screnwriter:

On writing characters

A great piece of writing advice I’ve heard (if not one of the greatest) is that you should always write what your characters would say, not what you want them to say.

It’s a concept that might sound confusing to new writers [the writer provides their characters with a voice], but creating a story based on what your characters would say/do, as opposed to what you want them to say/do, really just comes down to what you want to happen in the story, and what realistically would happen. 

You might feel the need to have a character talk about their feelings, or openly trust the person standing in front of them.

It might be beneficial, the right thing to do — but this character has trust issues, and they don’t easily open up to people. Forcing them to do so anyway, [thus making them act/behave in a way that doesn’t correlate with their personality] can lead to inauthentic storytelling, and characters who continuously contradict themselves. 

Keep in mind, life comes consequences! And your characters should face the consequences of their actions. You can’t protect them from all things evil, or from making mistakes. You shouldn’t strive towards creating perfect characters who can do no wrong.

Consequences are what drives your plot and character arcs forward, and your audience will look for characters they can sympathize and/or relate to. They’re not looking for characters who can do no wrong.

If you’re stuck, it’s not such a bad thing to let your characters run wild, either. There’s usually a whole world out there for you to explore, that you never would have discovered if it weren’t for your characters showing you the way. It sounds whacky, but your characters will know what to do. They know themselves better than you do.

So let your characters guide you through their lives! Even if it means changing direction, even if it means the story doing a whole 180 from what you initially had in mind. Your characters will know what to do.

And eventually, the more you write, the more you familiarize yourself with your characters, their goals, fears and beliefs, the easier it’s going to be to distinguish your wishes from your characters needs, and writing authentic characters will become second nature. 

Also, you won’t always have control over what happens. Don’t force a story in there if it doesn’t go with the current narrative. Listen to your characters. Don’t make it an issue of “this is logical and that’s why you should do it.”

Would they do it. Would they say it. That’s what’s important. If you’re constantly trying to force your characters into doing the right thing or behaving a certain way, that’s how you end up with one dimensional characters.