Effective character description examples from a range of authors from Victorian to modern times show the many ways to convey characters’ personalities, desires, strengths and shortcomings.
Category: Character writing
Read Now Novel’s best character writing blog posts below. Learn how to create a cast for your story that is rich with bold personalities. The best stories make it easy for us to connect with characters and become invested in their story outcomes. Learn how to describe characters’ faces, postures, speech and more. You can also find helpful guides on creating conflict between characters, different kinds of relationships between members of the cast of your story and more.
Learning how to describe a person so that the reader forms a vivid impression of your characters is essential for writing compelling stories. Read 8 tips for describing characters so they come to life:
How do you write multiple points of view in a novel? More importantly why have multiple viewpoint narrators in your novel? Read on for 8 tips on writing books with multiple narrators, with practical POV examples from Barbara Kingsolver and others and a POV exercise by Ursula K. Le Guin:
Narration and viewpoint are two complex but important aspects of writing craft. Showing your reader the world through your characters’ eyes builds immersion. Learn how to write deep POV with a definition, plus tips and examples that illustrate why this is an effective option for bringing readers closer to your characters:
Character profiles are helpful process work for writing. A profile contains all you need to know about your characters; ID facts such as name, age, gender, birthplace, plus story elements such as characters’ goals, motivations, desires, and conflicts. Read how to write character profiles in 10, simple tips:
A main antagonist is the character who is the main enemy or opposition to a hero or protagonist. Antagonists supply core conflict. How do you create and write potent opponents? Read a definition, examples and quotes, plus 8 steps to write yours:
Knowing how to develop a character so your reader invests in them and believes their journey is key to writing great character-driven stories. Try these 7 simple steps to begin creating affecting, intriguing character arcs:
In creative writing, practice is key. Try these creative writing exercises for deeper characterization. Use every detail, from appearance to movement, gesture, voice, habit, and reputation to make your characters great:
External conflict is conflict a character faces that is outside themselves, rather than inner struggle. For example, a sibling rivalry, an oppressive society versus its lone challenger, or the conflict between a town battling for survival and a freak weather event. How do you make external conflict as compelling as the inner struggles your characters face? Here are 6 ideas: