Learning how to make our characters strong, believable, lovable, loathed, and focused is something we all should strive for as writers. For as a reader I want to fall in love with my character or hate them so badly I want to see how the book ends. Most times I follow through with the liking of a character. There are some books by the time it ends I wish the one I fell for would just go away as my alliances has shifted to the villain who is suddenly amazing.

If we just stick to the physical aspect of what our characters look like, while we may describe them so well our readers can image them in their minds, you can only go so far with looks. So invest in your characters, go to the root of what makes them who they are, what they are and why I should as a reader get so invested in this one person. For if you don’t chances are the book will not be read to the end.

How strong are our characters in our book? Do they make the reader get invested in them relatively soon or does it drag on? The format is simple: Who? Where? What? How? When? Why?

Simple enough but then break it down even further. Who did what where and how did they do it and why? Or you can say how it happen to this other character that is in the book. The possibilities are endless depending how big your cast is in the book.

Also talk about your characters weakness, likes, fears, hopes,goals,strengths and so on. By doing that you give your person the best chance of working whether it is to be loved or hated. Without that, for me as a reader, the book no matter how well written, will be either read and honestly reviewed or just not read at all.

Invest in your characters and they will do wonders for your book.