Here’s my draft. I’m basically making a sped-up, animated version of the first part of the movie Alice in Wonderland. Since I’ve never used Flash before, I only have a couple animations so far (carriage arrives, duke’s mother pulls Alice out of carriage… and Alice is going to end up dancing with the duke).

I gave up on drawing heads and hands for now. I’ll add them in later. I also plan to add backgrounds soon.

Here’s my draft. I’m basically making a sped-up animated version of the first part of the movie Alice in Wonderland. Since I’ve never used Flash before, I only have a couple animations done so far.

The hardest part is drawing heads and hands; I gave up on those for now. I’ll add them in later. I also plan to add backgrounds soon.

The second step to creating an interesting character is to introduce conflict that the character has to overcome.

Creating conflict is kind of an obvious plot technique because it adds tension and drama to the story. However, it’s not just a vital part of building a plot. It has the added effect part of making your reader begin to sympathize with the character. Describing the character in vivid detail can make the reader feel that he/she knows the character, but creating conflict is what will (hopefully, if done right) make the reader begin to actually care about the character’s life.

The third step to creating an interesting character is to use character development.

Once the reader is fully engaged in the character’s story, the final step in creating an interesting character is to guide her personal development over the course of the story. By this I mean that by the end of the story, the character should have learned something or grown in some way. By doing this, you use the character to say something about humanity itself, and the reader recognizes himself in the character. He or she becomes the character.

Thus ends this fancy two-part series on creating an interesting character.

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!

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