Heroes

You've probably all heard this one before.  Make different heroes.

Seriously though, make different types of heroes.

Make a hero who failed once and spends the rest of the story trying to make up for that failure.  Make a hero who doesn't realize that she's a hero until she does something heroic.  Make a hero who thinks she's a hero and realizes that she needs help.  Make a hero who wants to be a hero, but doesn't know how to become one.

Explore the idea of a bad guy who's the hero of they're story.  Or just a poor kid who wants something, but it seems like the whole universe is out to stop him from getting it.  Make book-smart heroes, make street-smart heroes. Make noble heroes who overcome their flaws.  Make silly heroes and sarcastic heroes.  Make headstrong heroes, or heroes that seem really quiet but have got it where it counts.  What about a hero who starts out as a villain and realizes the error of their ways?

Sure, you've probably seen most of these heroes before, I just flattened basic tropes and wrote them all out.  But it boils down to making interesting people, not just heroes.  Make the hero of your story someone that your readers can relate to, or perhaps strive to be.  Or someone you strive to be.

Also, don't just make your protagonist interesting, make his friends interesting too.  What's his sister like? What's his dad like? What's his friend like? Say your protagonist doesn't make some smart choices at the beginning of the story... who tells her off? Her boyfriend? Her best friend? Her enemy? Think about making more than just your protagonist well-rounded.  I'm not saying to make every single character well-rounded, that could be hard if you have a lot of characters that you're dealing with (say, in a high school or something--you're not actually going to figure out what all 400 people of the graduating class are like...) but make the memorable characters...memorable! Make your villains more well-rounded too.  It makes them interesting.  They may think they're heroes, too.

Living Your Characters

Sometimes, I'm glad that all my roommates are a little odd.  Because I do weird stuff to get into the moment for a scene.  Like, if you think I did some weird stuff to plot out a sequence, I do even weirder stuff to get into character.

Because, for me, I don't just control the characters I am writing.  I am not some giant puppetmaster or whatever telling the characters where to go and how to get there.  I mean, sure, I have SOME level of stuff plotted out.  "You two are going to go here and have a confrontation with this character, no ifs ands or buts!"  But then I become the character(s) and live the scene myself.

Sure, I do the usual stuff like changing the music to fit the mood, or reading or watching everything I possibly can to get the knowledge and the background for whatever it is I'm going to do.  But then I do it.

I'm sure I look like a psycho.

But the results are very believable characters.  I have cried with my characters, sat in shock with my characters, been angry with my characters, been in love just like my characters, been resentful with my characters... the works.  Yes, it works a lot better when I've had the emotions that they've been going through so I can draw from that and re-channel it.  But even if I haven't had the exact same experience (it's hard with fantasy, sometimes) I find the next best thing.

I don't forget things like emotions.  I file them away so I can use them later.

And I can only be glad that none of my roommates think I'm crazy...er than most.