In a post on Writers in the Storm, Lynette Burrows offers advice for inflating your flat characters. “Does your character have little to no internal life? As your character moves through the story, does she overcome nearly every obstacle? Does she have a crystal-clear need? Is she unchanged at the end of the story?” she asks. “If even a few of your answers are yes, you probably have a flat character.” She shares eight tips for bolstering your people.
- Make a diagnosis. You might think your characters are well-rounded and complicated, but are your thoughts on the page? Burrows suggests marking up a printed copy of your manuscript, highlighting your primary character’s internal thoughts, emotions, dialogue, and descriptions. If something is missing, your character is a bit deflated.
- Pick a place to start. Consider the theme, emotion, or plot you want to explore. Use that to create ways to define your flat character. You can also add complications, such as a desire that contradicts your theme or emotion. Take time naming and describing your character so that he or she feels rich and lifelike, not like a stock character.
- Give your character a secret. “Characters who hide a secret create instant tension when other characters get close to figuring it out,” Burrows says. “That secret and the tension it creates are almost always instant wins with your readers.”
- Give your character a flaw. This can be a physical flaw, a bad habit, shameful conduct, or a dangerous belief.
- Make your character unique. Emphasize small differences between your characters, in their manner of speaking, their physical movements, and other characteristics. These differences can also create micro-tension.
- Change up a stereotype. Be critical with your story here. Did you rely on a stereotype to define a character? What would happen if you switched it up and gave the character the opposite conduct to the stereotype?
- Leverage internal conflict. “A person raised with a strict religious belief system may confront a situation where she must violate one of her beliefs in order to help her dearest friend,” Burrows explains. “Or a person can have the internal conflict of honesty vs. compassionate dishonesty.”
- Show more than tell. Show the reader that your character is beautiful, thoughtful, reliable, or difficult. Let other characters react and their personality will start to shine through.
