Your Characters Are Boring: How to Fix Flat Fiction

Advice and practical tips pulled from people who probably know what they're talking about.

Aug 01, 2024

I've read around 5,000 pages on the craft of writing fiction*. I'm not going to try to count the hours of video lectures I've followed in places like MasterClass or its BBC knockoff, Maestro. True, not all of it was useful. To paraphrase Stephen King, most of the writing about writing out there is crap.

But some of it is pretty good.

Some craft authors took the subject matter seriously. Others took themselves more seriously. Some had the chops to back up their claims. Orson Scott Card, author of Ender's Game and a Hugo Award winner, is someone I trusted to write about science-fiction and fantasy. Others... Let’s just say I learned that if someone promised to tell me the secrets of writing a bestseller but they themselves have not written one, their advice is not worth reading.

So keep that in mind reading this post.

But in 5,000 pages and how many hours of video lectures, I did come across some nuggets of useful information. I've got a notebook going where I'll jot down quotes, instructions, or tips for approaching fiction. Not all of it is useful. A lot of it is redundant.

But what I have here are the things that stood out to me as useful, practical, and correct. Most of them boil down to one thing: characters need contradictions to bring them to life.

It’s like nature. Electricity is generated by the difference between positive charge and negative charge. High pressure meeting low pressure creates storms.

Flat characters may have lots of backstory, but if there’s no push and pull within themselves, they’re just kinda… meh. You could use the term flat, lifeless, boring, or one dimensional. It’s all the same.

This idea resonated with me, so I wrote it down. Other things added up overtime and few into a list. That list turned into a worksheet. When starting a story, I go through this list to help me come up with ideas, troubleshoot, and make sure what I'm doing aligns with what (probably) works.

I'm offering it here for you to follow, so you don't have to read 5,000 pages of (mostly) crap. I hope you'll download it, use it, share it with others.

I did that hard work so you get to do the fun stuff – writing.

Design a Character Exercise

Pulled from various craft books, essays, and research. By no means comprehensive, it’s just the tidbits I liked from various approaches to character.

To add more to each question, simply ask: why? This also helps you look at the character’s backstory and learn where s/he came from.

To Keep in Mind:

From a Q&A session with Orson Scott Card:

“You can’t write depth, you can only show characters doing something out of an as yet untapped psyche.”

Characters act out of contradictory motivations that they themselves don’t yet fully understand

They think that they have a motive that they are proud of, when in fact they have a motive that they are ashamed of. This is what they are really acting out of, and the story’s end is this coming to the surface.

Brainstorm a Story in Six Questions:

Who is it about?

What do they want?

Why can’t they get it?

What do they do about that?

Why doesn’t that work?

How does it end?

Define a Struggle

What does the character want?

What is the character struggling towards?

What is wrong with his/her world, self, or how does s/he want to change his/her role in the community?

What obstacle stands in the way of that want?

Wants and Motivations

What is the character’s external motivation (the thing they tell everyone else they want)?

What is the character's internal motivation (the thing they tell only themselves that they want)?

What is the character’s secret motivation (the real thing that is motivating them that they won’t admit to, even to themselves)?
Example: Jack Reacher
External: Punch the bad guys to solve the current problem

Internal: Protect people who can’t fend for themselves

Secret: He misses war

How do the Internal and Secret motivations create contradictions with the external motivation?

Abilities

What is this character’s double-edged sword (a trait that both helps and harms)?

What makes them unique in the world, or what can they do better than anyone else?

How is this also their weakness or limitation?

Tactics

How does s/he overcome/react to problems?

What tactics (behaviors, strategies, methods) does this character employ to overcome obstacles?

What is the benefit of this tactic?

What is the cost of this tactic?

Why does this character not use another tactic?

What type of person would react to obstacles this way?

Why?

Flaws

What is this character’s flaw (a flaw that must be overcome or it will destroy the character)?

What are their handicaps (things beyond their control that should be overcome)?

What are their limitations (things that limit their ability to act but that do not have to change, but can)?

Can these flaws, handicaps, and limitations help him/her?

Example: Hercule Poirot has OCD, but his mania for order helps him solve crime.

Is the character aware of these flaws or ignorant of them?

Characterization

How do they speak?

Accent

Use of slang (urban, rural, time period, vulgar vs. euphemisms, etc.)

Tone

Pitch

Word choice

Sentence structure

Formal vs. Informal

Around friends vs. around strangers

At work vs. at home

Behaviors around speech

Eye contact

Fidgeting

Laughing

Posture

What quirks of language do they have that distinguish them from all other characters in the story?

How does how they speak build from their motivation and limitations?

How does how the character speak build from their past?

