The key to making compelling romance characters is the same with every genre of fictional narrative: you need to know your characters inside out. Of course, so much of what you find out about them (especially the secondary characters) won’t make it into the story, and your readers will never know them. But the wealth of information you gather is what makes them look real to both you and your readers. And without it, your characters won’t be anything close to compelling. In this article, we will discuss some strategies for making your romance characters real in your own mind, so they can also appear real to your readers. 

Let an actual picture that looks like your characters inspire you. You can use movie-star photos or model photos pulled from pages of catalogs or magazines. Have a collection of these pictures of people who look like your characters. Hang them up on a visual board in your workspace. And try to visualize them and keep the details in your mind as you craft the physical appearance of your characters. This is very helpful in describing the physical appearance of your hero and heroine. But you can also use this technique in describing your secondary characters.

Recognize your characters’ voices. It helps to hear your characters in your head and understand how they sound different from others as you write the dialogue. Their voices may be a specific actor’s or singer’s voice. You can listen to them by playing a movie or CD, noting the peculiarities in their voice before you begin to write. 

Make use of a character board. You can use stick-on notes on the wall, keep a list on your computer, or index cards on a corkboard to record everything every character tells you, which you need to know about them when you are writing. You need to note every detail of their appearance, career, romantic history, favorite color, music, TV shows, movies, family, and educational backgrounds. How they dress, whether they like animals, are vegetarians, stay up late, get up early, or sleep away the weekend, and so on. Be aware of all the shades of your characters’ lives and personalities, just as you are aware of yours. 

Do some role-playing exercises for your characters. This technique can be helpful, especially when you are developing your hero and heroine. You need to put them in all kinds of situations to know how they respond. This way, their actions can appear natural and believable when you finally write them down in your story. So, before you begin the writing process, give some thought to role-playing. Imagine various situations your characters may encounter together or as individuals. Then, based on everything you know about them, imagine what their logical actions and responses will be. These scenarios can be everyday situations — getting stuck in traffic on the way to an important business meeting — or extreme possibilities, like witnessing a mass shooting on the way home from work. Writing your story becomes easier when you know how your characters respond in different situations. And as you put them in each new plot twist, their reactions are second nature to you.