Giving advice on how to write characters who are leaders is a bit complicated because there are so many different kinds of leaders. Leading soldiers into battle requires a different kind of leadership from leading volunteers at a church or students in a classroom. But you can ask yourself some basic questions for any kind of leader as you create him or her.
Effective or Ineffective Leader?
Is your character good at whatever kind of leading you want him to do? Or is she in over her head? If the answer is yes to the second question, you can concoct a variety of reason for her ineffectiveness. For example:
Lack of skill, talent or training
Received position due to nepotism. For a stunning example of an ineffective leader, you should watch the 1956 movie Attack. An officer has been promoted to captain during WW II due to who is father is, and his incompetence is getting his men killed.
Ambition exceeds ability
Personal problems, such as taking care of a chronically sick spouse or relative
But if your character is an effective leader, the next question you should ask is …
Good or Bad Leader?
We’ve already decided this character can lead. But does he do it in a good or bad way? If he leads in a good way, there are numerous routes toward making him a believable leader. He may lead with charisma or by being transparent or likable or personable or many other admirable attributes. One of my favorite novels is Watership Down,the story of a band of rabbits trying to survive the English countryside while establishing a new warren. Two of the leaders, Hazel and Bigwig, have very different styles and yet are both effective leaders. I found it interesting to learn that the author Richard Adams based the two characters on two officers he served with during World War II.
If she’s an effective but bad leader, her flaw usually comes down to leading through fear. That use of fear can be deployed into two main ways: aggression or manipulation. The aggressive leader is a bully. People under him fear his intimidating or humiliating tactics. The manipulative leader keeps the people under her off balance. No one knows what she’s doing behind the scenes, who will be let go next, or even what the rules are because she can change them without notice. And you can have a leader character who combines aggression and manipulation.
What books or shows have memorable characters who are leaders?
My advice on characters today concerns how to write sneaky characters. I had to create one in my second novel, A Storm of Doubts, and he proved to be a challenge.
What Do I Mean by Sneaky Characters?
Since I write mysteries, of course the guilty party is always sneaky because he or she has to cover their tracks after committing the crime. But for this post, I’m referring to characters who are sneaky by nature. The weaselly police informant who will tell the cops anything for a price, making his information suspect. The high school girl who is so sweet to everyone’s face and yet anyone who associates with her is always caught up in some kind of drama.
These are characters whose actions, words, and expressions mask their real thoughts and feelings. A writer can approach this character one of two ways–either, the main character (MC) is completely taken in by the performance and the revelation of sneaky character’s true intentions is a big plot twist. Or the MC is suspicious of the sneaky character to begin with or soon after meeting him but has trouble deciding if the character is a sneak or trustworthy.
By the way, if you want your MC to be the sneaky character, you are allowed. Just remember–most readers enjoy a book because the MC is someone they want to spend time with. A sneaky MC could get very old, very fast.
Creating a Sneaky Character
In A Storm of Doubts, I adopted the second way of developing a sneaky character. Rae’s Uncle Troy returns to Marlin County, Ohio, where he grew up. Everyone there knows he’s a grifter, so Rae, my MC, is suspicious of him from the start.
I’ve read a lot about grifters and realized Troy would never be aggressive or combative in any situation. Grifters don’t want to bully you into doing what they want. They want to entice and manipulate you. This is harder to write than a blunt bully. A bully’s intentions are obvious and therefore easy to convey to the reader. Showing Troy entice and manipulate Rae was much harder because I had to write him in subtle lines.
What helped me was to realize Troy would agree to anything anyone said if it gave him an advantage. Unlike a lot of characters, who would take offense at being criticized, Troy goes along with the criticism because agreeing with someone puts him in a position to get closer to them. He’s like a snake who can pivot and twist in any direction he thinks necessary.
In this scene, Rae’s dad, the sheriff, is questioning Troy.