Relationships

Who does this character care about?

Why does s/he care about them?

How does s/he treat other people?

Who does this person interact with? Or, who do they avoid?

How do they interact with these people?

What does this reveal about their inner self?

Making a Character Likeable

Establish empathy with the character by doing one of the following:

Doing something that shows s/he is like 'us'

Being nice

Show other people liking the character

Putting the character in undeserved danger or in pain

Give the character some traits that we admire but are absent in the other characters around them:

Examples:

Intelligence

Loyalty

Duty

Honor

Strength

Restraint

Courage

Humor

Kindness

Decisiveness

Friendliness

Self-sacrificing

Honest

Empathy

Worldly knowledge

Show characters moving forward or backward in at least one of these areas:

Competency

Proactivity

Knowledge/Understanding

Likeability

Finding a Character Through the Story

At the top of your first page, answer these questions and leave them there:

What is my character feeling at the time the story opens?

What does my character want to achieve?

What personality trait or external factor is blocking my character from doing this?

Setting

What roles must my characters try to fill in this story?

Do they fit into those roles easily, or do they question themselves?

Do others question their ability?

What conflicts will arise because of this?

What must my character do in order to convince himself, others, and my audience that he or she is fit to assume the roles that they must fulfill?

Further Work from Character by Robert McKee

Robert McKee is, in my opinion, one of the best craft instructors. He’s a screenwriter, and his books can get very technical and detailed, but he offers a much more thorough approach to story, character, and dialogue than anyone else I’ve read.

Desire in 5 Dimensions

1. Object of Desire

Post the inciting incident, the Object of Desire is the thing the protagonist wants or the thing he thinks that having will bring his life back to an even keel
Examples: Revenge, a faith, a bucket of money

2. Superintention

What motivates the character to pursue the Object of Desire.

Usually a generic motivation (happiness, live a meaningful life, revenge), but paired with an original object of desire, is the what makes the Superintention unique

The Superintention restates the character’s conscious desire in terms of his/her deepest need (external want verses internal need)
Example: A promotion at work will translate and public recognition of an achievements thus resulting in inner peace

Object of Desire is about actions (will he get it or not?) while the Superinention is about the feelings or emotions that drive the character’s actions. Basically, the Object of Desire vs. Superintention is what the protagonist wants vs. the emotional hunger that drives him

3. Motivation

Answers the ‘why’ to the ‘what’ of Object of Desire and Superintention

Why this Object of Desire? How will it satisfy his desire?

Often a childhood thing, therefore irrational

4. Scene Motivation

Moment by moment struggle to the ultimate life goal

Immediate thing the character wants as a step to achieve the long-term effort of the Superintention

His actions and the reactions he gets will take him closer to or further form the Object of Desire

Giving the protagonist what he wants ends the scene

5. Background Desires

Background desires limit the character’s choices of actions

If he desires to be a good, moral person, he won’t kill someone to get something he wants

If he desires to save multiple lives right now, he may kill one person to save others

If he cares about what people think, he won't’ make a scene in public

If he cares more about his mother than his wife, he won’t contradict his mother at dinner even though he knows it will make trouble later at home

Background Desires cement the status quo of a person’s life; they temper his behavior

They also create a web of restraints that fix a character in each scene

But when the character has nothing to lose, he has nothing to stop him

Cultural mores help determine how much we speak our minds or keep things to ourselves

*If you're curious, here are the craft books on my shelf and the video lectures I've followed. Bold titles are ones worth investing your time in.

Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress (Elements of Fiction Writing Series)
Character by Robert McKee
Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card (Elements of Fiction Writing Series)
Conflict and Suspense by James Scott Bell
Creating Character: Bringing Your Story to Life by William Bernhardt
Dialogue by Robert McKee
Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White
Great American Short Stories: A Guide for Writers and Readers by Jennifer Cognard-Black (The Great Courses)
How NOT to Write a Novel by Howard Mittlemark and Sandra Newman
How to Write a Mystery edited by Lee Child
How to Write Best-Selling Fiction by James Scott Bell (The Great Courses)
How to Write Dazzling Dialogue by James Scott Bell
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
Mastering Plot Twists by Jane K. Cleland
Million Dollar Outlines by David Farland
On Writing by Stephen King
On Writing Horror edited by Mort Castle (Elements of Fiction Writing Series)
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Plot by Ansen Dibell (Elements of Fiction Writing Series)
Story by Robert McKee
Story Genius by Lisa Cron
Structuring Your Novel by K. M. Weiland
The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass
The First 50 Pages by Jeff Gerke
Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques by James Hynes (The Great Courses)
Writing the Blockbuster Novel by Albert Zuckerman