3-D Characters in a 2-D World

The thing about writing a novel is this: If your characters aren't real, then your book will fail.

Sounds paradoxical, right? I mean, fictional characters can never be "real."

Are you sure about that?

Michael Bailey. David Baldacci. Maya Banks. Jim Bernheimer. Patricia Briggs. Jim Butcher. Diane Carey. Peter Clines. Peter David. Eric Jerome Dickey. David and Leigh Eddings. Janet Evanovich. Rhiannon Frater. Michael Stephen Fuchs. Casey Glanders.

Marion Harmon. Kevin Hearne. Linda Howard. Faith Hunter. K.W. Jeter. Dean Koontz. Sarah J. Maas. Jonathan Maberry. George R.R. Martin. Seanan McGuire. Nora Roberts (aka J.D. Robb). Joel Shepherd. S.M. Stirling. Timothy Zahn.

The novelists listed are but a small sample of authors who have succeeded in making their characters so fully realized that they could step off the page and into our world.

Name ten things you know about your best friend. Using that list, compare it to what you know about your main characters. Do you know as much about them as you do your best friend? SHOULDN'T you know these things? What are your main characters' political affiliations? Favorite films or TV shows? Dog person or cat person? Preferred colors to wear? Allergies? Pet peeves? What do they love? What do they fear?

Real people can answer those questions. Your characters, if they could talk, should be able to, as well.

Here are a few fun (and free!) suggestions that will help your characters to become more real:

• Take one of those cheesy "personality quizzes" you see in magazines and online. Then, take it again, this time with the mindset of one of your characters. Repeat as necessary for each main character, as well as the more prominent secondary characters. Each character's results should be different.

• Have a debate with a friend over politics ... but do it from your character's point of view. (I strongly recommend you clue your friend in, first...)

• Go clothes "shopping" for your character. How does your character's style differ from your own?

• "Talk" to your characters. Listen, in your mind, to their voices. What do they sound like? How fast do they speak? Is there any kind of accent or regional quirks?

• The next time you listen to music, do it from your character's point of view. Do you share musical tastes?

Marion Harmon populated his "Wearing The Cape" universe with fully realized characters.