“You need to come up with better excuses.” Dad put away his notepad. “You made a mistake two years ago, and I got jumped. You made a mistake today and put my daughter in danger. You can’t keep saying you make mistakes, Troy. You’re forty-three. Not fourteen.”
Tory sighed, his tiny mouth drooping. “I’m just not as smart as you are. “
I also use several two-person scene between Rae and Troy so I have the time to describe in more details his expressions and mannerisms and how Rae analyzes them to figure out what her uncle’s true intentions are.
Have you tried to write a sneaky character? What helped you to write them? Who is a convincing sneaky characters in a book or show?
The month of July is all about characters here at JPC Allen Writes. This is my favorite element of writing fiction. I can’t get started on a story until I have a good grasp of the main characters. For my weekly tips, I’m going to focus on certain types of characters, kicking off with how to write shy or stoic characters.
The Problem with Shy or Stoic Characters
Shy or stoic characters present a particular problem with the prevalent style of show, don’t tell. Show, don’t tell is becoming more and more visual, as Janice Hardy points out in her book Understanding Show, Don’t Tell ( and Really Getting It). People expect to be able to “see” a story like they do movies. So expressive characters with broad mannerisms and incisive, funny, or simply lots of dialogue are easier to build on the page. The subtleties an actor uses to convey a character’s shyness or stoicism can be difficult to put into words.
Drawing Attention to Shy or Stoic Characters
I have a few shy or stoic characters, and they’ve stretched my writing skills as I’ve tried to construct them realistically.
Chris Kincaid is a possible boyfriend for my main character, young adult amateur sleuth Rae Riley. He’s twenty-three with a fierce features that usually mask his true emotions. One way I’ve dealt with Chris’s lack of expression is for Rae to notice and correctly deduce what slight changes in his facial features mean. Rae is the kind of character who notices small details like that because she’s also an amateur photographer. So when she sees a muscle tense a ong his jaw or his eyebrows raise more than millimeter, she knows he’s experiencing a strong emotion. It’s also fun to write because I can make it funny.
“I don’t know what to do.” The muscle along Chris’s jaw tightened.
Wow. I didn’t know Chris found the situation so infuriating.
Another character, Luke Norris, is in his sixties and basically a shy man. He’s the father of Rae’s uncle. One way I can convey that trait is to place him on the outskirts of group scenes.
As the church members lined up for the potluck dinner arrayed on the various tables, Mr. Norris waited near the front door, tugging on the end of his moustache.
When he does speak, I need to make every word count even more than with other characters because he’d only speak when he felt it was necessary.
Other ways to convey shyness are hiding techniques–pressing into a wall, using an object as a shield, avoiding eye contact, shrinking into themselves, focusing on a task or object rather than a person.
Stoicism can be shown with mannerisms instead of dialogue. Nods or shakes of the head instead of “Yes” or “No”. Leaving a scene when angry or upset without a word.
What words or mannerisms have you seen a shy or stoic person use? Who is a memorable shy or stoic character?
If you know teens who enjoy adventure books, check out my book review of The Search and Rescue Files by M. Liz Boyle. This collection of seven short stories is the fourth book in her YA series, Off the Itinerary. If you haven’t read Avalanche,Chased, and Ablaze, you might want to read those first because the seven short stories in TheSearch and Rescue Files refer to them. But you’ll still be able to enjoy the different rescue scenarios even if you haven’t read the previous books.
College-age Marlee Stanley is the main character in the seven stories. She and her boyfriend Marshall are going to school to become wilderness guides and learns about herself and God during the rescues. What I enjoyed most about the stories was the detailed rescues. The author obviously knows what she’s writing about, and her knowledge makes the stories that much more realistic.
I also liked the variety of the rescues. Some stories feature ones you would expect in the American wilderness–lost hunters or an injured hiker. But one story involves possible drug dealers, and another concerns enacting a white water rescue without the proper equipment. The most unusual one involves hikers who start throwing up in the middle of a five-day hike. I like how Marlee suddenly has to become a detective and figure out what the sick people ate and drank in common so she can determine who will stay well and who might still get sick.
