Character Intimacy

I’ve known that I like writing since middle school. That was when I first attempted to write a novel, though I didn’t get very far. But I first learned then how strongly you can affect your readers by pulling them into a good story, when I let one of my friends read the beginning and she demanded later that I keep writing it because she wanted to know what happened next.

It took me a long time after that to realize something. That thing that makes your writing powerful, allowing it to pull in readers and root them into the story, is character. Not just writing about a character. I used to think it was good enough to just describe the character a little and then put them through an exciting plot, but that’s not it. The plot can be the best story you’ve ever heard of and it still won’t be a story worth reading at all without character.

The major hook to any story, is knowing a character intimately, and your readers won’t feel that way unless you do. The neat thing about this idea, is that once you start treating characters like people you know very well, once you start loving your protagonist, your writing will become so much more of an adventure. It will be as much of a journey for you, the writer, as it will be for your readers.

So what is your favorite thing about character development? What characters have you fallen in love with, and why? Let me know what you think in the comment section! I’ll see you guys tomorrow with another post!