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As for Denise we could say: “Denise twisted her wedding ring nervously waiting for John’s answer”.

The secret is that when you decide on a mannerism you also decide when and why they use them.

In the examples above, John pulls his lip when he is thoughtful or considering a difficult decision for instance, and Denise twists her ring when she is nervous or anxious. In this way mannersims fill out, in a subtle way, the personality of the character. We now know John is thoughtful and perhaps doesn’t make snap decisions, and Denise may be of a nervous disposition and needs reassurance and support.

All these character forming mannerisms are part of the writer’s arsenal of tricks to build believable people to populate a story.

When deciding what mannerism to use for a character, make sure it is appropriate for the person you have in mind. For instance, it may not be a good idea to give Major Dreadnaught a limp wrist, but he could have a habit of smoothing his moustache.

Watch out, however, for these two important points: Don’t overuse the mannerism. We can’t have John pulling his lower lip every five minutes for no reason. It will simply turn the reader off. Second: Be careful not to give any character too many mannerisms. We don’t want them jiggling about like puppets on strings, do we?

In a short story it’s probably best to give mannerisms to just the main characters. Minor characters can remain on the bland side. For a novel, more characters can be fleshed out in this way, although again, it’s best not to overdo it.

So, apart from pulling lips and twisting rings, what can we have our characters doing to indicate who they are and what they’re made of. The list is virtually endless but will involve a movement, no matter how small, of some kind, and will often, but not always, give an indication of what is going on in their head or their heart. From a simple sniff to the angry beating a fist against a wall, they can be used to reveal thoughts and emotions.

Readers love characters with personality, and by using these, sometimes quite small, mannerisms you can help your readers understand how they tick.

About the Author

Mervyn Love offers advice, resources, competition listings, Writers Questions and Answers and much more on his website WritersReign.co.uk Subscribe to his free Creative Writing Course here: http://www.writersreign.co.uk For an excellent ebook on Building characters, go here: http://www.writersreign.co.uk/1/quirksa

You heard me right. I’m chasing heroes. (Yes, I’m married, and my husband’s fine with it).

Who doesn’t love a bad boy, or need a professor now and then. The swashbuckler or the warrior can defend my honor or take me on an adventure any day of the week. And after they have, and then have left for their next battle or adventure, the best friend can step in and offer support. I’ll be bolstered enough to offer my own support to the lost soul, and with any luck, I’ll be on the receiving end of the charmer’s skills.

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These men, in all their glory, are a big part of what romance books are all about. An author can tap into their emotions, delve into their complex character, and voila!, a compelling character is born. Most of us have favorite heroes. They can be classified into one of the eight major archetypes. Whether you love to hate, love to dream about, or just plain love them, those archetypes form the core of the heroes that speak to us.

Here are the eight main archetypes and a few examples to get you thinking about the heroes in your books:

Chief (think Nathan Petrelli in the t.v. show Heroes or Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice ~be still my heart!)

Bad Boy (Patrick Swayze’s an easy peg in Dirty Dancing. How about Sawyer on Lost? Perfect.)

Best Friend (Tom Hanks is the quintessential best friend. So is Jimmy Stewart.)

Lost Soul (Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. Is there anyone more tragic and lost? What about Edward from Twilight? Of course he’s sort of a blend of Lost Soul and Warrior, but my vote is for Lost Soul.)

Charmer (Titanic fan or not, Leo DiCaprio is quite a charmer. And I think Bruce Willis did a fine job of it in Moonlighting.)

Professor (Harry Potter? I think he fits the bill here. And of course there’s Sherlock Holmes.)

Swashbuckler (Captain Jack Sparrow, anyone? Johnny Depp makes swashbuckling, yellow-toothed pirates sexy. And Michael Douglas in Romancing the Stone is a swashbuckler if there ever was one.)

Warrior (Mel Gibson in Braveheart. Then there’s Bastien Toussaint from Black Ice, a total hard-a** warrior. And who can forget those dastardly muskateers. They came from a novel before they hit the silver screen.)

Now it’s time to get to work. When you’re writing, identify the main archetype that defines your hero. If you do, your hero will be more authentic and you’ll stay true to him.

Traditionally, there are two types of romantic men – the “alpha” and “beta.” The alpha has always been thought of the traditional romantic hero, but more recently, the beta is gaining in ground. Also, gaining in popularity is a merge of alpha and beta characteristics in the hero. So what is an alpha guy? A beta male? Let’s take a look.

