Main Characters - WriteFoxy Nuts & Bolts Part 2
Tips, tricks and advice for creating compelling lead characters
Hi, lovely writers!
Welcome to Part 2 of my back-to-basics series, looking at twelve key components of writing a story.
Whether you’ve been writing for years or are embarking on your first story, there will be something for you. It’s good to go back-to-basics sometimes to ground our stories in what we know, and maybe learn new approaches that enrich and develop our writing further.
Main characters are the lifeblood of your story. They drive it forward, the decisions, misunderstandings and responses they make forming the compelling core that will get your readers turning pages to find out what happens to them.
Which all sounds brilliant, but how do you create compelling main characters and make them work for you?
Grab a pen and a piece of paper and let’s dive in…
Main Characters – Starting Points
Readers experience the story and the world you’ve created for it through your main characters. They are the lens through which we understand the plot, see the location, understand the themes. They lead the action, characterise the story and invite readers to identify with – or disagree with – their choices, actions and experience. But they also bring us as writers deeper into the story – by understanding your main characters’ motivations, history and personality you will better understand the way in which they lead, hinder and influence the story you’re writing.
What makes a great main character, and how do you decide who gets to be one? Creating characters is fun, as is dreaming up their lives beyond the pages of your story. Finding their voice, shaping their attitudes, uncovering their deepest desires and the ghosts they hide from view – it’s all part of the magic of populating your story.
MAIN CHARACTERS – Make Them Memorable
In my experience, the best place to start is with main characters who endlessly interest us. Let’s face it, if you’re going to stick with main characters all the way from first draft to finished story, you have to be fascinated by them. If you’re bored by them after a few chapters, chances are they aren’t the leading characters you’re looking for. So take time to craft characters that you want to write about – and have fun doing it!
Practical idea #1: Walk of Fame – Make a list of the main characters you found most memorable from books, films and TV programmes. They can be characters you loved, loved to hate or who caught your attention. For each one, think of two reasons why they stood out to you. What made their journey through the story so compelling?
Practical idea #2: Ghosts and Dreams – Choose one or two of the main characters you want to write in your story. For each one, write down their ghosts (their biggest fears or deepest secrets or secret shame) and their dreams (what they long for, who they want to be, what kind of life they want to have). At each stage of the story, think of how their respective ghosts and dreams affect their choices, thoughts, behaviour and actions.
Practical idea #3: Casting Call – I’ve found it really helps to have a visual reference for main characters, to help me get into their voice and keep them front and centre of my mind as I write. ‘Cast’ your characters by choosing actors from TV and films who represent not just how your characters look, but also their attitude, voice, and how they look alongside your other characters. Keep the images where you can see them as you write. It can make a big difference to the way you describe them on the page!
Main Characters – In summary
1. Make them memorable and fascinating to you first.
2. Spend time getting to know them – their hopes, dreams, experiences and fears.
3. Have a visual reference to help you picture them and keep you on track as you write.
More Resources
If you’ve found this helpful and would like further ideas for making the most of plot from first draft to final edit, I have my Nuts & Bolts Ideas Bank, packed with ideas, exercises and practical advice. It’s available to my paid subscribers here on Substack, or as a downloadable PDF for just £1 over on my Ko-Fi page. There will be an Ideas Bank PDF for each of the twelve aspects of this series, so you can choose the ones you need or collect the set!
NEXT TIME: SUPPORTING CHARACTERS!
That’s all for this week…
…but remember to give yourself credit for what you achieve, give yourself grace for what you don’t and give yourself permission to have fun with what you write. Have a great writing week and see you next Monday morning for more Foxy Notes!
Happy writing!
Miranda x