The majority of stories consist of scenes or events which move the plot forward. These scenes will be propelled by characters. In your writing you will be breathing life into your characters through their actions and reactions. But how do you go about creating believable, relatable characters? Read on and discover the methods, and pitfalls, of constructing characters in your fiction.
Saying that Roger is lazy, boring or mischievous will gain little by way of traction. These traits need to be shown. Some of the methods used by authors to achieve this are explored below. By no means are they presented in order of importance. It all depends on what you are writing, after all. A thriller, for example, is unlikely to have much by way of interior monologue when compared to a work of literary fiction.
Actions and reactions