5 Signs Your Character’s Personality Is Dead

First, great job noticing this. Second, there are tons of ways to fix this issue, but knowing the signs your character has no personality is an awesome place to start. So, here are five symptoms and possible ways to fix them:

1. Your Character Observes Their World but Doesn’t React to It

In real life, shit bothers us. Whether it’s that fly that will not die or that trauma with the birthday candles when we were six. Stuff sticks with us, shaping who we have become and who we will become. The same must be true of your characters.

When your character has a pet rock for a personality, you’ll notice they don’t react to anything. They’ll go through the entire story encased in a bubble of unfeeling, telling your readers what’s happening to them. And your readers won’t give one crap because they have no idea what the character thinks, feels, or cares about.

Cat runs away. Nothing.

Grandpa dies right in front of them. Zilch.

They lose everything. Not one tear.

This is bad. If your character doesn’t care, then your readers won’t care.

But what exactly is going on here?

In many stories, this happens because the writer is focusing too much on the plot. When the writer’s main intention is to hit every plot point, the character is just a means to get to the next point. Who cares about their feelings, pains, desires. The plot must move forward.

But if you don’t pull your readers in emotionally, many will push your book out of their read pile. Foreva.

Another issue that may turn your readers away is poor grammar, which can be easily remedied.

How to fix this

• Show your characters reacting to events, people, and past issues. This may be an internal reaction no other characters see, but that doesn’t matter because your readers will know. There are tons of ways to show your character’s reactions, such as using inanimate objects to represent their emotions, peppering their setting with triggering events or landscapes to get to their emotions, and giving them slow moments to reflect.
• Vary the character’s reaction. Some events need big reactions, but most don’t. Not every scene needs a long, drawn-out reaction — whether internally or externally — but show the character is alive in there. Show they are in their world, giving a damn, not just witnessing it.
• Let your characters be vulnerable. Don’t shy away from forcing your characters to suffer. To feel that pain deep in their core or to stop and appreciate something good. They’re approximations of people, and their vulnerability is one of the best methods to turn bland into bam.

For example, if your character is in love, show them thinking about the person, daydreaming about them, nightdreaming about them, writing their name in a notebook, carving their name in a tree (or their own arm if you’re writing a dystopian), etc.

Show their nervousness, which may look like rehearsing their words, obsessing over their clothes, or pining (ahem, stalking) from a distance.

And if it doesn’t turn out well, wallow in their pain. Immerse your readers in their hell for a while — because rejection hurts. A lot. We’ve all been denied something we wanted. Tap into that pain.

Tip: Avoid mentioning their love for the person once in the novel, then declaring these characters are in love at the end. Your readers aren’t going to believe that for one second. When you’re into someone or want something, that want dominates the heck out of you. Your thoughts, your emotions, your time.

In real life, people are made of their reactions — whether good or bad. People reflect, introspect, obsess, blow up, implode, and so much more.

2. Your Character’s Backstory Doesn’t Impact Who They Are Now

It doesn’t matter if the event in their past was large or small. The trauma of an event — and its scars — depends on how it was perceived by the person. But if your character seems to have been born at their current age, they may come off as having no personality. Or, more specifically, they have no depth to their personality because they’re free from those dripping cracks we regular folx can’t mend no matter how hard we try.

And we try.

So, unless they have a memory that lasts five minutes, there will be imprints of their past on them — good and bad.

How to fix this

Let their past seep into their present and future. Show them fighting against harmful messages holding them back from living the life they want.

If they had an overbearing father, they may struggle to maintain boundaries and assert themselves. If they had a distant mother, they may crave close connections, jump into relationships faster than fleas on a dog, and not heed red flags.

Gently show their cracks. Let these cracks leak and deepen your character’s personality.

3. You Can Pluck Your Character From the Novel — And No One Will Notice

Or care. When your character lacks a personality, you won’t have to worry about kidnapping charges. Any other character can replace the one you whisked away in the dark of night.

Leave an impression. Make an impact. This definitely needs to be true of your main character. If any character can be put in their place, they’re lacking distinctive qualities, pain points, and most likely, a personality.

But what exactly is going on here?

Creating an assembly line character often comes from a lack of insight into them. When writers don’t go deep enough into the psyche of their character, it can be hard to personalize them. Sometimes this shallow dive comes from a fear of putting yourself out there, writing honestly, and being vulnerable.

Books are super personal, and it can be terrifying to put too much of yourself into a character who will be judged.

How to fix this

Remember your character isn’t you. They don’t even exist.

Your job is to convince your readers to care, to believe they’re real. Connect with those deep, painful feelings, and figure out how your character’s pain is uniquely theirs. And do the same with their joy. When these elements are specifically tied to your character, they are indispensable and can’t be swapped out for Random Joe who lives on 5th.

4. Your Side Characters Have Taken Over the Story

When you notice you’re more excited to see your side characters than your main character, a lack of a personality may be to blame. Your main character is boring. Even you know it.

And if you’re bored with your character, your readers will experience a short torture that they’ll end soon.

But what exactly does this mean?

Sometimes, an exciting side character means you know them better than your main character, resonate with them more, or just enjoy them more. Other times, it could mean you’ve chosen the wrong main character.

How to fix this

Going back and cracking your characters open will give you a better idea of who the main character should be.

And if you find you’ve chosen the correct main character, think about why you’re hesitating to flesh them out.

Think about what you’re trying to not reveal — about yourself, your beliefs, or your prejudices.

What are you hiding that needs to be explored in your novel?

Put your side character back in their place, and they might stop grumbling about being underpaid.

5. Your Character Was Written To Give a Political Message

Many characters that exist just to prove something to the real world lack personalities.

This happens often, especially with female characters. The writer will be so focused on making them strong and independent they’ll leave out their personality. While the character will be the ultimate badass heroine, much of their vulnerability won’t be on the page.

An example of this, in my opinion, is Tris from Divergent. Tris had little to no personality after transferring to Dauntless. Her sole focus was to prove she was strong, independent, capable, and morally better than anyone else — to the detriment of her honest reactions to the world. Events happened, and Tris moved to the next plot point.

She was written to deliver a message rather than be a full character. With an agenda attached to her, she couldn’t be a compelling character.

How to fix this

Write your character as a puzzle that doesn’t show just one scene, but has bits and pieces of different worlds. While they can definitely communicate some of your political leanings, try not to write them as the sole representative. Let the setting, other characters, and themes help get your message across.

Spread out the responsibility.

If your character exists only to tell the real world what you believe in, there won’t be room left to give them a personality. There’s only so much space on the soapbox they live on.

Final Thoughts

Unlike real people, a character can have no personality. This is awful for your book because readers hate a boring, feel-nothing character. Here’s some ways to remedy this lack of personality:

• Make sure your character reacts to events, people, and traumas. These reactions can be internal or external.
• Keep their backstory in mind. Plan out how it will be embedded into their personality — and how it will cause them problems that need to be dealt with.
• Give them specific pains, joys, and traumas. That way, they can’t be swapped for Random Joe.
• Determine who your main character is and why. If your side characters are the highlight of your writing sessions, something’s wrong.
• Spread the responsibility of any political messages between characters, settings, and themes. Most characters who shoulder all this weight have super flat personalities.

Your characters are the heart of your stories. Give them compelling personalities.