Story is not about what happens. It’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters.

This is something you’ll hear me say a lot. Because not long ago, I discovered something truly AMAZING about writing — a “good story” has very little to do with the plot, setting, theme, and even the quality of writing. Good story is something deeper, something that captures our heart, snatches our attention, and whispers in our ear, don’t look away.

That’s every writer’s dream, right? For your book to GRAB YOUR READERS BY THE THROAT and not let them go, right? Well, my friend — I believe you can do that. I believe you have the ability to write a riveting novel and KNOW that it’s riveting without even having to ask, through tears, as your friend beta reads it for you. I believe you can write the next bestseller.

And it all starts with characters…

Characters are the lifeblood of story. If you can get someone to fall in love with your characters and to relate to them, they will be addicted to read anything that happens to those characters — whether it’s a trip to Starbucks or a voyage across the galaxy.

And that’s why I created something special for you:

TADA! It’s a video series that I made for my YouTube channel* called How To Craft Relatable And Addictive Characters. Are you still questioning whether or not characters are REALLY the most important part of storytelling? Watch this video before you decide.

*if you’re a loyal follower you might have already seen some of it/all of it!! but I know some of you don’t even know I’m a YouTuber and I didn’t want you to miss out on this!!

Now that we’re on the same page…

Let’s dive deep into this adventure! Grab a cup of tea and a notebook and settle in. NaNoWriMo is just around the corner, and if you want your novel to be TRULY EPIC, you need to nail your characters before you begin (even if you’re a pantser!) Remember: it is not only nice, but crucial to know your characters inside-out and upside-down. 

LET’S START BUILDING YOUR CHARACTER PROFILE

Throw every character profile you’ve ever used OUT THE WINDOW, my friend. Even if you got it from my blog a while ago — because I want to give you the updated version, and it’s a million times better.

The problem with most character profiles is that they don’t hit on the ELECTRICITY underneath your story — most questionnaires  spend more time on your protagonist’s favorite brand of laundry detergent than their fears and desires and misbeliefs. IT’S RIDICULOUS. So let’s start afresh, with a no-nonsense questionnaire. Watch the video then grab your character profile template below!

CLICK HERE TO OPEN YOUR CHARACTER PROFILE TEMPLATE

CONFLICT: THE ONE AND ONLY THING THAT MAKES YOUR CHARACTERS RELATABLE

We’ve all heard about conflict before — the delightful torture device us authors use to upend our characters’ lives and throw a monkey wrench into every otherwise-fine situation. But there isn’t just one kind of conflict, there’s two: external conflict and internal conflict. What’s the difference? Here’s the rule of thumb:

External conflict is what happens. Internal conflict is why it matters.

External conflict is the plot, and internal conflict is the story. That’s why right now, internal conflict is what we’re going to develop — what happens on the inside of your characters is much more important than what happens in general. Because without a lens to see the “general” through, it’s not personal. LET’S GET INTO THE VIDEO.

ADD THESE QUESTIONS TO YOUR CHARACTER PROFILE:

• How is your character dissatisfied with their life?
• What does your character believe will bring them true happiness or contentment?
• What actionable step could they take to turn their dream into a reality?
• How has their fear kept them from taking this action already?
• What would it take for them to finally make the decision to pursue their goal?
• How does your character feel they can accomplish their goal while still steering clear of the thing they’re afraid of?

BACKSTORY: WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST CHANGES THE FUTURE…MORE THAN YOU THINK

This is it — the final (but arguably most important) piece in your character’s puzzle: BACKSTORY. If you’re experiencing ANY fuzziness with your characters’ desire, fear, and misbelief, that’s going to get cleared up RIGHT NOW as we uncover a moment that happened a long time ago…a moment that changed everything.

ADD THESE QUESTIONS TO YOUR CHARACTER PROFILE:

THE BACKSTORY SCENE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
[THE SCENE WHERE…]

• What does your character go into the scene believing and how are they surprised by the outcome?
• How does your character struggle to hold onto their old beliefs?
• What is their conclusion/new belief?

Now go and write this pivotal moment as a scene! Write it as if it’s a part of your book — even if it never makes it into your actual novel. After that, write at least THREE MORE SCENES (they can be short, don’t sweat) where your character makes a decision based on their misbelief, further cementing it as a truth. 

Don’t forget to do this exercise for your antagonist as well!! The villain is an important character and how they became a villain is even more important to know. Baddies aren’t born bad — they just got lost along the way.

SO THERE YOU GO.

By this point, you should have some truly EPIC characters in the works — and by the time you finish filling out their profile and writing their backstory scenes, WOWZA. You’re going to have a story so compelling and addictive, so relatable and heartfelt, so engrossing and riveting, it will belong on the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

TALK, BRO

I hope you enjoyed this video series and got a lot out of it — I know I had a ton of fun putting it together for you. Now tell me more about yourself as a writer! What’s your favorite genre to write? Who is your favorite character you’ve ever created? Do you wish you had this video series two years ago?! Hint: I do.

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