WRITER'S BLOGG | A Blog For Story Writing

How To Create Characters

Any character in a book should resonate with the readers.
First, let's make a difference between the different character types in a story:

- Protagonist: This type is also known as the Main Character, this character leads the main part of your story. That means it faces the most actions, is seen in the most chapters and has the biggest impact on the plot. A female main character can be abbreviated to FMC and a male main character can be abbreviated to MMC.

- Antagonist: This type is also known as the Villain, they lead motives opposite to the ones of the Protagonist, usually an invisible border between them sets differences.
That means that the villain will be seen in stark contrast to the Protagonist. It doesn't mean that they can't be humorous or sarcastic, a great Antagonist can be loved by the audience as well (see Loki from Marvel)

- Deuteragonist: This type is also known as the "accomplice" of the Protagonist, basically a character that is shown in close connection to the Main Character, and only acts together with them.
HERE'S THE DIFFERENCE TO A SIDEKICK!: A Deuteragonist is also called a "window character", meaning they show up in chapters/a part of the story shortly, and then don't get mentioned again.

- Foil: No, I'm not talking about Clingwrap, I am talking about a character description here. A character in foil/Foil Character is someone who stands in contrast to the Main character, more to highlight their differences/qualities. This doesn't automatically make them a villain, Foil Characters can be friends with the main character as well.

- Mentor: This type is usually the Obi Wan of every story, someone who took (mostly the main) character in when they were at a young age, to teach them life lessons, how to get used to conditions, combat and wisdom. Mentors can turn into villains or randomly die, great authors say.

- Confidant: This type is your Main Character's SOS phone number. A character they can talk about everything with, someone very close and dear, someone they can trust.

- Sidekick: Different to a Deuteragonist, this character type stays by the Main character's side until either the story has ended or they are disposed of. Usually, this character is expressed by humor, sarcasm, a clear mind and reasonable decisions (No we won't split up in this dark forest while a witch haunts us). A great way to get rid of them is usually death in the middle of the book for no reason whatsoever, great authors say.

- Romantic Interest: Ouuu things are getting hot in here. This character type is the person the main character/any other character falls in love with.

- Comic Relief: If you didn't make your Sidekick already funny and humorous enough, here's your second chance. This character can be any type so far, mostly used as a Sidekick though.
They make jokes when it's not appropriate, have a terrible sense of humor and are usually blunt with their answers.

- Tempter: This character type is someone that tries to push the boundaries, to test the limits, to test the waters.
Someone that would probably step on a lake and jump to see how thick the ice is, or someone that would paint a pentagram just to test if they could summon the devil. Someone who is not afraid of the actions they make, more likely of the consequences though.

- Stakes: This character type is connected to the actions the Main Character does. It serves as background story information, more like what the Main Character is fighting for.
An example is John Wick's dead wife, she gave him the dog and now he's tracking down the murderers of his puppy.

- Narrator: This character type is a character that doesn't necessarily make an appearance in the chapters but more guides the readers through them, like an "I"- perspective, the point of view the story is coming from.

- Secondary Character: This type of character is shown throughout the story but doesn't have a major impact on it, usually these characters have their own subplots to them. An example is Manon Blackbeak from Throne of Glass.