No matter how fascinating your plot or magical your world, your readers won’t engage if you don’t have compelling characters.
To create truly compelling characters—the kind that leap off the page, the kind that really get into your readers’ bones—you’ll need to go beyond the superficial stuff and dig deep into your character’s internal landscape.
Make it a strength, not a weakness
For too long, introverts—both in fiction and in real life—have been judged harshly. Take Mr Darcy, the love interest of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice protagonist, Lizzie Bennett. He spends the entire novel being labeled as aloof, arrogant, and unfriendly, until Lizzie figures out that he’s actually just an introvert— compassionate, intelligent, and sensitive.
So, don’t be too hard on your introvert character, because an aversion to small talk isn’t the same as rudeness and focusing on the inner world doesn’t make you anti-social.
Explore what motivates them
Don’t forget that your introvert is a character like any other, and apply the same rules to make them compelling. What motivates them—an ambition, desire, goal or want? Do they have a secret? What’s their greatest weakness (polite reminder: It’s not their introversion). What aspects of their character are contradictory or “flawed?” Flesh out their backstory.
Unleash the novel inside you
with compelling characters,
intricate worlds,
and fine-tuned prose.
“Linda has published twenty books. She blogs about the publishing world, posts useful tips on the challenges a writer faces, including marketing and promoting your work, how to build your online platform, how to get reviews and how to self-publish. She has mentored many authors and edited their work.”
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