I’ve always heard badly written characters can bring down a good story, but well-written characters can save a mediocre story.
A few things I’ve learned over the years about writing characters: give each one distinct physical characteristic so the reader can picture them in his mind; give each character an inner goal, such as finding love or finding happiness; give each character an outer goal, such as getting the bad guy or getting the job done; give each character an arc where he or she changes somehow from the beginning to the end of the story.
That’s just the start.
Below are some articles on writing characters in your fiction.
- Sneak Peek at Story Drills: Character Arcs
- Writing Tips: How Character Flaws Shape Story With Will Storr
- Character Development: Create Characters That Readers Love
- Premise Determines How Many Characters You Should Have in Your Novel
- What’s Their Story? Discovering the Front Story of Your Non-Point of View Characters
Photo by Helena Lopes from Pexels
Andrew M. Friday 
Man this is one of my biggest weaknesses (apart from every other thing related to novel writing). Now that I’m done with my manuscript, I’m feeling that my characters are super one dimensional. This little paragraph you shared helped me be more privy to character building. Thanks for sharing!
I hope it helps. We’re all in this together!