A writing consultant helps an author craft a compelling character.

Crafting believable, well-developed characters is essential for creating fiction that resonates with readers. Characters drive the story and engage the audience emotionally, making it critical for writers to approach their development with care and attention. There are several strategies that authors can use to brainstorm and flesh out their characters, such as creating detailed profiles, placing characters in hypothetical situations, and drawing inspiration from real-life observations. By focusing on key aspects like motivations, dialogue, and flaws, writers can bring depth and authenticity to their characters. Additionally, the guidance of a writing consultant can be particularly valuable during this process, offering feedback that refines and strengthens character development.

One effective strategy is to start with a character profile. This involves detailing the character’s basic attributes, such as their name, age, physical appearance, and occupation, as well as more nuanced traits like personality, fears, desires, and motivations. A character profile allows writers to understand who their characters are on a deeper level before they even enter the story. For example, exploring their background, family dynamics, and past experiences can shape how they respond to the events in the plot. By fleshing out these elements early on, a writer can ensure that their character behaves consistently and believably.

Another helpful technique is to place the character in various hypothetical situations unrelated to the main plot. For instance, how would they react to losing their wallet, being caught in a storm, or running into an old friend? This exercise helps to reveal their temperament and decision-making processes, uncovering dimensions of their personality that may not be immediately apparent. It also helps the writer think beyond the plot and focus on the internal life of the character, which can make them more three-dimensional and realistic.

Writers can also use real-world inspiration by observing people around them or drawing from personal experiences. By paying attention to how people speak, gesture, and interact with others, a writer can gather small but telling details that bring characters to life. People are often contradictory, showing different facets of their personalities depending on the context. Capturing these inconsistencies can make fictional characters feel more authentic, as they mimic the complexity of real human behavior.

A deep understanding of the character’s motivations is essential for creating compelling, engaging characters. Writers should ask themselves what their characters want, both in the short term and in the long term. This can include external goals, like acquiring wealth or achieving fame, as well as internal desires, such as seeking approval, love, or redemption. Understanding a character’s motivations gives their actions purpose and helps drive the story forward. Additionally, well-crafted motivations add tension, especially when characters have conflicting desires or must make difficult choices.

Dialogue is another powerful tool for character development. The way a character speaks—whether they are formal, sarcastic, verbose, or quiet—reveals much about their background, education, and personality. By refining each character’s voice, a writer can differentiate them from other characters in the story. Dialogue can also be used to hint at underlying emotions or unspoken conflicts, adding depth to character interactions and allowing readers to infer more about a character’s inner world without being directly told.

Character flaws are critical for creating well-rounded characters. Flaws make characters relatable because they reflect the imperfections inherent in all people. Whether it’s pride, insecurity, impatience, or jealousy, a character’s weaknesses can create internal conflict and drive much of the drama within the story. Importantly, these flaws should not be exaggerated to the point of caricature but instead should be grounded in reality, adding complexity and authenticity to the character’s development.

A writing consultant can play a significant role in helping an author develop a character's personality during the drafting phase. This assistance goes beyond providing technical feedback, offering instead a structured and insightful approach that can deepen the author’s understanding of their characters.

One of the key ways a writing consultant can help is by asking probing questions. These questions encourage the author to think critically about their character’s motivations, backstory, and relationships. For instance, a consultant might ask what formative experiences shaped the character, or how their desires and fears will drive the plot forward. These questions push the author to go beyond surface-level traits and explore the psychological and emotional aspects of the character. In doing so, they help the author uncover layers of complexity that may not have been apparent in the initial draft.

Another valuable contribution of a writing consultant is offering an outside perspective on the character's consistency and believability. Authors can sometimes become too close to their work, leading to blind spots in character development. A consultant provides fresh eyes, identifying areas where a character’s actions or dialogue might feel inconsistent or where their personality may lack sufficient depth. For example, if a character who is portrayed as introverted suddenly becomes overly assertive without a clear reason, a consultant might point out this discrepancy, prompting the author to either revise the character’s behavior or clarify the motivations behind this shift.

Writing consultants can also help authors navigate the challenge of balancing character development with the needs of the story. Sometimes, authors can become so invested in fleshing out their characters that they lose sight of the narrative structure. A consultant can guide the author in integrating character growth into the story’s progression, ensuring that the character’s personal journey aligns with the overall arc of the plot. This involves helping the author identify key moments of change or decision-making that will reveal the character’s personality in a way that feels organic and enhances the narrative tension.

Additionally, a consultant can provide feedback on dialogue, helping the author refine how the character speaks and interacts with others. Dialogue is a crucial tool for revealing personality traits, but it can also be tricky to get right. A consultant can help identify whether the character’s voice feels distinct and appropriate for their background and situation. They can also suggest ways to use dialogue to subtly hint at underlying emotions or conflicts, deepening the reader’s understanding of the character without resorting to exposition.

Moreover, a writing consultant can assist in maintaining balance between a character’s strengths and flaws. Characters that are too perfect can feel unrelatable, while those with excessive flaws may come across as one-dimensional or unsympathetic. A consultant can help the author strike the right balance by ensuring that the character’s imperfections feel authentic and contribute to their development over the course of the story. This feedback can help create characters who resonate with readers because they reflect the complexity and contradictions of real people.

In many cases, a writing consultant will also help an author ensure that the character's personality evolves in response to the story’s events. Static characters can cause a narrative to feel stagnant, so it’s important that the character grows or changes in some meaningful way. A consultant might suggest opportunities for this evolution, such as key scenes where the character faces a challenge or revelation that prompts them to reassess their goals or beliefs. By focusing on character development in relation to the plot, the consultant helps the author create a dynamic and engaging character arc.

Developing characters who feel realistic and fully formed requires thoughtful consideration of their background, personality, and role within the story. Through techniques such as character profiling, real-world observation, and careful attention to dialogue and flaws, authors can create multi-dimensional characters that engage readers and drive the narrative. The assistance of a writing consultant can further enhance this process by providing an external perspective and offering suggestions that align character growth with the story's overall progression. With these strategies, writers can craft characters that not only feel authentic but also contribute meaningfully to the dynamics of the plot.