Stop Writing Boring Characters. Do This Instead.
Table of Contents
When a character feels lifeless on the page, it’s usually because nothing inside them is pulling in different directions. Give your protagonist three things: a clear, tangible goal; an inner wound that undercuts that goal; and one trait that cracks the image they show the world. When those pieces collide, the story sparks to life. Use the checklist and examples below to stop writing boring characters and turn loose concepts into living, breathing people.
Why “boring” happens in the first place
Readers abandon cardboard heroes because they sense predictability. When a character’s behavior never surprises them or never costs anything, the plot feels staged. Studies of Kindle highlights show that underlined passages often involve a character revelation, not a plot twist. In other words, depth keeps pages turning.
Ready to dig deeper into your characters? My Ultimate Character Creation Guide turns these principles into step-by-step worksheets you can fill out today.
The Three-Layer Character Framework
The below framework is a great way to analyze your character in a series of three layers: an outer goal, an inner need, and a visible contradiction. I’ll also break this framework down a bit more below.
| Layer | Guiding Question | Reader Payoff |
| 1. Outer Goal | What concrete result does the character chase? | Stakes and momentum |
| 2. Inner Need | What wound or false belief blocks growth? | Emotional investment |
| 3. Visible Contradiction | How does behavior clash with self-image? | Surprise and nuance |
1. Set a tangible goal
A goal is tangible when you can photograph the moment it happens: steal the crown jewels, confess love on stage, publish the thesis. Vague aims like “find happiness” lack friction. You need some sort of goal that could literally almost be handled physically.
Try this: Write the goal as a headline first: “Woman Wins Mayoral Election Against All Odds.” Now reverse-engineer the steps and obstacles. This is how you can make the goal actually feel tangible rather than just like a concept for your story.
The Ultimate Character Creation Guide teaches you how to create internal and external goals for your characters and place them into context for your stories as well.
2. Load the internal need
Under the goal sits a need: acceptance, forgiveness, autonomy. The need must collide with the goal. A thief who secretly needs respect may sabotage her own heist by craving applause. Oftentimes, the internal conflict goes against the external goals.
Exercise: List three moments where your protagonist must choose between goal and need; pick the ugliest one and place it at the midpoint.
3. Create a contradiction
Give your hero a trait that jars against surface impressions. For example, you could have a pacifist who collects knives or an assassin who cares deeply for his children. Contradictions create curiosity and force the reader to think more about this character beyond the words on the page.
This is something that can really add a ton of depth and make your character feel much more memorable, which is something I discuss in this other blog post.
Case study: Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows)
- Outer goal: Pull off a major heist.
- Inner need: Heal from childhood trauma and trust others.
- Contradiction: Calm strategist who carries deep rage.
Bardugo intertwines these strands tightly and allows for each plot to show something new about Kaz. You should definitely steal this structure for your own characters. If you want to create a collection of characters, you can pair my Ultimate Character Guide with my Character Worksheet Canva Template and create a whole binder where you develop and store all your characters. You can do this digitally or you can print out the worksheets and guide.
The Five-Question Depth Checklist
- If the character fails, what tangible loss occurs?
- Which belief keeps them from connecting with others?
- Where do they lie to themselves and why?
- What symbol can echo their contradiction?
- How does every supporting character either tempt or test them?
You can enhance this checklist by pairing it with a copy of my free character backstory cheat sheet which you can get by signing up for my email list if you haven’t already:
Advanced tactics for characters
Use the environment as a mirror
Try to create a scene where the setting amplifies your character’s inner wound. This can be something that reinforces or contradicts your character’s internal conflicts. Readers recognise strong setting-character interplay and often highlight these passages because of how symbolically powerful they are.
Break expectations with dialogue
Another advanced technique you can try is to flip the reader’s assumptions and break expectations through dialogue. People can have differences in their personality and people may not always stick to a consistent script in personality either.
Frequently asked questions
A single flaw is not enough unless it blocks the goal. Tie flaws directly to plot pressure and show the consequences on the page.
One strong, story-relevant contradiction is better than several random quirks. If it does not shape your character’s decisions actively in the story, cut it.
Yes they can, but scale the detail appropriately. You don’t need to develop side characters as much because you don’t want them stealing focus from the main characters.
Conclusion
Your characters deserve to have a figurative beating heart that helps to propel your entire plot. The Ultimate Character Creation Guide includes everything you need to know about designing characters across over 150 pages of instructional content, prompting questions, worksheet pages and more. Purchase a copy today and start transforming your concepts into full-fledged characters.