I recently guest posted over at DIY MFA about what makes characters truly compelling. As writers, we want to create complex and engaging characters that our readers will love, hate, and connect with.
Today we’re looking at lists of characters from books that stand out as great among the millions of stories out there. Hopefully these character lists will inspire us to think about what kinds of traits resonate with readers and how we can use this info to improve our own writing.
Plus lists are just fun. 😉
Take these lists with a grain of salt- there will never be agreement from everyone on this topic and that’s okay. (Nowhere on the lists did I see Gen from Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief, so clearly there are shortcomings.)
But it should get us thinking about what makes characters great, and maybe we’ll even find a few books to add to our reading list. 🙂
Character Lists
Your 20 Most-Loved Literary Characters – Book Riot
Make sure to check out the Venn diagram at the end showing how favorite books line up with readers’ favorite characters!
The 10 Most Timeless Characters from Books, Ranked – Bustle
Notice the description is “timeless” rather than favorite here. These characters show up again and again in various forms and they aren’t going away anytime soon.
40 of the Best Villains in Literature – Literary Hub
What makes a villain great? Strong stories need strong villains which makes this a great topic to think about further.
Eight Writers on Their Favorite Female Characters in Literature – Bookish
Super interesting to see what characters have been influential to other writers.
What characters surprised you on these lists? What amazing characters were overlooked? Share below in the comments!
