How Do You End a Story?
January 19, 2026
How Do You Write Emotional Scenes?
January 20, 2026How Do You End a Story?
January 19, 2026How Do You Write Emotional Scenes?
January 20, 2026
What Makes a Character Relatable?
Have you ever read a novel and thought “This character feels real,” but you are not quite sure why? Readers emotionally connect with the story through the characters within the story and such characters are called relatable characters. This is where many beginning writers struggle to write characters. They create characters who have back stories, but their characters remain flat. So, what exactly makes a character relatable in story writing?
A relatable character is a character that the readers can understand on an emotional level, even if their lives are different. Readers relate to characters who are emotional, possess strong wants, believable flaws and reactions. In simple words, a character has a relatable quality when he/she feels like a real person with real problems.
How to create your Character to Make her Relatable
If you want to make your character more relatable to readers, here is a simple step by step way to do that. Before that, keep this in mind, Start small. You don’t need to have a huge character backstory, what you really need is clarity.
Give your character a certain desire
A character is made powerful when he or she has a clear want. It could be love, safety, respect and freedom, success, forgiveness. The goal doesn’t have to be dramatic, it simply needs to mean something deeply to your character.
Along with desire, show what’s at stake. What will they lose if they fail? The higher the emotional stakes the stronger the reader’s connection.
If readers know what the character wants, they start to care.
For example, a young woman who is trying to save her family’s bookstore can easily relatable to a hero who is trying to save the world, because the emotional need for the goal is human.
Add a real fear or weakness
Readers identify with characters who do not have everything under control. For example,
- Brave in public and afraid of rejection
- Gifted but lazy
- Kind but too trusting
Flaws are what make the characters feel real. Weakness causes tension and allows the character room to develop. If your character is right all the time, always strong and never confused, although your readers might admire them, they won’t be able to relate to them.
Use specific emotions and not vague emotions
Don’t just say your character is sad or angry or nervous. Instead, show how that emotion is impacting them in the moment,
- Do they avoid eye contact?
- Speak too fast?
- Replay a memory in their head?
- Pretend they are fine?
These particular reactions cause emotions to feel alive. Physical reactions like a tight throat, shaky hands or avoiding eye contact make emotions feel grounded and real.
Instead of writing, “He was nervous” you could write, “He kept checking his phone, even though he knew there wasn’t going to be any new message.”
The way your character speaks affects their relatability, for example, Natural dialogue with slight imperfections is more relatable than dialogue perfectly in polished lines. This small detail makes it feel real and these moments build up to being relatable.
Let them make mistakes
Many beginning writers strive to make their main character perfect or way too unique, which is understandable. But often readers relate more to a character’s mistakes. Through error or mistake, a character’s personality is revealed and he or she creates believable conflict.
A likable character might say the wrong thing, trust the wrong person or not make a difficult decision. These moments make your reader think, “I understand why they did that.”
Give their own reason for their actions
Characters become flat when they there only to advance the story. Instead make sure their choices are from who they are, their past, their beliefs, their fears, their values, their desires.
For example, if a character doesn’t want help ask why. Is it pride? Shame? Fear of dependence? A past betrayal?
In the case of actions that have emotional reasons, the character feels real.
Keep behaviour balanced to who they are. Even if they change, such change should feel earned. Actions that come out of nowhere, make no sense and can destroy the reader’s trust.
Include everyday human moments
Not every moment needs to be dramatic to have a character that is relatable. It’s often little things that happen every day that make the strongest connection. A character saving old voice messages, masking disappointment with a joke or being awkward at a family dinner, these are the moments that seem real.
Let the character grow
Relatable characters don’t emotionally freeze in their place. They learn something, they face something, they admit to something, they change the way they see themselves. The growth can be big or small. Your character’s growth is what makes the readers feel that the journey was meaningful. Even if they don’t have complete success, emotional movement is what makes them feel alive.
How to Make a Character Relatable
If you want to know the best way to make or create your character relatable to your readers, here is a step-by-step approach. Before that, keep this in mind: always start small, and you do not need a huge character life, as I say, what is needed is clarity.
Give your character a specific desire
A character is powerful if there is a want for that character and it makes the character relatable. It could be love, safety, respect, freedom, success or forgiveness. It’s not that the goal must be dramatic but it simply needs to mean something, something big, to your character. If the readers know what the character wants, they start to care.
