My trick is always the side character's POV. I'll write a scene between my two mains entirely from the perspective of a third party—a bartender, a random student, a passerby. It forces me to show who they are through pure action and dialogue, without any internal monologue crutches. What does their body language look like to an outsider? How do they talk to each other when they think no one who matters is listening?
It's like a diagnostic tool. If I can't figure out what's going on between them just from the external signals, then I haven't made them engaging enough on the page. This often leads to discovering little physical habits or verbal tics I hadn't planned, which then become core to the character. Plus, it sometimes spawns a whole new interesting side character from that observer.
Okay, I'll be that guy. I think most people worry about making characters 'likeable' or 'complex' and miss the obvious: you have to make them annoying first. Not unlikeable, but annoying in ways that are authentic to the source. Think about Hermione being a total know-it-all in 'Harry Potter'—that's annoying! But it's also her core, and it makes her moments of vulnerability hit harder. In a fic, if you sand off all the edges to make everyone nice, you kill what made them interesting.
Give them a flaw that actively inconveniences the plot. A character who's pathologically tidy slows down a chase scene because they stop to straighten a picture frame. Someone who's terrible at lying gets the group into constant trouble. Readers engage because they're waiting to see how that specific trait will blow up next, not because the character is generically 'strong' or 'quirky'.
And honestly? Don't be afraid to let them be wrong, or petty, or take the stupid option sometimes. Real people do that. Watching a beloved character stubbornly cling to a bad decision because of their established personality is way more engaging than watching them always make the optimal choice.
Contradictions. A character who's fiercely loyal but also a compulsive gossip. Brave in battle but terrified of spiders. Those internal clashes are where the juice is. Readers latch onto the tension between who the character is supposed to be and the part of them that doesn't fit the mold. In fanfic, you can amplify a minor canon contradiction into their whole deal.
2026-07-18 23:35:12
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Man, I keep seeing this advice about starting with a flaw or a tragic backstory and it feels… generic? Like, okay, sure, but that’s not what makes me click on a fic. What gets me is a character who reacts to the established world in a way that feels both surprising and inevitable. Take a comic like 'My Hero Academia'—everyone knows how Deku acts. But a good fanfic writer might explore how a background character from that world, someone with a 'weak' quirk, would navigate the same pressures. Their engagement comes from the friction between their personality and the world’s rules, not just a checklist of traits.
For scripts specifically, remember it’s visual. A line of dialogue can be undercut by a described panel of them fiddling with their costume, or looking away. Show their internal conflict through action beats you’d actually want to draw. Are they the type who cleans their gear obsessively when anxious? That tells you more than three paragraphs of inner monologue. The script should make the artist (even if that’s just you, the writer) see the character’s state of mind.