Some characters stay with us long after the book closes. They breathe. They ache. They remind us of someone we love \u2013 or someone we used to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is also the fact that you don\u2019t want to get married,\u201d I finish simply. \u201cWe are just too different. In the end, emotions, chemistry and sharing great banter just is not going to be enough to keep us together. Let me release you so you can find a nice uncomplicated woman who isn\u2019t as goofy as me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSuppose I just want goofy,\u201d he says simply.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 The Marriage Monitoring Aunties Association (One More Chapter Books)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sade and Jimi<\/strong> are the main characters in my latest romcom, where I show them loving, yearning, hurting and disappointing each other and walking away. Yes, they get back together in the end \u2013 but not without a big build-up of emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there are characters who feel like cardboard cut-outs: technically correct, but emotionally hollow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference isn\u2019t the author\u2019s talent. It\u2019s emotional architecture<\/strong> \u2013 the inner scaffolding that makes a character feel real, layered, and alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the part most writers skip. Not because they don\u2019t care, but because they don\u2019t know how to build it into their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every unforgettable character carries a wound \u2013 an old story they\u2019ve been telling themselves about who they are and what they deserve. This wound shapes their choices, fears, and relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you understand the wound, the plot stops feeling forced. Your character\u2019s decisions make emotional sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once youembed some behaviour\/habit\/intuition in another character that unlocks or perpetuates your protagonist\u2019s wound, everything else flows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Real people are messy. We say one thing and do another. We want love but fear vulnerability. We seldom say what is on our minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are silent when someone says something that troubles us or makes us reflective. Sometimes we pause so that someone else knows we are irritated with them. We crave success but sabotage ourselves. We want peace but create chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Characters who resonate with readers are those capable of holding two truths at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They might be\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contradiction is human \u2013 and we need to see conflict within, as well as between characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A character\u2019s desire is the engine of your story. Not the external goal (\u201cget the job\u201d), but the emotional one (\u201cprove I\u2019m worthy\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n When readers understand what your character really<\/em> wants, they root for them \u2013 even when they make mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why romance and romcoms hit so hard: the emotional desire is always front and centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A character arc isn\u2019t about change for the sake of change. It\u2019s about the moment they realise:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf I keep living like this, I will lose something I can\u2019t bear to lose.\u201d Maybe that\u2019s the male or female character in a novel \u2013 or even their sense of self-worth or self-respect.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s when the story deepens. That\u2019s when readers lean in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Readers don\u2019t fall in love with characters because of grand speeches. They fall in love because of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Specificity illuminates intimacy. Think of the rom coms or films that you remember today and what it was about the characters that still endears you, or energises you, years later. Use this to add intentionality to your characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That will keep readers with them on their journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Want more from Ola? She\u2019s now available for one-to-one mentoring through Jericho Writers. Ola brings both warmth and experience to her mentoring, with a genuine desire to support aspiring authors to write the books that they\u2019ve dreamed of.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some characters stay with us long after the book closes. They breathe. They ache. They remind us of someone we love \u2013 or someone we used to be. \u201cThere is also the fact that you don\u2019t want to get married,\u201d I finish simply. \u201cWe are just too different. In the end, emotions, chemistry and sharing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38188,"featured_media":969744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-969742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n1. Start with the wound, not the want<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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2. Give them a contradiction<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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3. Let their desire drive the plot<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
4. Show the cost of staying the same<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
5. Build emotional resonance through small, specific details<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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