When it comes to stories, character growth is very important. It keeps the reader interested when the characters grow and change, reach their goals or fail to. Nonetheless, your novel may feel two-dimensional if your characters failed to change even in the most extreme circumstances. Thus, you should always develop your characters since this makes them ring true. Characters should be developed with their own opinions, set of complexities and personalities. You should take time to nurture their development, growth, and relationships. When developing characters, you should know a few things as discussed below in this article.
Do Some Research
Research is one of the most crucial and early steps in the character development process. When you do proper research, it is able to equip you with the knowledge and insight to give your characters believable traits and features. In addition to this, it adds legitimacy to your book and also shows your readers that you care enough about your characters when developing them. As a result of this, you will be able to earn respect as an author and your novel will get loyal readership.
Easy Does It
On the other hand, when your readers are being introduced to the character for the first time, you should be careful not to get tempted into relaying a lot of details too soon. It is not right for an author to start off by giving a detailed summary of the characters, to the readers, before moving on with the story. Hence, when introducing a character, less is more. You should drip-feed your readers enough details to stimulate their appetite and also to kick-start their imaginations.
Body Language
In character development, you should let body language to play its natural part. This is because body language speaks a lot about what we are truly feeling and thinking as human beings. Research shows that communication is ninety percent of how we say things and ten percent of what we say. Therefore, a writer doesn't have to say what someone feels because you are already hard-wired to understand and decode emotions. Hence, don't tell your readers what the character is feeling, show them.
Use Objects and Situations
This also builds on the point of showing rather than telling. Thus, you should show how your characters respond to the world that they inhabit. How your characters perceive and value the world around them will disclose more about their feelings. To get more ideas, check it out!
Find more info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_development