Developing an interesting character who seems believable and real can be a challenge for fiction writers. Part of good character development is consistency. An excellent plot with inconsistent characters can greatly diminish the reader’s experience. Exploring the character before writing the story can prevent a deviation from a character’s nature and background.  Write as detailed a character description as possible in advance. Even if some of the details of the character’s background don’t particularly affect the storyline, the background facts influence how he or she speaks or makes decisions or reacts to situations. Knowing a character thoroughly in advance makes the story easier to write and the character more engaging and believable. 

The way a character speaks should be consistent with his or her background. Have you ever read a story and had the reaction of “this character wouldn’t use that word or phrase” or perhaps “she wouldn’t tend to use vulgar language in front of her children”?  Inconsistency interrupts the flow of the narrative. A well-educated person, perhaps a lawyer or doctor, would usually use proper grammar. Would a construction worker say that he “disrobed” before going to bed and that he got up from bed to “go to the restroom”? These are two examples of poor character agreement that I have recently seen in books I have reviewed. Sometimes a single word can distract the reader and make the character less believable. Decide in advance if the character is from the South or West, whether he went to college, had a traumatic early childhood or rough upbringing. Think of as many details as possible and then make his dialog agree with that background.   

Have you ever found it hard to believe that a character would react or act a certain way? In another book I recently read, a very gentle and sedate woman reacted violently to a simple misunderstanding. The woman did not act that way anywhere else in the book and no explanation was ever given for the aberration. A person acting “out of character” should advance the plot in some way, foreshadow a change, plant a seed of doubt about the character’s true nature. Otherwise, the departure for the character just interferes with the storyline. Another aspect of agreement concerns children acting their age. One author I reviewed described an average nine-year-old boy pushing around a toy lawnmower, pretending to help Dad cut the lawn. Toy lawnmowers are for toddlers. If you plan to write about a nine-year-old boy but don’t know any, get to know one or get editing help from someone who does. Assume readers do know a nine-year-old boy and that inconsistencies in his behavior would bother them. What types of things do your characters know or not know?    I read a book in which a mother spoon-fed a one-month-old and then put her to bed with a bottle. Anyone who has been a parent knows a baby that age would not be able to manage either. This was the mother’s second child, so I cringed at the inaccuracy.

Decide in advance what people in your story would say, how they would act and what they would know. You can start by designing a character after someone you know or a combination of more than one person, just changing enough to fit the story. Write out the details in advance to ensure constancy in your characters. To be believable, a fictional being must act and speak in a consistent manner.