5 Things That Make Great Characters Leap Off the Page
Great characters are more than names with jobs and goals. They breathe. They stumble. They surprise us. The ones we remember feel so real we think about them long after the final chapter. We hear their voices. We know how they’d react to a disaster, a breakup, or a really awkward dinner party. So how do some writers manage to create those unforgettable characters, the ones that feel like people we might actually meet? Let’s break down five things that make great characters stand out.
1. Show, Do Not Just Tell
This is the golden rule. Telling your reader that a character is brave or selfish means nothing until they see it in action. Imagine a soldier who volunteers to walk into a burning building. That says courage without spelling it out. Or a woman who cuts in front of an old man in line, pretending not to see him? That is selfish. Actions reveal truth. Let your character’s choices do the talking. What they do when no one is watching tells us more than what the narrator says.
2. Give Them Depth: Three Full Dimensions
A character should have beliefs, habits, and flaws that make them complex. A brooding vampire who paints watercolor portraits and hates violence? That adds layers. A detective who drinks too much, quotes poetry, and refuses to carry a gun? That feels real. They need a past, something they want, and something they fear. It does not have to be dramatic. Sometimes, a fear of being alone or a desire to prove themselves can carry a whole novel.
Drug addiction
A gambling problem
Lovers who cheat
A love for violence, when they are meant to be peaceful
Etc etc etc
3. Let Them Fail
Perfect characters are boring. Seriously A character who always wins, always says the right thing, and never makes mistakes is not only unrealistic, they’re also not fun to read. We relate to people who mess up, who fall and get back up. Give them a weakness. Maybe your fearless knight cannot forgive himself for something he did in war. Maybe your confident lawyer crumbles when talking to his parents. Flaws create tension, and tension drives story.
Why should your reader care? You NEED to make them care about your characters.
4. Dialogue That Actually Sounds Human
Characters come alive when they speak like real people. Dialogue should not sound like a script. A twelve year old will not talk like a college professor. A grizzled bounty hunter probably does not say “perhaps” unless it is for a laugh. Good dialogue is messy, emotional, and true to the world it exists in. Let characters interrupt, hesitate, use slang, or get things wrong. Think of how people actually talk, and then polish it just enough to keep it clear and entertaining.
Some writers are against adding spoken language and accented dialogue to their novels, I’m on the opposite side of the spectrum when it comes to this. When it makes sense, have fun with it!
5. Let Them Change or Attempt to Change
The best characters grow. They do not have to turn into saints, but they should wrestle with themselves. A bitter old man learns to care for a lost child. A selfish queen realizes the cost of her ambition. Even if they fail, the attempt to change gives them depth. Readers root for characters who try.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In the end, great characters are not written. They are discovered. They have voices that argue with you, backstories that haunt them, and desires that push them into danger. Treat them like real people, and your readers will follow them anywhere.
