Amy J Romine: Crafting Compelling Characters: An Expert's Guide to Creating Relatable, Three-Dimensional Characters in Romantic Suspense Novels

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Crafting Compelling Characters: An Expert's Guide to Creating Relatable, Three-Dimensional Characters in Romantic Suspense Novels

Creating relatable, three-dimensional characters is a crucial element of writing a successful romantic suspense novel. These characters help to draw readers into the story, making them invested in the characters' emotions, struggles, and triumphs. As an expert romantic suspense author, I have developed a process for creating and developing these types of characters, which I will share with you in this post.

The first step is to develop a deep understanding of who they your characters are. This means delving into their past, their personality, their beliefs, and their motivations. Many people start by creating a detailed character profile that includes information about the character's background, family, education, and career, as well as their strengths, weaknesses, fears, and desires.

Here are a few links to some downloadable character sheets.

The Ultimate Character Questionnaire (over 150 character questions)

Character Profile Worksheets

Character Sheet Template

Character Profile Template

Character Sheet Template

I personally so things a little differently, every author has their own ways of walking down the same path. When my characters first hit my muse it is usually an image of the person. As I develop the skeleton of the story, the actions and reactions needed by the characters to move the story forward, start to fill in the image details, physical, spiritual and goals. It is all still pretty vague, like an incomplete statue however as I dive into the story, this drives me to ask questions that begin to build the character in my mind.

“Having strong, compelling characters that your readers can root for (or against) is the strongest way to build suspense. When readers are invested in a character, they want to know what happens to them.”

Once I have a clear understanding of who the character is, at least up until the point we join the character in the story I begin to develop their relationships with other characters in the story. This helps to create a more realistic and well-rounded character, as their interactions with others reveal more about their personality, motivations, and beliefs.

I also focus on creating relatable flaws, quirks, and goals. No one is perfect, and the same should be true for our characters. Flaws can include anything from a fear of commitment to a tendency to be too impulsive. These flaws make the characters more human and relatable, as readers can identify with their struggles and imperfections.

Another crucial element of creating three-dimensional characters is ensuring that they have clear motivations and goals. What does the character want? What are they willing to do to achieve their goals? These motivations and goals drive the story forward and make the character's journey more engaging and relatable to readers.

In the essence of any suspense character is a sense of edge in characters, whether it is internal struggles or external, the need for a decision must feel life or death. The only thing we as humans’ control is actions and reactions. By focusing on those points in character reactions you can define the edge or precipice your character is standing on.

This pulls the reader in with a relatable comfort that opens up and explores the personal struggles of the characters. The key is relatable and then go deeper.

“Characters need to feel like real people in order for the reader to be invested in them enough to continue turning pages to see what unfolds.”

Finally, I believe that it's important to make sure that our characters grow and change throughout the story. This growth and change can be in response to the conflicts and obstacles they face, or it can be a result of the relationships they develop with other characters. By allowing our characters to grow and change, we create a more satisfying and emotionally resonant story.

In conclusion, creating relatable, three-dimensional characters is a crucial element of writing a successful romantic suspense novel. By developing a deep understanding of who the character is, their relationships, flaws, motivations, goals, and growth, we can create characters that draw readers into the story and keep them engaged until the very end.

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