The Everything Guide to Writing a Romance Novel. Available @ Amazon.com

The Picture of a Romantic Man

When we think of what a romantic man looks like, both alpha and beta heroes share traits. They’re strong, broad shouldered, well toned, with long legs and thin hips. The alpha usually takes on a few more “darker” characteristics, such as a feral gleam or a mercurial stare, as they tend to be more dominant. Imagery can include that of a majestic lion, or the king of his pride. Alpha heroes may tend to take on a more saturnine appearance as well. For alphas, mercurial eyes, feral smiles and saturnine cheeks all tend to show dominance.

The Qualities a Romantic Hero Embodies

There are core qualities our alpha and beta heroes share. They possess physical strength, beauty, have a keen mind, and are capable of emotional depth. The difference lies in their approach.

Beta heroes are usually found in more contemporary stories. They are nurturers and protectors. They don’t’ have to be rich, but hard workers. They’re problem solvers, but they tackle different, more every day problems than alpha heroes. They tend to be the every day guy – a firefighter or in law enforcement, for example. They go to work and go home to tuck their children into bed. Betas are verbal, tender, and vulnerable, but not to the point they look like a wimp. A classic beta male is “Ashley Wilkes” from “Gone With the Wind.” A more modern beta hero is Robert Langdon from “The DaVinci Code.” He’s a problem solver, has a keen intellect, isn’t rich, but works hard. He’s every bit as handsome as the alpha hero, but not as intense. In the movies, Tom Hanks does a great job showing Langdon’s verbal and vulnerable sides.

Alpha heroes have come down through the ages. They exhibit a deep range of emotion, but aren’t likely to tuck their child into bed. An alpha man is more likely to be rich – he dominates through acquisition. He usually has a more prominent social position than the beta. Our alpha hero also finds that he has to temper his capacity for destruction with a strong force for construction.

What sets both our alpha and beta man apart from others in the romantic department is how they treat others around them – with dignity, respect, and honor. Let’s face it, if our “romantic” man is good looking, but shallow, if he yells and throws things, what woman would be attracted to those traits? Our romantic man doesn’t yell, not does he throw objects. That’s not charming. He’s more tempered in anger, making his point in other, more subtle, yet effective ways.

The Rules For Our Men

Our romantic men have dignity. They’re honest, and respectful. They’re gentle with their women. They don’t gossip. They don’t lie, but they can be deliberately misleading if they’re trying to protect the heroine.

Modern Trends

In more modern, contemporary romances, you’ll see more alpha and beta traits blended to make our romantic man. He dominates at work, but doesn’t hesitate to tuck his child into bed. He’s got a wicked sense of humor, but he’s also self-assured in what he does all the way down to his bones.

When constructing a romantic hero, paint him with a brushstroke of Adonis, a touch of nobility (even if he’s not noble born), a splash of integrity and let his romantic heart shine through in his actions.

The Everything Guide to Writing a Romance Novel. Available @ Amazon.com

The easiest place to start is to look at touch as a way to communicate. Not every person or character is able to verbally express how they feel, but a hug, hand holding or well timed shoulder grab can say so much. A great example of this is in the movie WALL-E . The primary communication between WALL-E and Eve is through hand holding. They may lack typical hands, but they still hold hands. That gesture serves many functions for both of them, including Eve helping WALL-E remember who he is after she fixes him. This works for humans as well. Aside from the obvious gestures, playful poking shows the lighter side of a couple. Similarly, repeated non-harmful touching of any sort establishes a bond between two people. It creates a positive response in the brain that links the other person to a pleasant feeling all over. Even people who generally hate to be touched enjoy hugs and neck rubs from those they love. This sort of touching communicates the message “I like having you around. Please stay.” Try it. Write a scene in which a couple is having a discussion that leads to disagreement and have them wrap it up peacefully. Odds are one of the characters will touch the other in some comforting way to keep the other from getting too upset and/or wont to run off.

Touch also conveys changes for a couple. If there is potential trouble for a couple, less frequent touching can convey just as much tension as an argument. The type of touching also makes a difference. If the couple is normally grabby, a brusque shoulder hug highlights a shift in their relationship. This can also work for positive changes in a relationship. A different, closer type of touching between a new couple can show the two growing closer to one another. If you’re tired of arguing between two characters or are at a loss for ways to show two reticent individuals becoming more comfortable with each other, use touch. You can use a lack of touch to emphasize the emotional distance separating the first couple. With the second one, a good snuggle session (full of hesitant closeness and hugging) shows their emerging bond.

