👤 How to Create Characters with Depth, Conflict, and Voice

Katrina De Milano
31 мая
2 мин. чтения

The Secret to Making Readers Care About Your Story

Plot twists grab attention. Beautiful prose can impress.

But it’s characters that make readers fall in love with your story.

Whether you’re writing fantasy, romance, thriller, or YA — your readers are here for the people at the center of it. They want to root for them, argue with them, fall for them, feel them.

So how do you create characters that feel real, complex, and unforgettable?

❤️ How to Create Characters: It All Starts with What They Want

Every great character wants something — and that want shapes their entire arc.

Ask yourself:

What does your character want more than anything?
What are they willing to risk to get it?
What’s stopping them?

💡 Hint: Their goal can be external (find a missing sister) or internal (learn to trust again). The most powerful stories combine both.

🧨 Give Them Flaws and Fears

Perfect characters are boring. Readers connect with flaws, contradictions, and doubts.

Some questions to explore:

What does your character fear — emotionally, not just physically?
What lie do they believe about themselves or the world?
What are they ashamed of?
When do they self-sabotage?

🎯 Make them human, even if they’re a vampire, elf, or AI.

🌀 Show Change Over Time

Characters need to grow. Or break. Or resist change so hard that it becomes their downfall.

This is called a character arc — the emotional journey your character goes through.

Examples:

From coward to hero
From lonely to loved
From vengeful to forgiving
From loyal to broken

Even if your plot is epic, your readers stay for the inner transformation.

🗣️ Let Them Talk Like Themselves

Voice is one of the fastest ways to make a character feel real.

What’s their rhythm? Are they quiet, sarcastic, poetic, chaotic?
Do they use slang, long metaphors, short punches?
How do they express emotion — or hide it?

🧠 Read your dialogue out loud. If it sounds like anyone could say it — rewrite.

🧩 Relationships Reveal Depth

You learn the most about a character by watching how they treat:

Their friends
Their enemies
People with power
People who can’t give them anything in return

Bonus: great secondary characters help illuminate hidden sides of your protagonist.

✨ The Magic Formula (But Not Really)

You don’t need to follow a checklist.

But you do need to feel your characters — as if they’re whispering their story to you.

When you truly know who they are, your plot will start unfolding naturally.

✅ Takeaway

To create compelling characters:

Give them strong desires
Let them be flawed and afraid
Make them grow (or fail)
Develop a distinct voice
Show how they love, fight, and lose

Your characters are your story.

Make readers remember them — and they’ll remember everything else.

💬 Your Turn

Who’s your favorite character you’ve ever written — or read?

What made them stick with you? Share in the comments!