In an article for Writer’s Digest, Kris Spisak offers tips for making your characters’ relationships zing. “Sure, your characters exist next to each other on the page, but crafting relationships that feel real can be a different story,” Spisak writes. However, if you have friends, family, acquaintances, heroes and enemies, you have enough tools to write authentically. Spisak suggests four methods for writing authentic relationships.
- Give your characters aligned or opposing motivations. Does your protagonist see another person as a help or a hindrance?
- Create powerful moments of connection. In addition to capturing places and events, consider combing your memories for transformational relationship events. “Think of a moment in your life where a connection transformed in some way,” Spisak advises. “Perhaps an acquaintance became a true friend. Perhaps a stranger became a love interest. Perhaps a family member opened up like they never had before. Perhaps someone you thought you knew did something that bothered you.” Remember that relationships change over time.
- Explore body language and thoughtfulness. “What does a relationship look like in its subtleties?” Spisak asks. “Heads leaned together? Hands held? Shared sticker collections? Knowing exactly how one prefers their tea or their guacamole? Do characters speak to each other in a certain way or fall into old habits?”
- Explore your own internal struggles. Have you ever wanted to follow two opposing desires? Have you wanted one thing at a certain stage in life and the opposite at another? Consider dividing those desires between two characters. “Seizing upon your own internal struggles can make for powerful conflicts your readers will feel because your passions can easily come through,” Spisak writes. “Writing your own truth doesn’t have to be a singular experience. We are complex and multifaceted. Our unique characters can spring to life from precisely these drives.”
