I'm having trouble making my characters seem "real" without putting too much detail into the story. The story can be located under Short Story - Crime and Thriller - My Fear I need some suggestions please!
usually a little physical detail is needed (describe body shape, hair color, etc.) but only briefly. but to develop your characters more you'll need to describe their personality and characteristics through dialog (to show that a character is mean use harsh words in their dialog). also by adding some filling (like a day at the mall or something) to the story to show their character.
When I make a character, I make a character bio. It goes like this: NAMEHopefully you don't need help with this..) EYE COLORAny color, some people go with like white) HEIGHT: (Tall, short, medium) PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONWrite what the look like in your mind, do they have long brown curly locks? Straight rough hair? A scar? anything that makes them stand out just because their body? PERSONALITYMellow, or like cheery or something that describes them. But it in a sentence or just a few words.) ABILITIES: (Can be anything that they are good at, reading, swimming, dancing, or even super powers.) HISTORY: ( Write a little back story about them) Normally, this allows me to see what I'm actually looking at, and I can change things about my character.
Think about how you get to know real people. When you meet someone, you know next to nothing about him or her. You get to know people by their actions, and to a lesser extent, from what they say. You may notice their physical appearance, but usually not in photographic detail - more often a few details that stand out and not much more. You don't know if they will be a good friend, or a thorn in your side, or someone you just don't care to spend a lot of time with. Mostly, they are a bunch of question marks with a bunch of ambiguous clues developing over time. You might find, for instance, that a story someone told you about an incident a while ago is different from what a close friend of yours said the person told them. That might be a first hint that the new person is a liar. On the other hand, it could be your old friend who is bending the truth, or one of you has misinterpreted what the new person tod one of you. The uncertainties in what you know about someone may be what makes them the most fascinating.
As an example: Main Character Name -- *Alyssa Eye Color -- green Height -- 5'4'' Physical Description -- thin, well-liked, athletic, tom-boy, 17 Personality -- always cheerful on the outside Abilities -- sports, outdoor adventures, musician History -- adopted at birth, lived with adoptive grandmother for 6 years, moved in with adoptive aunt for 3 years, moved in with adoptive parents (they both had jobs with long hours, hence staying with relatives) Would this be a good character?