Perhaps the most interesting use of touch in romantic writing is to initiate a romantic relationship. A lot of people get tongue tied when they try to voice their affections for someone who might not feel the same. Odds are, your characters have similar mindsets. In that case, have them touch the person they like. If the recipient is clueless, up the touching little by little, as long as it stays true to the character. If it doesn’t make sense for your character to grope someone, having them do so when admitting to liking someone is creepy. Using touch to initiate a relationship also works for bolder characters. In fact, having a bold character come right out and kiss the person he or she fancies can both start a relationship and highlight the outgoing or risk-taking side of a character. With a bold character, this can also show his or her personality working against initiating a relationship if the recipient is put off by what happens. On top of all that, having characters touch can help you avoid cheesy, cliched “I like you” dialogue that sends some readers running for the hills.

Before you have your characters hold hands, though, get to know your characters. Do your characters like to touch people and be touched? If so, to what degree? Some people are outwardly affectionate with a variety of people, while others only want to be touched by those they trust (who happen to be few and far between). Another factor to consider is how your characters react to being touched. When I lived in Miami, a lot of people saw touch as a welcome thing and didn’t read much into it other than warm gestures between friends. This made me the odd one out, as I generally do not like to be touched and will think there is an ulterior motive behind it. So if a character in a potential pair doesn’t like being touched or may be put on alert by it, be careful when including touch as a romantic element. Otherwise, it could lead to wild (and perhaps disruptive) character changes that could throw everyone for a loop.

How do you figure out these things about your characters? Sketch out some unrelated scenes where touching might be involved. Good situations for this include family gatherings or spending the afternoon with close friends. You could also sketch a scene in which the character is being clumsy and has to be helped by other people for whatever reason. These situations may not be romantic, but some degree of touching is involved. Have the character touch and be touched in these scenes. How does the character respond to being touched? Does the character initiate touch? If so, how? Not all of the information you will find in this exercise will provide a blueprint for how a character will react to touch. Instead, consider it a starting point so you can determine what a realistic reaction is for your character in light of a romantic encounter.

Touch is a good way to increase the “action” factor in a romance piece, and I don’t mean that in a bodice-ripping way. Even a platonic gesture can speak volumes about a relationship (and takes fewer word to describe, too). Try it out. You just might find that touch is the key to making your love story more realistic and perhaps palatable to those who avoid romance like the plague.

If you’ve read the first three articles in this series (part one, part two, part three), you know that the time investment in fiction character development pays a hefty dividend into the writing process, the quality of your story, and the likelihood of getting accepted. Let’s continue!

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1. Label the Desire Essences of each of your main characters.

2. Label the Fear Essences of each of your main characters.

3. Get specific with your backstory.

4. Describe their current behavior.

5. Raise the stakes.

6. Don’t meddle.

7. Let your characters play.

Now that you’ve got the framework for effective story character development, let’s put this knowledge to work!

Problem

Let’s begin with an underdeveloped couple of characters – a man and a woman in the romantic drama genre. We’ll put these two in a used book shop for their initial meeting and write without developing them:

Rachel entered the bookshop looking around. She needed a book for a dear friend and though she had passed this book shop a million times, she had never been inside. She browsed around for awhile, and then pulled a few books off the shelf trying to find a suitable gift. “Is there anything I can help you with?” said a voice from behind her. She turned to see an attractive young man in his twenties. “Are you looking for anything specific?” he asked. “No,” was her reply. “You’re very pretty,” said the man. “Thank you,” she said blushing.

Solution

Now, after putting these two characters through the story development process of labeling their essences, getting specific and raising the stakes, this is where we stop meddling and we let them truly play:

Rachel entered the bookshop, making a quick visual sweep of the interior. She browsed awhile, scanning the shelves and trying to avoid the other patrons (her desire to hide). Coming around a corner, she caught her reflection in a mirror and surveyed herself for just a moment. She was noting how her baggy jeans and sweatshirt hid her features well, when the classic literature section lured her like a magical door (her desire to live in a different reality). Gently, Rachel pulled a copy of “Leaves of Grass,” from the shelf (her desire to be appreciated for her intellect) and held it gingerly in her hands.

