Nailing the First Impression: Building a Strong Cast of Characters
When considering how to build your story's cast of characters, each piece of them is important. Don't get me wrong, I have often used a filler name that ended up sticking, but I'm talking about more than just the name a character is called.
Characterization is what makes up a character—their motivations, emotions, background, etc. We touched on this previously in "Starting Off on the 'Write' Foot" by using the Dungeons and Dragons example to build complexity; however, you can't stop there.
Appearance is critical to characterization because it determines not only how you write them but how the reader views them. Perspective becomes key here. One of my favorite books recently has been Characters, Emotion, & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress in the "Writing Great Fiction" series. Kress defines a character's appearance in two parts: things they've chosen and things they haven't. Characters can't choose things like their hair/eye color, height, weight, parents, genetics, etc. Something they can decide is their style.
Perspective is key because of impressions—first impressions in particular. We meet the main character and see how they view the people around them, but also how they view themselves. You can tell a reader a character is shy and insecure, or you can show them how they nervously tug at their clothes, wear their hair down to hide their face, and talk negatively about their appearance. All of these things deepen characterization.
I'm sure you just caught my mention of showing vs telling. This has become a huge piece of writing advice that you'll hear people screaming from the rooftops. My belief is that each one has its own use and using just one over the other limits your writing as a whole. Show me how your characters are affected by the world around them, but tell me what that world consists of.
Both showing and telling build on descriptions, and that is where your writing needs to shine. Too often, I read novels where the characters are floating through space. Characterization is not just about the characters themselves but about the space they inhabit. Kress describes a character's environment as "like clothing, a chance to characterize twice" (29). This doesn't mean going overboard about describing the exact shade of blue for the curtains. Instead, it’s giving your readers a footing in the world you’ve created.
Another piece of advice shouted from the rooftops is to use all five senses when writing descriptions. This is true, to a certain degree. Like all things, it must be used in moderation. Your readers don't need to know how the blue curtains smell when you've already described them as being a scratchy blue material. My recommendation is to get two out of the five and you'll be good to go for most things. If you shove too many pieces into a description, it can be distracting yet not enough can be boring. It's about finding the right balance for your writing. Emphasis on your right there.
When coming up with descriptions, both for characters and their environment, consider what else they can do for the plot of the story. What clues can you put in that catch the reader's attention but don't give everything away? Perhaps Sara is missing a sock that is later seen in Camren's dorm room, alluding to a hidden relationship. Let your descriptions do the work for you and let them be meaningful. Readers rarely want pages and pages of exposition and description. Make the ones you have pack a punch.
A bit of characterization that I haven't touched on is backstory because it will be what is seen the least in your story yet is just as important. I would say at least 75% of what you come up with for the backstory of a character or setting, the readers will never know. That doesn't make it unimportant, but it does give you a lot of flexibility with what it means.
Calling back to our Dungeons and Dragons example, a background defines why a character has become an adventurer. Are they a Noble trying to reclaim their family's honor? An escaped cultist seeking to takedown their previous friends? Your limit is your imagination, both with DnD and with your story. But what should your background include?
The biggest part is the driving motivation of your characters. The starting point of your story is defined by this motivation. Readers don't want ten chapters leading to the action when three will do. Form a character's backstory around that motivation and it will drive your plot forward even if the readers never discover the full truth that led to it.
I know it can be tempting to include every single bit of your characters’ histories, but you must resist. A character or setting becomes more meaningful when we learn little tidbits over time rather than having to slog through three paragraphs about a garden or a birthmark.
So what does this all mean for your writing? How can you know when too much is too much or too little is too little? Well, the truth is that you can't. Part of what makes writing and storytelling magical is how subjective it is. A book one person loves is the same book another person hates. Write how you want to write in order to tell the story you want to tell. My goal with this is to merely guide you to strengthen your writing. Strong characterization builds complex characters with intriguing motivations within beautiful worlds.
And if you’re unsure if your story needs better characterization or description, that’s where I come in. By booking a Manuscript Evaluation or Developmental Edit with me, you get tailored feedback on your manuscript. This can be priceless when readying your novel to query agents or self-publish. Learn more about my services here!
Originally published under R.L. Martin as
”Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo?”
Originally Published Dec. 31st, 2022
Updated Aug. 24th, 2025