Ms. Boyle also shares some thoughtful insights into Marlee’s experience as a rescuer. It seemed very realistic to me for Marlee to feel like the world should stop and take notice when a young woman endures a possible life-changing spinal injury.
Another new YA author to introduce to you. Annika Klanderud hasn’t published a novel yet, but she has published short stories and articles, and her unpublished YA novels have won national awards. She’s here today to share “3 Things I Learned from Reading Quality YA”. Welcome, Annika!
I recently read the first chapter of three very different young adult (YA) novels (The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron—Dystopian; I MUST BETRAY YOU by Ruta Sepetys—Historical; and THERE YOU’LL FIND ME by Jenny B. Jones—Contemporary). Each opening chapter was totally gripping and drew me in right away. So, it was no surprise that I found they all shared three craft elements that must be included in every YA novel to pull the reader in.
The experience reminded me of how the Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 3:4, assured Christians that “. . . when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.” In Paul’s case, he was encouraging Christians to read the Scriptures in order to perfect their spiritual understanding. As far as YA fiction goes, I encourage authors to read quality YA in order to perfect the craft of writing fiction for teens.
Whether chapter one was about a teenager hiding from authorities on the wall of her city, a boy in school in Romania trying to get up the courage to talk to a girl, or a teenage girl sitting beside a celebrity on an airplane, every opening chapter grounded me, the reader, in time and place. I could taste the dust in the air, smell the sweat from the crowds surrounding the main character, and I felt like falling asleep along with the main character in the dimly lit airplane cabin.
Of course, no YA novel is complete without a healthy dose of teenage angst. But what I found in the first chapters of each of these novels was that the normal teen drama of testing authorities, crushing on a girl, and battling the emotional struggle of losing a family member too soon were all just small transitions. Soon each main character would learn that things can get much harder. Little did each main character know that a much bigger problem was just around the corner.
But to my delight, as the reader, I found that each main character was open and honest about their internal struggles. What they were passionate about. What scared and worried them. Okay, so maybe they weren’t completely honest with the other characters in the story. But they were honest with me, the reader. On every page they poured out their hearts. Always honest and raw with the reader. Never fake with me. It was as if they trusted me with their deepest secrets. What more could a reader ask for?
Each one of these authors proved that it is possible to transport a reader to a specific time and place, introduce a seemingly real problem, and convince the reader that a fictional character has just as much heart and emotion as a real live human being. I never would’ve believed it if I hadn’t experienced it myself by reading books like these. I guess it’s true what they say, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write.”
There’s just something about an old house . . . Whether it inspires memories, fond or sad, or generates questions about the people who lived there, the things that might have happened within its walls, there’s just something about an old house that makes us pause and wonder, think, remember.
Join eleven authors as they explore the theme of “This Old House,” and invite you into the worlds of their imaginations. Whether it’s a mystery, a fantasy quest, a touch of romance, a scary story, a fond look back over the years, a touch of nostalgia or even heartache, there’s something here to satisfy every taste. Join the ACFW Ohio chapter in celebrating young writers, with the four top writers in our first scholarship writing competition featured in these pages. Students from Christian schools across the state were invited to send us their idea of “This Old House.” We think you’ll be pleased by what they created.
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Annika’s MG novel, I Lived Through a Wind Chill Advisory, won the 2024 Cascade Christian Writers Contest. Her YA novel, Red Rock, was the Cascade Christian Writers Contest winner in 2022. And her YA novel, Qualify, was a runner up in 2024. Over forty of her articles have appeared in numerous publications such as Keys for Kids.
In addition to seeking traditional publication for her novels, she is passionate about revolutionizing the Christian publishing industry. She has worked with numerous Christian authors to start a book fair in the state of Oregon, facilitate critique groups, and host events like the Author Spotlight and book clubs. Visit her on X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and her website. When she is not wrestling with words for her novels, you can find her in the utility room battling her twelve children’s mountain of laundry.