For example, a young woman who is trying to save her family’s bookstore can be just as relatable as a hero who is trying to save the world. Why? Because the emotional need behind the character’s goal is human.
Add a real fear or weakness
Readers connect with characters who do not always have everything under their control, it may be your character is,
- Brave in public but afraid of rejection
- Maybe they are gifted but lazy
- Maybe be kind but too trusting.
Flaws are what make characters feel real. Weakness creates tension and it also provides the character with room for growth.
This is an important part of how to make believable and relatable characters for beginners. If your character is always right and always strong and never confused, your readers might admire your character, but they might not relate to them.
You look into our article on how to create an interesting character, this will help you to create a character that your readers love, visit here to know more How to Create Interesting Characters Readers Will Never Forget.
Use specific emotions, not vague emotions
Do not simply tell your character is sad or angry or nervous. At that moment, show how that emotion affects them,
- Do they avoid eye contact?
- Speak too fast?
- Replay a memory in their head?
- Pretend they are fine?
Showing these specific reactions makes emotion alive.
Instead of writing, “He was nervous,” you might write, “He kept checking his phone, even though he knew no new message would come.”
This little thing makes it feel real, and these details create relatable characters.
Let them make mistakes
Many beginner writers try to make their main character unique and that is understandable. But readers often bond more with a mistake made by a character. By mistakes, a personality is revealed, and they also create believable conflict.
A relatable character may say the wrong things, trust the wrong person, or run away from a challenging decision. These moments cause the reader to think, “I understand why they did that.” That makes it powerful when you write.
Provide a personal reason for their actions
Characters become flat when they are doing nothing except to advance the plot in your story. Instead, be sure their choices are from who they are. Which means their past, their beliefs, their fears, their values, and their desires should be the influences on their actions.
For example, if a character doesn’t want any help, ask why. Is it pride? Shame? Fear of depending on others? A past betrayal?
When your character’s actions have emotional reasons, the character feels more real and is relatable.
Include ordinary human moments
Not every moment of your character doesn’t need to be high drama, to relate them. It is usually the small and ordinary moments we make that create the strongest connection. A character who is saving the old voice messages, hiding his disappointment behind a joke. Being awkward at a family dinner, like. These small moments are the gold in fiction.
Let the character grow even a little
When you create a relatable character, they don’t get emotionally frozen. They learn something, they face something, they admit something, or they change the way that they see themselves. The change can be big or small.
Your character’s growth makes the readers feel their journey was meaningful. Even if your character does not fully succeed, there is some emotional movement that helps them feel alive and believable.
If you want to know a more general view on how to write your first book, then learn from our article, How to Start Writing a Book.
Examples/Mini Tips
Here are two simple examples,
Example 1: The tried overachiever
Imagine a student on top grades every time. On the outside she appears to be confident and successful. But, on the inside, she is terrified of failure because of the belief that mistakes will cause people to love her less.
Why this works: This character is so relatable because so many people experience pressure, fear and the need for approval.
Example 2: The tough hero who can’t say sorry
Now imagine a warrior who is fearless in battle, but cannot apologise to his younger brother.
Why this works: Courage in one area does not eliminate weakness in another. That contradiction is human and relatable. Readers may not relate him with fighting with swords, but they do relate him with his pride, guilt and family tension.
When developing your character, ask yourself, what aspect of this character’s experience will be real for people?
Common Mistakes Made By Beginners
Here are a few mistakes that should be avoided,
- A perfect characters sound good, but they rarely seem real.
- A character does not need to be nice all the time, just understandable.
- A sad past doesn’t automatically make a character relatable, what’s important is how that’s affecting them in the present.
- It’s not enough to just name the emotion, express it through actions, thoughts and behaviour.
- Plot is important, but what the character feels, fears, hopes, avoids is what the readers identify with.
Characters are important as they bring a story to life, especially in emotional moments, learn form here how to create emotional scenes and learn how to create unforgettable characters. You look at our overview guide, How to Start Writing a Book.
FAQ
Final Thoughts
Relatable characters aren’t to create them by making them perfect and dramatic and overly complex plots. They are characters which reader connect with them by the way they express their emotions.
Give them real wants, honest flaws, familiar emotions, believable reactions. Keep it simple. Keep it true.
This is wonderful news to the beginner writer. You don’t need to create some “special” character, just need to create an honest one. Readers will forget the plot, but they will remember how your character made them feel.
If your character is real to you, chances are he or she will be real to your reader too.
