Story development: Some tips on making a character more interesting

 

Writing a story is truly not a simple task. For this reason, character development is key to making the story interesting. Discussed in this blog are some suggestions on how to do this. John Eilermann St. Louis 

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A character should represent a number of things. One way that makes a character interesting is that he or she belongs to a particular life context that makes it easy for the audience to relate. Forrest Gump was effective as a character because of his ordinariness, which is a trait that audiences can easily relate to. This is also why it made perfect sense for Cinderella to come from the poor and the oppressed. John Eilermann St. Louis

Another thing that makes a character more effective is a flaw. A character flaw is important to the character’s success, because this is the handicap that the character must live with throughout the development of the story, making redemption much sweeter in the end. In some cases, the character’s flaw is part of the problem that must be solved. In other cases, the character gains some sense of victory despite having the flaw. Either way, the flaw shows its importance in a character’s success. John Eilermann St. Louis 

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Finally, it helps for the character to have a lot of internal dialogue. Internal thoughts have an elaborate way of showing who a character truly is. Intrapersonal thoughts also work wonderfully in a number of ways. First, it is a reflection of the character’s own journey and growth. Second, it is an aspect of the character that only the audience is fully aware of. John Eilermann St. Louis