The characters in your story don't feel alive? TRY THIS.

If you want to write characters with depth and detail that feel like real people rather than just characters that are words on the page, I’m going talk about how I try to do that.
The questions it seems natural to start with are who are they? And what are they like?
But another maybe less obvious question to ask is ‘why’.
Asking that is something that I think really helps to create characters that appear to be something more than just characters. Something approaching, real.
0:00 Questions To Ask About Characters
0:38 Start With 'Why?'
1:55 Practical Steps
3:00 Examples - Bad
6:40 Examples - Good
10:43 Final Tips and Approaches
MY WEBSITE:
www.kierenwestwood.com/
***
Writing is my passion, and I love to support other writers and help them develop their writing along with me. I want to help you tell your best stories.
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Thanks for watching!
Links:
MY FLASH FICTION COURSE:
www.udemy.com/share/103LYUAEA...
WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU IN OUR DISCORD COMMUNITY!:
/ discord

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

MY FLASH FICTION COURSE: www.udemy.com/share/103LYUAEA...​ WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU IN OUR DISCORD COMMUNITY!: discord.gg/c6gZS2p

[@XX-sp3tt]

"You're never going to find that money ya know." I think that's a cool opening line, makes me want to know more.

[@chrisroberts8974]

Good video as always. This is definitely key. I think a strong why, especially with an antagonist, creates depth and realism.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Thank you! Absolutely yeah! I think it's always something to bear in mind to keep you from going off course.

[@MeredithPhillipsWrites]

One of the big things I'm trying to look for as I take revision notes are character issues. I'm finding so many times where they act out of character or seem too cliche and things like that. I'll definitely need to rewatch this when I get to the stage of actually using my notes to make revisions 😂

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Oh yeah, I think I saw you catch one of those little moments in your revision video! I find most of my advice and my approach is just keeping things in mind! But I think that really does make the difference sometimes, just in making sure what you're currently writing aligns with what you want to achieve overall :D

[@kylben]

"I didn't just say she was resentful, I listed some of the things..." I kept expecting you to say "I listened to her."

[@NicoleWilbur]

Watching this before I start writing to get in the right headspace-very successful on that front! :) I’m the second example, I love how the description is coloured from her perspective! It’s not just cows, it’s the cows she has to bring to the vet. Interesting description + character development all in one!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Ahh fantastic! Glad it could help. Sometimes even stuff you know well is handy to refresh on I find 🙂

[@NicoleWilbur]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting I definitely agree!

[@prafullavyas7649]

Excellent writing. Thank you.

[@JoeyPaulOnline]

I loved this, the why is so important when creating characters!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Thank you! I tend to find thinking about it makes all the difference when bringing them to life 🙂

[@marvamason]

I just found your KZbin channel today and I’ve gotten a lot out of the videos I have watched. I am currently working on a biographically inspired fiction story based on my grandmother born in 1902 in rural Texas. It is intended to show what life was like at the turn of the century

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Fantastic, I'm so glad! Thanks for watching the videos and I wish you the very best of luck with your story 🙂

[@vlad013]

Love your videos- they are equally impactful.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Thank you 🙂 It's always my aim to make something worthwhile.

[@opollitico]

As always, great video, great concept and great focus!!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Hopefully it's useful 🙂 Thanks for watching as always!

[@bradkrupsaw]

Brother, you have no idea how much you are helping me along with the work on my book. Thanks for all the clarity and examples.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Glad to hear it!

[@poumybeloved]

So I already written my story, I written all my characters goals and motivations but I got stuck in the end. I wanted to write a brutal ending but it sounded so forced and I see that wasnt the thing I wanted to do. Then I decided to write a more lovely ending but it didnt sounded appealing too. Its a story about how racism affects society, why human rights matter and I also written why family and love is important but still it feels flat and I cant connect to characters in a way. I told my story to some of my friends too, they said its great and I should continue writing it. I was just enjoying and writing silly things at first but then I really wanted to write with my all seriousness the story messed up in my head. What should I do? How can I improve my story?

[@paradoxinmotion]

thanks kieren!!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Thanks for watching ☺️

[@QuiteVeryJohn]

Such a crucial question to ask of your characters, I love it! Great video, been really enjoying your content. When writing flash fiction do you tend to write extensive character bios/profiles? I always get a bit overwhelmed when it comes to creating characters. Am I digging deep enough? Am I spending too much time on irrelevant material? It's my main source of "hmmm not sure. Oh look, there's something else that needs doing" 😂. But yes! Keep up the awesome work man!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Thank so much for watching! I don’t use character profiles very much at all, especially with short fiction, but that’s just my preference! My approach tends to be that I’ll mention stuff about them if it furthers either the plot or the message of the story, if it doesn’t, I often don’t mention much by way of details.

[@QuiteVeryJohn]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting no worries man! Ahh okay, yeah that totally makes sense! Sometimes I feel that when I've been trying to write character profiles, as opposed to choosing specific and relevant details to round out the characters a bit, I tend to get bogged down and lose sight of the meaning of the story. I shall give this approach a go! Thanks very much for the insight!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

@@QuiteVeryJohn We’re all different and there’s no ‘correct’ way, the frustrating thing is that sometimes it depends on the story too. I feel like I’m always making up my approach as I go!

[@QuiteVeryJohn]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting this is so true! I keep trying to remind myself that these things are flexible and that I shouldn't be too rigid and thinking "no, it has to be done this way". I just need to experiment a bit more!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

@@QuiteVeryJohn For sure, you never lose anything by trying new stuff out I don’t think. If it works, great, if it doesn’t work then it can even make you feel more confident about your normal approach ☺️

[@AsifHassan]

When you're so early, there's only one comment.

[@eastcoastandy]

Good video man.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Thanks for watching! ☺️

[@sonzb4907]

Could you also teach how to show not tell emotions? Thanks!