth can come in one of two ways. The first way could be that the main characters learn to compromise. Overcome each other’s flaws and accept them. Or, what makes for a more exciting story is that they each overcome something within themselves. Maybe, an observer personality witnesses something and instead of watching from the sidelines, because they want to impress someone, they get involved by either defending someone physically or speak out on someone else’s behalf, where normally they would remain quiet. We love those type of characters; it gives the reader something to root for in addition to a happy ending.
However, this kind of individual growth can’t happen unless a person has something they need to overcome. They need some fatal flaw to be interesting, and we need our characters to overcome something to deserve a happy ending to their story.
16 Personality Types (Click Here)
There are a lot more personality types, (click on the link above) but hopefully, this information will get you started at creating your own memorable main characters.
