Last spring I took a creative writing class which, despite occurring at 8am, ended up being my favorite course of the semester.

For our first creative writing workshop, each student had to choose to either write three poems or one short story. Two days before the assignment was due, I realized that none of the poems I was writing were coming together, so I panicked, downed a few cups of coffee, and stayed up all night writing my first complete short story (which you can find in the creative writing section of this website, if you’re curious).

My story is no masterpiece, but it did have the benefit of introducing me to the intriguing puzzle of creating an interesting character. So here are a couple of guidelines I learned from that class about how to create a character your reader can care about.

The first tip is to flesh out the character.

One thing that goes a long way towards creating an interesting character to use concrete, specific details. Talk about your character’s history, her likes and dislikes, her daily routine, etc. What grocery store does she go to? What’s on her grocery list? Even a character’s quick decision to choose provolone cheese over cheddar at Safeway could be the thing that turns her, in the reader’s imagination, from an indistinct form to a vivid and relatable character.

This post is the first half of a two-part series on creating an interesting character. I could fit everything into one post, but a “two-part series” just seems much snazzier. Stay tuned for the second half!