“A woman who enjoys Whitman is hard to find,” said a deep voice from behind her (his desire for connection). Startled, Rachel stumbled back into the shelf (her fear of the opposite sex) before she felt a hand on her arm trying to steady her. She looked up and saw a tall man with a thick crop of curly brown hair and rich, dark eyes looking at her with a mix of concern and amusement.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” said the stranger, whose warmth only slightly melted her discomfort. “My mother and I used to read Whitman together,” he continued. Rachel stood there, still silent and feeling awkward. “I think that’s where I got my love of reading. How about you?” he asked her. His powerful gaze was penetrating (his high stakes).

“There is little else that I believe in,” she mumbled (her desire to connect). Her eyes never left the floor (her desire to hide is strong).

He nodded. “I love getting so lost in a story that the rest of the world fades away.”

Rachel drew her eyes slowly up from the floor, catching his only briefly before flicking back to the book in her hand. The jitters in her stomach were dancing so wildly that she was amazed her body wasn’t jerking. Although she would normally have shuffled away and avoided any interchange, she found her feet were somehow cemented in this spot, unable to pull away from his presence.

“Would you like to take a walk over to the pub (his need of a drink)?” he asked.

She raised her head (her strong desire for connection vs. fear of the opposite sex and desire to avoid alcohol). “I have to go now (her fear wins).” She darted from the store, the book still in her hand. She peeked back as she ran and saw the young man pull some cash out of his wallet, hand it to the cashier and then begin chasing after her (his need to connect outweighs his fear of rejection).

In this example, you have emotions, behavior, and history driving each subtle action and reaction. Every person is a complex network that should continue to unravel before the eyes of the reader in such a way that each page is compelling them to read on. In depth character development is the key to unlocking this kind of writing! Try to experiment with this novel character development process yourself and see if you too can bring your characters to life on the page!

In the meantime writers, keep your rear in the chair, your fingers on the keys, and your writing reaching for the stars.

Character development for fiction is an essential step in the writing process and can mean the difference between a work that is welcomed by a publisher and one that is stuffed in the rejection pile. The time you invest in developing three-dimensional characters before you begin writing will reward you with more productive writing time and a stronger story. Just as you would frame up your story with an outline, you need to properly build the characters that bring life to your work.

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In the previous two articles (part one, part two), we looked at the first four steps in this seven-step process:

1. Label their desire essences

2. Label their fear essences

3. Get specific with your backstory and

4. Describe their current behavior.

Now, we’re ready to step out of the structural mode of novel character development and let these creations stretch their limits and contribute to an exciting story.

5. Raise the stakes: Emotions are extreme

Play in the realm of this extreme when dealing with the fears and ambitions of your characters. These essences are all encompassing; meaning that we spend our lifetimes with them. Don’t cheat your characters by being afraid to raise the stakes as high as you can. Needing to find a precious stone to sell to an art dealer by midnight to raise the financing to save your character’s mother’s house before the bank takes it away from her tomorrow is exciting!

Look back at your own life and think of how seriously you take your essences. When your essences are threatened, will you fight to extremes to defend them? Just as when they are fulfilled, do you enjoy some of your greatest moments in life? Play in the realm of the extreme. Raise the stakes. Your essences are life and death to you – let them be that way to your characters.

6. Don’t meddle

Of course, you might be saying to yourself, “How do I not meddle? I’m the writer!” But a truthful story is going to grow from your willingness to let your characters make their own decisions, based on how you have defined them (which, after these exercises, will be in great depth). As their “parent”, you have to let your children go; this is the point at which your story truly begins. DO NOT MEDDLE IN THEIR LIVES. Continually remind yourself that it’s not about you. You just serve the story. Let your characters make their own decisions. If you ever find yourself not knowing what decision they might make, question your homework and rework their essences, behaviors, and stakes until their choice becomes obvious.

7. Let your characters play

Once you have developed several characters by labeling their essences, getting specific, defining their behavior, and raising the stakes, you are ready to begin to let them interact. It’s like the first day at a new school, ripe with possibility. When properly developed, there is no way to predict how your characters will behave in any given situation, but they are so full of life and their own agendas that they are ready to interact with other characters who have been developed to the same level. If you have done the work to get to this place – this is where your characters will begin to write themselves.

In the final installment of this series: Getting Down to Work, we’ll apply each of the seven steps to a specific example so you can see how this approach unfolds within the context of an actual story line.

