How to write realistic characters is something most fiction writers worry about. This is for good reason. Writing realistic characters, with realistic dialogues and inner worlds, is the key to writing realistic fiction.
Of course, before seeing how to write realistic characters, you should perhaps ask yourself whether it’s necessary for your novel to have realistic characters.
You might find that question a bit odd. Surely, what’s wrong with realistic characters? Why would anyone not want to write realistic characters?
We’ll take a look at this little detail, too. Sneak preview: it has to do with what I mentioned above, referring to “writing realistic fiction”.
To know how to write realistic characters, you must think like they do, understanding all the nuanced subtleties of their thought processes
After we get that out of the way, I’ll give you concrete tips on how to write realistic characters. Here’s another sneak preview: To write realistic characters, with believable dialogues and rich inner worlds, you must think like them, individually.
Let’s talk about impostor syndrome and writers. I could here give you a quick definition of what impostor syndrome is (chances are you know already), but let’s start with some personal revelations first. This will take a while to build up, but hopefully your patience will be worth it.
So, here goes…
A List of Flawed Excellence
I’ve written over twenty novels. I’ve published several of them. One of my works is also published traditionally, by a respected publishing house.
I have a PhD in English literature from a fine Finnish university. I also have an MA from the same university, graded laudatur. If you check how academic grading works in Finland, you’ll discover that, at the university level, laudatur “is often reserved for exceptional students and it is typically awarded for a thesis only once in 5 to 10 years.”
I know how to program in HTML/CSS/JavaScript, and I have some limited knowledge of Python and PHP. I have published a few Android apps.
Besides English, I can speak Greek (at a native level) and Finnish – arguably two of the most difficult European languages. I have some basic knowledge of Italian and some very limited knowledge of Japanese.
On top of that, I play guitar/bass and a bit of piano. I have composed some songs, some shared online.
I’ve worked as a professional photographer. I’ve won some local photography awards, too.
I’m a very good chess player.
I have a bit of flying time on a Cessna C172.
New achievement: I can solve the Rubik’s cube in under a minute 😛
What else…
Oh yeah… A day doesn’t pass without me doubting myself and my skills, thinking that any minute now the entire surrounding world will consume me with laughter and taunting.
Impostor Syndrome and Writers: a Dangerous Combination
Impostor Syndrome and Writers: or, how to Kill Your Creativity
Many people far wiser than me have described the key issue of the impostor syndrome. My favorite one is Bertrand Russell’s take on stupidity:
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
Today’s article is a result of a conversation I had with Francis Mont, author of House Arrest. We were talking about worldbuilding in fiction. Particularly, we were talking about the challenges involved in creating an imaginary setting for your science fiction novel.
Interestingly enough, preparing this post required me to ponder on worldbuilding in fiction myself. As a literary-fiction author, I never really had to think about how to worldbuild. So, writing this post made for an interesting exercise.
A guide on how to worldbuild your science fiction novel is not about architecture. It’s about culture and society.(more…)
