The Character's Core

Characterization takes work to make them believable and three-dimensional.  Many techniques are available to help an author dig deep into a character's mind and heart and then share the findings with the reader through a story that grabs the readers and holds them.

A guest post by novelist C.S. Larkin on the Story Fix blog covered some excellent comments about creating characters. The article talks about getting to know the core of your character and then offers suggestions on how to do that.

Larkin also shares what he calls the three "most important questions" to ask each primary character in your novel:

• What is your core need (and what you will do if you can’t get that need met)?

• What is your greatest fear?

• What is the incident(s) that wounded you early in life that got you believing a lie? (And just what is that lie?)

Then he explains in detail how these questions work together to provide the author with the character's core motivation that allows the author to create a deep, complex real character.

This article is worth reading.  http://storyfix.com/3-questions-you-must-ask-your-characters-a-guest-post-by-c-s-lakin