In the meantime writers, keep your rear in the chair, your fingers on the keys, and your writing reaching for the stars.

The quality of your characters will form the foundation you desire for a strong story. In this four-part series, we’re looking at ways to develop three-dimensional, dynamic, story driving characters. Using the following seven-step framework, you can develop rich, complex, and multi-dimensional individuals:

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2) Label their fear essences

3) Get specific about their past

4) Label their behavior

5) Raise their stakes

6) Don’t meddle in their lives

7) Let them play

In the previous article, we looked at the first two steps in this process: 1. Label their desire essences and 2. Label their fear essences.

In this installment, we’ll explore your characters’ backstories – where they came from – and then determine how their histories shape their behaviors. As we continue to the next two steps, you’ll take a great leap in crafting your characters into engaging parts of your story.

3. Get specific with your backstory

Human behavior is made up of a string of moments and the reactions to those moments. A character’s present is carved out by her past. Current behavior is a battle between fear and desire, and your character’s immediate choices are based on very specific (yet unconscious) experiences from her past – experiences that leave imprints much like DNA. Though your characters should be unconscious of these past experiences that have influenced them, you the writer must create these histories in your preparation of their backstory and be fully aware of them before you move into your manuscript or screenplay. Here is an example of what won’t benefit you versus what will when you get specific with backstory.

Bad example of getting specific: Rachel is a pretty girl who thinks she is unattractive. She prefers to live in her books as opposed to being with friends or family. Her father abused her sexually throughout her youth. She hates attention.

Better example of getting specific: On her graduation day, at a party her mother is throwing for her, Rachel’s father shows up drunk and congratulates her, hugging her too closely, grabbing her rear end with both hands, and calling her pretty in front of a room full of her friends and family. She runs away humiliated and hides in her room, escaping into one of her fantasy stories. That night she moves out to stay with a friend and doesn’t tell anyone where she is going. Two weeks later she finds out through another friend that her father died in a car accident. He was drunk.

In the better example of getting specific, the reader can have a visceral reaction to the words. This is caused by the detail. The generality of the bad reaction is logical, but lifeless. In the better example, it is easy to determine what the essences of our leading lady might be: desire to hide, maybe even desire to die, desire to live in her books, desire to be valued for her intellect instead of her body, fear of loneliness, fear of her appearance, fear of the opposite sex, fear of losing a loved one, fear of being abandoned, fear of people who drink.

4. Describe their current behavior

Take the essences and the specific examples you have created and determine what kind of behavior your character might exhibit as a result of their past.

Simple example: Our leading lady – a woman who hides her body, avoids friends from her past, mistrusts anyone who comments favorably on her appearance, desires to control her education and her intellect, and avoids alcohol.

In the next installment of this four-part series: Let Your Characters Live, you’ll put your characters into action and let them come to life.

In the meantime writers, keep your rear in the chair, your fingers on the keys, and your writing reaching for the stars.

Creating convincing characters that are believable takes time and discipline. Creating dynamically real individuals without imposing your own thoughts and impressions upon them is not easy to do, but this step is often the difference between a novel or screenplay that sits in a closet and one that finds its way around town and into the hands of audiences. Spend time with character development — building your characters before they enter the world of your story — and you turn the process of writing your manuscript into an easier and more enjoyable ride. You also get the added reward of a finished product that agents, publishers, producers and readers can truly be excited by.

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As a former executive with LA Film Lab Entertainment (a literary development and production company), I have learned that good writing isn’t a gift. Talent equals discipline multiplied by time, and you must practice (daily) the art of development to master your craft.

Here is a proven framework to assist you in creating rich and complex characters. The complexity that you desire comes through:

1) Labeling their desire essences

2) Labeling their fear essences

3) Getting specific about their past

4) Labeling their behavior

5) Raising their stakes

6) Not meddling in their lives

7) Letting them play

Ask provoking questions in line with these steps, answer them thoroughly, and then repeat the process to provide constant individual growth in your characters that mirrors life.

In this series of articles, I will guide you through the seven steps to successful character development. In this first part, we’ll work through the first two steps: your characters’ desires and fears.

1. Label the Desire Essences of each of your main characters

The first key to deepening your work comes from finding the major motivators in the lives of your characters. What drives their actions and reactions? Do their desires stem from specific experiences? We all have deep-seeded aspirations that spur our choices, thoughts, acts, and responses. These stimuli are what differentiate us from one another and we will refer to them as “Desire Essences.” Some examples of Desire Essences are the desire to: be intellectually brilliant; be socially famous; hide from the world; belong to a group; be loved; party wildly; or end your suffering and die.

