Commented [ST1]: I think this is a fantastic title!
Maybe,
Creating Compelling Characters
One of the most intriguing things about good books is the characters. I love a good character that I feel
like I know and can interact with in my imagination. There are a lot of good examples of great characters
that I will draw from as good examples of loveable, compelling, and believable characters. I hope you
will look at some these examples from their original source to get the full picture.
Breaking the Clichés
The most compelling characters are the ones that who have qualities that don’t follow the clichés. I am
going to use the show Parks and Rec for examples of breaking clichés, since they do such a good job at
thatof portraying characters who step outside the box.
The Manly Man
One common cliché is tThe manly man. This character is commonly the hero. This man is all toughness:
loves meat, alcohol, weapons, hunting, independence, dominance, etc. Now sSome people try to break
the cliché by making him secretly a softy, but the way that people try to break the cliché has become a
cliché itself: the manly man with a heart of gold expresses love to his kids and his woman and only
harms those who deserve punishment.
Parks and Recreation breaks this mold with the character Ron. He Ron does follow some of the tropes:
he loves meat, alcohol, and hunting. But there are specific details that separate him from all the other
manly men out there. He loves breakfast food. He loves America but hates government. He hates
to pull readers in even more, we could consider giving it a
subtitle. For example, maybe something like “Creating
Compelling Characters: 3 secrets for Captivating Readers,”
“Creating Compelling Characters: 3 Steps to Breaking
Clichés,” or even “Creating Compelling Characters: 3 Steps
to Making Them Believable.”
Commented [ST2]: Since all of the examples in this article
are from Parks and Rec, we could mention up here that the
“great characters” come from that show.
Commented [ST3]: I love this topic, and I absolutely love
how you present the examples.
Since the title is “Creating Compelling Characters” and the
rest of the article goes into detail about how to create those
characters, perhaps we should focus the last half of this
introduction more on how to use the given examples rather
than on the examples themselves. For example, we could
mention something about breaking clichés, creating a
character sheet, and intercharacter opinions since these are
the methods that we are using to create compelling
characters.
Formatted: Font: Italic
Commented [ST4]: Maybe add something like this to the
end of the sentence to clarify what that is.
Commented [ST5]: I don’t know that we have to say that
the manly man is a common cliché. It’s implied since we’re
talking about this stereotype, and I’m sure that readers will
recognize the trope as they read about the manly man’s
traits.
Europe. He respects Leslie Knope even though she has fundamentally different views about the

government. He supports feminist views. He is a slave to his ex-wives. All of these details are very

specific to Ron and break the manly man trope.

The Goth Teen

The goth teen is another trope that has come to be common. Goth teensThe goth teen hates everyone Commented [ST6]: We can remove this sentence for the
same reason as the above section.
and everything. They wear black clothes and black makeup and disregard all the rules. They are secretly Commented [ST7]: Saying “goth teens” may be
generalizing actual societal groups. It might be less
insecure and care deeply. controversial if we stick to the trope title and say “The goth
teen.”

The character from Parks and Rec that makes and breaks this trope is April Ludgate. She too follows

those “goth guidelines”: she cares about nothing and wears all black. But the further into the show you

get, the more fleshed out she becomes. She loves animals. Most of what she says that’s disturbing is to

just mess with people. She’s very secure. She falls in love with Andy, who is a goofy, naïve, loveable,

playful, blonde, guitar player (the complete opposite of her). She loves Leslie. She loves and respects

Ron. These details are what distinguish her from other goth characters.

Obviously there are many more clichés out there. There’s no harm in starting your character out as a

stereotypical fill -in -the -blank. There’s a reason that tThose stereotypes exist for a reason; but make

sure that your character has qualities that break that mold, whichqualities that will make them more

well-rounded.

Commented [ST8]: I love that you give a character sheet!

