The essential element of powerful fiction is not a twisty plot, pace, tension, effective writing… you can do all those things and still not engage the reader.
The absolute key thing is that your reader CARE about your characters. Period.
And how do you do that?
By caring about them yourself.
And how do you do that?
You have to get to know them as the unique individuals they are. You can’t really care about someone you don’t know. Get to know them intimately, warts and all. Love them warts and all. Like your children, you created them, you gave them life, and you love them. You get to share their deepest fears, their most cherished dreams, their aspirations and ambitions, their greatest joys, their most poignant yearnings – and their most devastating mistakes.
And how do you do that?
By living with them. Talking to them. Listening to them. Be with them throughout their day – from waking up in the morning to falling asleep at night. Take them with you on your day and see how they function, how they process the world.
They are real people. It’s just that they don’t live out there but in the inner world.
3 Responses
I totally agree. Know them, know their secrets like a most cherished friend.
And even the fiendish villain must have something s/he cares about in order to seem real.
This makes sense to me. By knowing them well, you can’t help but appreciate their complexity, and appreciating their complexity binds you to them, in a way…prevents you from not caring, really. As Tonia and others have said, even the fiendish villain has a momma who loves him.