Desire is at the core of every being. We naturally aspire to be, do, or possess something that is just beyond our reach. Desire can be simple or deeply passionate. Write down the ten most important desire essences of each character! Once you have explored this component of your character’s psyche, you are on your way to mastering their voice.

2. Label the Fear Essences of each of your main characters

What lies at the root of each of your characters’ darker sides? For every desire they possess, they should also exhibit the antithetical fear of failing at attaining that desire. These fears will battle their aspirations for control over their behavior. Understand and then label the darker sides of your characters. This step is imperative to creating the dimensional and imperfect characters you are after. Some examples of Fear Essences are the fear of being: stupid; ordinary; socially exposed; rejected by a group; loathed; boring; or having to face life. Write down the ten most important fear essences of each character.

In the next installment of this four-part series: Creating and Shaping the Present, we’ll work on developing the backstory behind these essences that creates the foundation for your characters’ present lives. We’ll also delve into their behavior and explore ways to build characters that are exciting, dynamic, and unique.

In the meantime writers, keeps your rear in the chair, your fingers on the keys, and your writing reaching for the stars.

A novel may encompass any period of time, from an hour or two to many centuries. Yet this span of time, no matter how great, is finite; it has a beginning and an end that coincide with the start and finish of your book. Yet we all know that time itself is limitless – so what happened to make your story happen?

This act – the incident that sends your hero or heroine zooming along their roller-coaster ride through your book – is not the start of your story, though it is the event that starts your story. Let me try to explain this baffling statement.

Nancy Kress teaches you how to create dynamic characters. Available @ Amazon.com

The event that starts your story is the one that turns your lead character’s life upside down. This event, decided upon by you, can be almost anything, depending on the story you wish to tell – aliens land and invade earth; he or she loses their job; war breaks out unexpectedly; they are kidnapped and have to escape – virtually anything at all. Its sole reason for happening is to jump-start your story into life and set the ball rolling – without it, there would be no story to tell.

Yet the story doesn’t start at this point. You see, your story is made up of two main elements. The first is your plot – the second is your characters. In order for these characters to be believable and to have ‘life’, they cannot just spring into existence from nowhere. Now I realise that your characters only have the life you give them but you, in your book, are only writing about a certain part of their life – not usually all of it (unless you are writing another Forsyte Saga!).

It therefore follows that your characters must have had a ‘life’ before we meet them within the pages of your book. All of them were born somewhere, grew up, went to school, fell in love, got married, had kids – the normal, everyday things that happen. Or maybe not. Maybe that even-tempered guy who in your book runs a floristry business once did time for robbery. Or that little old lady who you have decided will sell coffee in the mall was a member of the French Resistance during WW2.

Crazy? Hey, much crazier things have happened, believe me! The point, however, is that suddenly these two characters have added depth. They now have a ‘backstory’ – something that happened to them in the past that shapes their life now. It’s imperative that all your main characters, certainly, should have a comprehensive backstory, or there’s a chance that your story may lose it’s reason for being. Imagine:

Chris bangs open the batwing doors in the saloon, stalks inside and comes to rest in front of Bart. ‘Your time’s up, pal’ he snarls, pulls out a big .45 revolver and shoots Bart dead.

Dramatic, yes – but why did he do it? People don’t usually behave this way, even in times when life was counted as cheaper than it is now. However, consider this:

Chris has known Bart for years. Maybe Bart stole something belonging to Chris? Land? A gold mine? A girl? He’s given Bart many chances to make amends because once, years ago, they were good friends. Bart won’t give the thing he stole back and just recently he’s added insult to injury by stealing something else belonging to Chris. Result – Chris shoots him dead.

This embryonic plot line shows how Chris and Bart’s backstory is essential. Without it, the scene above would have had one man shoot another for no reason we could think of – baffling for a reader and, in the end, uninteresting. As the opening scene in your novel it would also be mystifying but, when the backstory is fed to the reader, the reason becomes clear.

The backstory to a character – and the way each character relates to another – is the mortar that cements the bricks of your novel together. Bring your characters to life by giving them a past and you will ensure that your readers will see them as real people. Once this happens, your readers start to care about your characters – and you have the makings of a novel that no-one will be able to put down until the last page!