How to Make Your Characters Less Flat! #author #writer #authortube #fyp #writingtips

This is why your characters feel flat in your writing. You sit down to figure out what your character believes, and you write something like, she's good at her job, or, he's a loyal friend, and then you wonder why the character feels flat on the page. Here's the problem. Those aren't beliefs. Those are just facts about the character. And facts about yourself don't drive behavior. A real belief is not something that lives only in us. It's something outside of us that we think is true. It's a rule about how the world works. So, I'm good at playing football is a belief about who I am. It is not a rule that runs my life. But good fathers protect their children, that's a rule. That drives everything. And here's the test. A real driving belief is something your character would apply to other people too, not just themselves. Think about it. One guy believes good fathers protect their children. Another guy believes good fathers provide financially. Those 2 men will make completely different choices in different situations. Put them in the same room and they're going to clash because each one is measuring the other one against his own rule. Absolute sobriety is the right way to live. Good cops follow the rules. People like us do things this way. These are the rules we run our lives on. They draw lines in the sand. They're what a character will sacrifice for. So if your character feels unmotivated, stop adding traits. Ask instead, what rule do they live by and what happens when the world breaks it? Subscribe and like for more writing tips.