THE WRITE CLUB: 8 GUIDES TO CREATING RELATABLE CHARATERS
The first thing we are often told as writers and storytellers whether in film or novels is that you have to create relatable characters. This is the only doctrine about telling stories. It is so because there's no story without characters. In fact, for those of us in the business of storytelling, our main products are the characters in our stories, not the stories themselves. Your story is nothing without the characters and your characters are flat if they're not relatable. Relatable Characters are why readers drop the book and want more. What they want is more of the characters they have fallen in love with. Relatable Characters are why a reader will be eager to tell a friend about the book.
So what makes a character relatable? A lot of things that can be summed up into the simple sentence; whatever makes a reader see themselves in the character, even if it's a tiny bit of themselves. And when I say, themselves, I use it loosely. It must not be their individual selves but they could see someone they know in the character. A mother could read about a character and totally see how her son could be in that character's shoes. A husband can see something of his wife's in the character and that alone can hook him.
As an author, when creating a character, you want to make sure she or he is this way. I have elaborated on eight points on my checklists I consult to make sure I'm creating a relatable character.
- Name
A Characters name is often the first thing a reader knows about the character. If the name stands out or sounds likable or shocking even, they could start getting interested already. Think of a name that can make a statement either by having a ring to it, or by being notable to your reading target. Your genre is a big consideration in this. A romance character is most likely to have a sizzling suggestion about it. I don't know but I'm sure a front desk officer catching the attention of the new guy in sales would rather be named Belinda or Aisha rather than Nkolika. No disrespect to Nkoli. Honestly, no offense meant. But you get my drift.
You should also think about what impression you want your reader to have about the character at the first introduction. If I wanted a character who the reader would easily not love, I'd consider naming him Adolf. In a serial killer mystery, my Adolf would be everyone's suspect, now imagine the gravity of twist when I reveal Adolf has been the good guy all along.
This doesn't mean you can't make up names that previously probably never existed. A name that sounds strange stands out even the most. We all know that friend or distant acquaintance with a strange name, don't we?
- Character Flaws
Sometimes we fall for perfect characters, but every time, we relate to flawed ones. A kind hearted lady who's always falling in love with sneaky men is one a lot of your romance readers can identify with because don't we all know that girl at work or at school? I do. I know 56 at least. There are a lot of flaws we can make a character suffer in order to let our readers feel like they're real humans. Like they could be a next door neighbour. Think of a girl who's always late to class, a job hunting graduate who keeps sending the wrong documents when trying to send his CV to employers because he is always in a rush. Whatever it is, our flaws make us humans and our humanity is what endears us to others, readers in this sense.
- Mannerism and Habits
Just like flaws, a character who does something a particular way will be hard to forget. How does your character walk? How does she wear or take off or put on her bra? Left strap first, all the damn time and she doesn't even know why but she'd rather leave home without them than put them on right strap first. Now I want to know more about this character. She's weird, right? These little quirks are what a reader can easily get hooked on. What made Richard Mofe Damijo's character stand out the most in that early 90s soap, Checkmate was the way he rubs the side of his nose when he talks. You should try this in your book too. Let a character gesture a certain unique way and leave it to readers to get hooked.
- Expressing Emotions
How a character handles different emotions is important for relatability. When they are angry, what will they do? How will they speak when they can't control their temper? What about in times of joy? It's probably been overused but a character getting angry and smashing the TV sends the message right. There’s a reason film makers and writer run to that scene when they want to show you how angry their character is. I mean, who hasn't been really angry and feel like smashing the TV. We might never have gone through with it but we stan the character that did it.
- Favourites
How do you feel when you meet a total stranger who likes the same UB40 song you like? Suddenly he no longer seems like a stranger anymore, right. Same happens when a reader finds that your character shares the same favourite song or movie with them. Works like magic all the time. Now they will root for this character all the way. In their eyes, this character can do no wrong.
- Childhood Experience and Background
What your character lived through as a child is a solid weapon in your hand to win some hearts to its side. So your protagonist is from a war torn country and experienced the war as a child, irrespective of how their adult self is dealing with that trauma, he has a lot of people who will relate to him pretty well. Everyone who has seen war as a child or as an adult or who knows someone from a war torn place will find themselves rooting for this character.
- Psychology
What's the psychological and mental state of your character? Are they struggling with low self esteem? Do they battle with anxiety? I advice you do a tone of research if you want to explore mental health in your character development but if you do it right, you will find out why The Fault in Our Stars and Netflix's You are hits.
- Physical Appearance
I left this for last because it is the one I would advise you apply the least. I am not a fan of given too many description of your character's physical looks. It's needless and ends up boring your reader. If anything, it works against your goal of creating relatable Characters. If you do not paint a picture of how your character looks to the readers, they have the likely tendency to assume the character looks like them or someone they know, that way they relate better.
However, there's room for mentioning some unique features like a scar on the jaw, a birthmark on the upper arm or a slight limp when they walk fast. These could help strengthen relatability but I would still advice caution.
In the final analysis, creating relatable characters is all about making them come off as humans rather than some vague imaginary entities that don't exist on Earth, even alien story authors give them enough human attributes and emotions enough to help the readers relate with them.