Tips on How to Improve Character Description of the Protagonist in Your First Fiction Novel

Writing your first fiction novel means learning, for the first time, how to get acquainted with characters whom you've never met. You give birth to them, you can envision them, you understand what their daily lives might entail, but are you giving your reader a clear view of what you intend to portray? As you write your second and third novels you'll be able to sketch a character with ease, knowing what aspects of his/her personality will become important throughout the work. You'll understand how each character must come together to define the next. However, understanding how to properly display your protagonist will influence how every other character is developed, meaning that you'll wish to acquire this necessary skill first and foremost. To save yourself a bit of time and trouble, consider the following tips on how to improve character description of the protagonist in your first fiction novel for a head start.

Tip #1: Give your protagonist a life, and keep some of it to yourself. In other words, life probably didn't begin for this character at the beginning of your story. While it's not necessary to divulge all of the details in your actual novel, at least have a clear view in your mind of where this person is coming from and what influences their current behavior.

Tip #2: List characteristics first, then put them into motion. In other words, you won't want to list in the novel that your protagonist is funny, emotional, and outgoing. Instead, you'll want those characteristics to shine through on their own. List your character's traits, then keep them in mind and not literally on the page.

Tip #3: List feelings and emotions for each scene, and then replace them with mannerisms. For each scene you write, your fiction novel's protagonist should be physically reacting as well as verbally reacting. Rather than telling the reader that the heroine is nervous, indicate her uneasiness with the tapping of fingernails or through her pacing across the room. Let body language do some of the talking in every chapter.

Tip #4: Avoid listing details about his/her physical appearance if possible. Instead of telling the reader that your hero is tall and thin with brown hair and green eyes, add these details selectively throughout the introduction. In other words, instead of saying "James was tall and thin with brown hair and green eyes," you might say "James' thin frame towered over her, his chestnut bangs sweeping down over intense green eyes." You can be much more descriptive than that, of course, but the distinction is clear. Let the scene itself give the details about physical attributes when you can.

Tip #5: Allow your secondary characters to clash a bit with your protagonist for the sake of making distinctions. As a first time fiction novelist, you may feel burdened by the task of attempting to paint a colorful picture of your protagonist without listing details. Instead of giving a wordy and unnecessary description, create secondary characters whose own personalities will create a contrast with the protagonist, making his/her less obvious traits more noticeable.

Tip #6: Let dialogue do the talking. A common mistake among first time fiction novelists, and even of more experienced writers, is creating several characters whose dialogue is indistinguishable from each other's. If your reader should open up to a random page of your novel, would he/she be able to tell what character was speaking without having to be told? While it may be impossible to completely distinguish speaking tones between each and every minor character, a fiction protagonist absolutely must have their own voice.

With these tips in mind, you should be well on your way to creating a protagonist for your first fiction novel that is full of depth and personality. Remember, the novel reader has more time than the short story reader to understand a character. Take your time, and let the scenery, dialogue, and secondary characters lend a helping hand in your character description.