What Every Writer Should Know About Creating Change in One’s Characters

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4 Writing Exercises to Create Realistic Characters

In creating fictional characters you have a lot of creative license to work with, but there are still foundational principles you must follow. A principle that is relevant to most all characters in stories is change.

The essence of a story is the journey which a character or characters take, and a journey involves change.

Thus, stories are about change. If your characters—especially your protagonist—don’t show some sort of change throughout your book, it will fall flat.

What if…

Think of your favorite book, and answer these questions:

1. How was the main character different from the first scene to the last scene?
2. Now, imagine that the character seemed unfazed by everything she just went through within the entire story. Essentially, imagine if this character acted the same way at the end as she did in the first scene. Would the last scene read any differently?

I may be wrong, but I suspect you might be disappointed by the lack of change the character would show. Without change, stories can feel unrealistic and unsatisfying.

For example. . .

• What kind of tale would it have been if Frodo returned to the Shire as the same hobbit he was when he left?
• How would Harry Potter have defeated Voldemort if he hadn’t learned + grown from his years of schooling or previous battles?
• How unrealistic would it be if Katniss Everdeen hadn’t developed PTSD from being a tribute in the Hunger Games?

J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and Suzanne Collins knew the value of change when they wrote these bestselling books.

Fictional stories are drawn from real life, and real life involves change and adaption. Therefore, we should keep in mind how the story will impact our cast when we are creating our characters.

Related Reading: What Fictional Stories Reveal About Life

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Understanding the Basics

Now that we’ve seen how important change is to a story, how does one incorporate it into their writing?

Because writers usually have an innate storytelling instinct honed from reading, writing, learning, and in some lucky cases talent, some degree of change will probably affect our characters without us even thinking about it.

But if we do focus on creating change in our characters, there is a fantastic chance we will crush the storytelling game.

So to better understand how change in stories work, follow this exercise:

1. Reflect on your own life and pinpoint your personal turning points.
2. Got you mental timeline? Great. Next, for good or for bad, what change did you experience from these significant events in your life?

These turning points in your life are the plot points of your personal story, and just like us our characters must change for better or for worse.

Creating Change in Your Characters

Now it’s your character’s turn.

1. Pick the first turning point in your story, the inciting incident which will turn your character’s world upside down.
2. How would this event realistically affect your character?
   • If needed, place yourself in your character’s shoes and imagine if the event happened to you. If more inspiration is needed, ponder how your family members and friends might react.
3. After the initial shock, what will your character decide to DO?
   • Passive characters who only REACT to events instead of ACT make for poor reading.
4. Repeat with your story’s next plot point.

As you draft or edit your story, keep this question in mind: “How will this affect my character?”

If you do this, you will be well on your way to creating realistic change in your characters that your readers will appreciate on the last page.

If you have trouble planning from plot point to plot point in your current novel writing stage, ask yourself. . .

• Where do I believe my character might be physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, and mentally by the final chapter?
• How do I imagine she might be affected after the journey she’s undertaken?
• Is he stronger or more broken than when he started?

From these answers you can work backwards, discovering what would need to unfold for the character to meet the final stage of change you imagine her reaching.

Write It Into Motion

Because our lives are defined by change, our stories + characters will naturally follow suit.

We get hooked on stories because we are curious about what will happen and how the characters will cope. If the ending turned out no different than the beginning, we would be disappointed readers.

WRITING EXERCISE: Take ten minutes and ponder how your character will change from the beginning to the middle and to the end of your story. Follow the questions outlined above.

Write your story,

Sarah

Related Reading:

• How to Create Real, Breathing Characters for Your Novel
• Why Does Character Motivation Matter? (and some tips on how to nail it in your writing)
• How Your Characters’ Choices Should Be Driving Your Story’s Plot (explored with The Lord of the Rings cast)