Young Writers Society

I've seen this done too many times, and I think someone needs to put it out there. There is a simple way to determine whether or not a character is interesting (it's not foolproof, sure, but it works most of the time).

1) Is s/he good?
2) Is s/he evil?

If the answer to either of these questions (but not both) is yes, your character is probably not very interesting. I don't want clear-cut moral situations because those are essentially exhausted. It's possible to write a good story with a clear-cut "good guy" and "bad guy" - Lord of the Rings is a prime example - but unless you're the next J.R.R. Tolkien, it's going to be difficult to pull off.

On the other hand, exploring a character's moral intricacies is rewarding, both for the author and the reader. Not only does the reader get hooked by a decision they have to think about, but it's a good way to figure out your character. Think "How would Billy react to such-and-such a situation?"

Superman has already been made. Go on to something more complex.

Any thoughts on other ways to make more interesting characters?

A few emotional scars to interfere with current judgement are some interesting devices to use for interesting characters. Fears, also, are a large one.

The emotional scars and fears are almost interconnected. Fear can stand on its own, though, as it can be irrational (although it's so much more fun if it's not).

But I find the big one is not having all good or all bad characters. Gray characters are the most interesting.

A characters motives decide it for me. If they're doing evil or good things, I ask myself what is their goal in doing this. I tend tie in their goals with past experiences. That way you see why they're doing the evil thing, what the plan to achieve, and why they wish to achieve said goal.