How to Make the Characters You Write Credible and Believable

by Zena Dell Lowe @ZenaDellLowe

Believability—credibility—is one of the foundational principles of all good storytelling. The acid test of any successful story is, does it work? By “work,” I mean, does your audience buy it? Do they accept the situation and characters you’ve created as real? Do they believe what’s happening? And since the finest writing arcs or changes the inner nature of the character over the course of the telling, does your audience believe that your character is changing in a believable way?

Simply put, your audience needs to believe it. They need to be convinced that you are giving them an accurate depiction of who your character is, what they are like, and what they must accomplish over the course of the telling. Here are a few key tips to help writers enhance the credibility and believability of characters.

Number 1: Slow down. Don’t rush. Take your time.

One of the main areas to focus on is revealing true character over and against characterization. Characterization is the list of qualities that I could come up with about a person simply by watching, researching, and taking notes. These are your character's physically observable attributes. True character, on the other hand, is revealed by the choices a character makes under pressure. 

One of the major ways writers undermine their own credibility is simply when they try to rush character development. You must take the time to reveal who your character is on the inside. What do they want? What do they need? Who are they really? You must take the time to show us who your character is, what qualities they possess, who their most important relationships are with, and more. These things are essential for us to emotionally invest in their journey. 

In addition to this, make sure the characterizations you give your characters make sense in terms of what your character must accomplish. Your character has a goal, an objective to pursue. You must give your character the necessary qualities to convincingly act out the pursuit of that objective. Your character must be old enough or young enough, or worldly or naive enough, all in the right proportions. You must give them the characterizations that make us believe that they would or could accomplish whatever it is they’re supposed to accomplish over the course of the telling.

Number 2: If you want the audience to buy something, justify it.

In certain stories, especially where believability is stretched, it's crucial to justify the actions or abilities of characters. For example, if a seventy-year-old man is performing physical feats like Sean Connery’s character does in the “Entrapment,” the audience needs to see plausible evidence of his abilities. At one point in the film, Sean Connery attempts to escape by walking across a tightrope strung between two tall buildings, slips and dangles one-handed from the wire, and then somehow manages to hoist himself upright again, using that stellar seventy-year-old upper body strength that we’ve all heard so much about. Most people couldn't pull this off even in their prime, let alone at age seventy. If you want your audience to suspend disbelief, you need to give them a reason to do so. Show Sean Connery working out. Show his strength and agility as he practices his skills. We must be able to buy that a character could or would do whatever they end up doing, which means they need to possess the right characteristics in the first place. 

But be careful, because even if you take the time justify something, it will still ring false to the audience if you’re basing your justification on a false perspective of humanity. 

Number 3: Ensure behavior aligns with human nature.

When it comes to credibility, a common pitfall in storytelling is when characters' actions or transformations feel inconsistent with human behavior or previously established traits. For instance, the rushed transformation of Daenerys in "Game of Thrones" left audiences bewildered because it didn't align with her established character arc. From the beginning, Daenerys had been set-up to be the savior of the kingdom and the true heir to the throne, even though her father had gone mad and had therefore been assassinated. Still, Daenerys had never exhibited any of those characteristics – until the final season of the series. Suddenly, she attacks the Citadel on her dragon, and instead of stopping when she's supposed to, she goes nuts and starts burning the whole town. It's crazy because it’s completely out of the blue. We don't believe it. We don't buy it. They rushed her transformation. It's essential to take the time to develop and justify character behavior in a way that resonates with human nature and psychology.

Another example of this is Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into Darth Vader in "Star Wars." In episodes four, five, and six, we learn that Anakin was “seduced” by the dark side, seduced by Darth Vader, a cautionary tale for Luke to heed. However, in episodes one, two, and three, George Lucas tries to justify Anakin’s fall to the dark side by attempting to rationalize it through his desire to save his wife. This undermines the mythology we already know about Darth Vader as well as the complexity of human nature and the allure of the dark side. The fact is sin is incredibly alluring. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be tempted to engage in it. It was sufficient and necessary for Anakin to be seduced by the power of the dark side for its own sake. By not fully exploring the seductive power of the Dark Side, the transformation feels forced and lacks believability. To write well, we must have a true understanding of human nature.

Number 4: Approach your story with a true worldview.

If your worldview happens to be false, then you're going to miss the gold. Do you have a true view of reality? Are you in touch with your own sin nature? Do you understand what a character would or could do given a particular situation? Approaching your story with a true worldview gives you a significant advantage in credibility.

Conclusion:

Crafting believable characters involves authentically developing their traits, justifying their actions, and ensuring their behavior resonates with human nature. By doing so, writers can create stories that captivate and emotionally engage audiences.

Interested in learning more? Subscribe to my weekly podcast on YouTube, The Storyteller’s Mission with Zena Dell Lowe:https://www.youtube.com/@thestorytellersmission8256/videos. Or find me on the podcast app of your choice. Be sure to leave a review!

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Zena has worked professionally in the entertainment industry for over 20 years as a writer, producer, director, actress, and story consultant. Zena also teaches advanced classes on writing all over the country. As a writer, Zena has won numerous awards for her work. She also has several feature film projects in development through her independent production company, Mission Ranch Films. In addition to her work as a filmmaker, Zena launched The Storyteller’s Mission with Zena Dell Lowe, a podcast designed to serve the whole artist, not just focus on craft. In 2021, Zena launched The Storyteller’s Mission Online Platform, where she offers advanced classes and other key services to writers. Zena loves story and loves to support storytellers. Her passion is to equip artists of all levels to achieve excellence at their craft, so that they will truly have everything they need to change the world for the better through story.

To find out more about Zena or her current courses and projects, check out her websites at WWW.MISSIONRANCHFILMS.COM and WWW.THESTORYTELLERSMISSION.COM