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.
