How To Make Realistic Characters

I think Dr. Hinze said it best in the opening lines in his article on creating characters: “In 1757, in Poor Richard's Almanac, the wise and astute Benjamin Franklin wrote: "Little strokes fell great oaks." Important message to writers in that saying, because it is through incorporating little strokes (details) that writers create and develop unforgettable characters. Little strokes turn stick-characters into real people.”

Little details make fully developed characters seem real to the readers, whether it’s body language hinting at emotions or mannerisms reminding the readers about habits the character has.

Another place to remember to put details is in schedules. Whether you’re dealing with a regular day schedule for a human, an daily schedule for an alien, or a nighttime schedule for those that live at night, remember everyone has needs that need to be fulfilled. Everyone needs to eat, sleep, and remove wastes somehow or they start getting weak or sick. Even if your character is running for its life and living on adrenaline, the body can only go so long without nutrients and rest. The effects of not getting needs fulfilled can add tension to a story or scene.

However, too many details can slow a reader down and bore the reader enough to put the book away. It’s a good thing that there are many ways to show a reader your characters are real. Instead of having a scene where the character on the run steals a pie on a shelf below a window, you can mention that the character feels guilty about stealing someone’s dessert later but rationalizes that they won’t miss it with the rest of the meal the family had planned. For characters that are sitting down to a family meal while debating if they should take a job in another state, you can write in dialogue around bites of dinner. For detectives in the middle of a case, you can have them glance at their clock and debate getting lunch or having a mid-afternoon snack at the convenience store. You can have dialogue wrapped around a subtle nighttime routine before bed for some characters or let others decide to sleep after their late morning meeting or college final.

Finding that perfect balance between too many details and an unrealistic character is hard but important as many readers and critiques as well as editors will notice those things. Just remember that while plot and story may be what intrigue the readers, little details are what keep them absorbed in the book.