Tip 8

Characters don’t come alive just because you give them a name. They come alive when they start making choices you didn’t expect.

A living, breathing character is more than a role they play in your plot—they carry scars, dreams, quirks, contradictions, rhythms of speech, and quiet fears that shape how they move through the world. When you know what they want and what they’ll do to get it, your story stops being staged and starts feeling real.

Let them surprise you. Ask them questions. What keeps them awake at night? What lies do they tell themselves to survive? What memory would break them if they faced it head-on? Dig deeper than “brave” or “loyal.” Find the cracks, the shadows, the secret soft spots.

And then, give them room to change. Real people grow. Characters should, too.

✨ A good character exists on the page. A great one steps off of it.

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