Effective Character Descriptions For Novel Writers

 

It is not enough to give a character a name. You have to know something about him that you can convey to your readers. If there’s one thing that readers do not like, it’s a one-dimensional character.


In fact, agents and publishers dislike one-dimensional characters even more than your readers. And, you won’t get the chance to build a readership if you can’t convince him that your idea will make millions of dollars. Okay, maybe not millions, but you have to be able to at least get out of the gate with it.


That leads us to The Sentence. This is what The Sentence is all about: In thirty words or less, you should be able to describe the parts of your good idea so that anyone reading it gets the gist of what your story is all about. Effectively describe: the antagonist, the protagonist, the situation that brings the two into conflict and the twist that makes your story worth reading.


Begin with your protagonist. How would you describe him or her? You can start with a noun to give a basic shape to the character. To find a good noun and/or adjective, ask the following questions:

• What does the person do? (This relates to their professional life)
• Who are the people in their lives? (This relates to their personal life)
• What is this character like? (This can relate to his or her wants, needs and desires in life)


With these questions in mind, let’s say that your character is female. She can be known as “mother” or “sister” or “wife.” Using adjectives to reveal more about her, this female can become a “drug-addicted woman” or an “obsessive-compulsive mother.” The reader begins to gain some insight into the protagonist.


The same method is used to describe the antagonist, or villain of the story. Every story has a character who works against the protagonist. He may start out a bad guy and then something in his character speaks to the reader who thinks that perhaps he is not that bad. Your character description will guide the readers on that score.


Speaking of the protagonist, it doesn’t have to be a person. The character can be a corporation, a secret society, an apparition, or an inanimate object. Nonetheless, it is a character of sorts in the story that needs to be fleshed out.


Effective character descriptions convey plenty of meaning in only a few words. You may have trouble getting it to work the first time, but since these are characters from your own imagination, it’s okay to rewrite them until they feel real to you.

Want to create compelling characters that help sell your writing? Holly Lisle is a full-time writer who has sold 30+ novels to major publishers and is the creator of “How to Think Sideways: Career Survival School for Writers”. Go to How To Think Sideways and access 3 free lessons that teach you how to write a novel that sells – straight from her highly-acclaimed course.

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