10 things NOT to do when building characters

I'm obsessing over characters these days. Like, what can I do to make mine more likable? What can I do to make them leap off the page? What can I do to make them memorable? So I dug up some answers. This time, the tips are from Noah Lukeman, author of THE FIRST FIVE PAGES. Don't have it yet? It's amazing. Here are ten things Lukeman says we should avoid when building characters:

1. "Switching between first and last names." If we're going to call our main character Ryan, we should stick with that. Not Ryan in paragraph one, Mr. Reynolds in another, and Hunky Beefcake in another.
2. "The use of stock, cliche, or overly exotic names." John and Mary might be boring names (my husband John objects!), but we also want to avoid names that are so original that they're hard to read and distract from the story.
3. "Launching into the story without stopping to establish any of the characters." Readers want to meet our main character and care about him before Hunky Beefcake rescues the aging author from the train tracks (ahem).
4. "The presence of stock or cliche characters and/or character traits." The dumb bodybuilder, the smart nerd, etc. We can do better than that, can't we?
5. "The introduction of too many characters at once." If there are too many hunky beefcakes thrown in at the beginning, how will the reader know which one to follow? Add those beefcakes in slowly.
6. "Confusion over who the protagonist is." Whose story is it? Readers should know up front who they're investing their time in. (Hint: the hunky beefcake rescuing the writer)
7. "The presence of extraneous characters." Does the guy cleaning the bathrooms at the train station matter to the story? If not, don't add him and definitely don't give him a name.
8. "Generic character description." We want our characters to stand out, right? So let's give that aging writer who's tied to the train tracks a unique description. Maybe she wears 20's clothing, has a mole above her lip--Cindy Crawford style, and golden curls--Taylor Swift style (yes? yes.)
9. "Characters we don't care about." Why should we care about the hunky beefcake who tries to save the aging writer? Maybe his dad said he was a loser and wasn't worth anything. Now we hope he saves the writer because hey, we want him to prove his dad wrong.
10. "The unsympathetic protagonist." Even if he's a bad guy, he should be likable. Hunky Beefcake might be cocky, but he's willing to rumple his pristine clothes to save the writer. He can't be all bad, right?

Have I made these mistakes? Um, yes, which is why I'm reading up on the subject. How about you?

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