Character Sheet I feel like the categories you included are so helpful.
Character sheets are a common way to create a character, but that’s they are popular because they are
important. It helps you to keep your character consistent. Not all of the details that you put into your
character sheets will show up in your story, but it is important that you have a clear vision in your head
of who they your characters are. To help have a clearer understanding of filling how to fill these a
character sheet out, I will fill out the sections with Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec in mind.
Here are the things you should know about your character:
Name: Leslie Knope
Age: 32
Physical Appearance: Blonde, has blonde shoulder -length hair, is short in height, wears a minimal
amount of makeup, has blue eyes, is not commonly attractive
Who’s in her family: Mom (educator), and Dad (died when she was four)
Where does she live and when: Pawnee, Indiana in 2002
All of the above are absolutely essential. Everyone who has ever existed is able to answer those
questions for themselves; your character should be able to answer those questions too. Answer the
questions how your character would answer them.
As you continue with your story, more details about your character will emerge. Just come back to your
character sheet and fill out those details. The second half of the questions (which are listed below) are
going to be the real details that make your character unique. Not all of these onesYou do not have to be
answered all of them, only the ones questions that matter to your character’s personality.
Describe character’s bedroom: messy, lots of files and boxes towered on each other
What they wear/Style: pants suits, occasionally a skirt, rarely wears casual clothes
Commented [ST9]: That’s was a little ambiguous, so
perhaps we should do something like this.
Commented [ST10]: Rather than just saying character
sheets are important, it might be stronger to do something
like this. We could also do “…because they are important for
helping you keep your characters consistent.”
Commented [ST11]: I don’t believe we talk about the
potential sections we can have in a character sheet. Maybe
add a list here of possible entries readers might want to
include, that way the sentence ties into helping authors
know what traits are important. I also think having a list at
the beginning of the section will give readers a better idea
of what a character sheet is, and it will give them a blank list
that they can reference.
Commented [ST12]: I added verbs here to make the list
clearer since each entry used a different verb. However, this
is a list and it can be imperfect. So if you want to leave it as
it was, we can absolutely do that.
Commented [ST13]: Because we just talked about the
length of Leslie’s hair right before this, it felt like short was
referencing her hair. So I added “in height” to make it more
clear. You can remove it if you feel it won’t be a problem.
Commented [ST14]: Does this mean answer the
questions with the character’s information? Or should we
also answer it in their voice? It might be helpful to expand
on this a little.
Commented [ST15]: This felt like a good break for a new
paragraph since it’s talking about the second half of filling
out a character sheet while the above sentences talk about
the first half.
Worst Fears:

Skills: organization, scrapbooking, gift-giving, seeing potential

Likes: waffles, Li’l Sebastian, micro-managing, organizing, over-preparing, being right, government

programs

Dislikes: negative attitudes, budget cuts,

Friends: Ann, Ron, and everyone else she loves (which is almost everyone)

Enemies: Jeremy Jamm

Unique Mannerisms:

Habits:

Strengths: Optimistic, loves being prepared, loves deeply, cares for lots of people and knows them

personally

Flaws: she’s a steamroller; she expects a lot from people; she is not a very good listener; she is stubborn

Favorite food: waffles and whipped cream Commented [ST16]: Just to clarify: Does Leslie like
waffles and whipped cream together? Or are waffles and
whipped cream her favorite foods, but separately? The way
Least favorite food: this answer is written right now makes it seem like she likes
them together. If they are supposed to be separate, I
recommend using a comma instead of and.
Favorite sport:

What does she want most? Why?: She wants to build a park on lLot 48 because to her it is a symbol of

her love for Ann

Birthday:

Extra Tidbits:
You can fill out these answers with as much or as little detail as you feel is necessary for your character.
Other Characters’ Opinions about your Character
Now you’ve filled out the character sheet. But how do your other characters feel about this character?
Answering this question can be very telling. If your character is very loving, if but your other characters
hate that qualityit, that communicates to the reader that your character is overbearing.
Commented [ST17]: I love this idea because
intercharacter relations really influence a story. I don’t think
that this section has to be very long, but it should definitely
describe the intricacies of how characters’ opinions
influence readers’ opinions. I think it would also be
beneficial to talk about how intercharacter relations drive
the plot. For example, the antagonist probably dislikes the
main character because of one of their traits. We could
again use Parks and Rec for these examples and conclude
with how stories revolve around believable characters. And
creating believable characters is as easy as doing 3 steps.