What are the tips to write main characters that are so memorable they live in the reader’s memory long after the book is finished?
Stories are plot-driven or character-driven, and even better when you create a story that is plot and character driven.
Plot is what people do and why they do it. Character is the internal organization and structure of a person that motivates how the character responds to external pressures. In story, the writer places a specific personality into a specific setting and the reader follows as the character reacts and responds.
Generally, the principle players in a story consist of
- Main character
- Sidekick
- Antagonist
- Mentor
As you assemble your main characters, consider our audience. When writing about a real person, see that person through the eyes of your reader. What is your reader’s age, education level, faith, gender, and interests?
- Male readers tend to prefer to read about a male protagonist
- Female readers generally are happy to read about a male or female protagonist
- Female protagonists tend to have a larger female audience
- Youth are eager to be older and read about older characters who are in the next stage of life. For instance, middle schoolers want to read about those in high school.
Will your main character be human or animal? E. B. White made a writing career with main characters from the animal kingdom including the spider Charlotte Cavatica of Charlotte’s Web, a mouse named Stuart in Stuart Little, and Louis the swan in Trumpet of the Swan.
Popular main characters
Popular main characters who are animals include
- Bambi in Bambi
- Fiver and Hazel, rabbits in Watership Down
- Hank in the Hank the Cowdog series
- Mrs. Frisbee in Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of NIMH
- Peter of Peter Rabbit
- Simba of Lion King
- Winnie the Pooh in the Winnie the Pooh series
Human main characters come in all ages and from everywhere on the globe.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Little House on the Prairie series
- Jean Valjean in Les Miserables
- Scarlet O’Hara in Gone With the Wind
- Tom Sawyer in Tom Sawyer
- Scrooge in A Christmas Carol
- Wang Lung in The Good Earth
- Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird
Some protagonists are from different worlds of the author’s imagination.
- Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games
- Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings
- Meg Murry in A Wrinkle in Time
- Lucy Pevensie in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
- Tris Prior of the Divergent series
Main characters who live in our memories and in popular culture long after we finished reading the book are relatable to the reader. They are not perfect but share characteristics that mirror our own.
Far from flawless, Harry Potter was relatable to readers. He was
- a young hero
- scholarly looking in his glasses
- filled with curiosity
- experienced real emotions
- had solemn intelligence
- delighted in discovery
- longed deeply for family
Skills of main characters
What is your character good at? Kya Clark of Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is skilled at observing nature. This ability becomes her way to support herself. Percy Blakeney in Scarlet Pimpernel is a natural actor, a strength that allows him to save lives. Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan in The Help employs her stubborn sense of justice to confront social norms.
What is your character most afraid of? What is your character’s kryptonite? For Mallory Wayne in The Patent, she fears looking incompetent and losing her last family member. In The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes, Jennifer Stirling is afraid to be treated as an outcast by family and friends. A character’s fears are core to how your character acts. Those fears are also a relatable touchpoint with your reader.
What is unique about your main character? While all people look fairly alike having a head and shoulders, knees and toes, describe the traits that set your character apart. Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt has aquamarine eyes. Mr. Dodson in Melanie Benjamin’s Alice I Have Been has one eye higher than the other. Sherlock Holmes is socially inept and quirky.
Does he wear a ponytail and ride his bike to work like patent attorney Marc Wayne in The Patent? Does he have hands ragged and scarred with black nails and a sabre cut across his cheek like Captain Long John Silver in Treasure Island? Can she slide up the staircase banister like Mary Poppins?
Creating main characters
When creating your main character, whether the character is real or made-up, ask yourself these questions.
- Who is your audience?
- Is your character animal or human?
- What is your character good at?
- What is your character afraid of?
- ;l’lDoes your character have relatable traits?
- What unique characteristics does your character have?
For more about writing and writing memorable characters, get the Quick Guide to Writing Well series including The Quick Guide Creative Characters.
Find examples of characters including protagonists, antagonists, sidekicks, and mentors in the Marc Wayne action-adventure series.
