Memorable Main Characters & #RevPit News!

A brief review on creating a memorable main character, and #RevPit 2025 annual contest updates.

Hey Story Crafters,

I’ve got some news to share about #RevPit, but first, I want to talk about how to create a memorable main character (MC).

To me, there are 3 factors to consider when creating a memorable MC:

• Know your MC’s core personality

• Set your MC’s motivations

• Explore you MC’s relationships with other characters

Determining these factors will help shape your MC’s growth over the course of your story.

In an older post, I break down Shrek’s character (from the movie Shrek) using these 3 factors. But this can be applied to shorter works as well, not just longer ones.

For example, I recently read Angela Liu’s novelette, “Another Girl Under the Iron Bell” published in Uncanny Magazine Issue 60. It’s got an immersive historical setting, supernatural elements, slight horror, and dark romance. I really enjoyed reading it, so if you haven’t yet, I recommend doing so! (She’s a fantastic speculative fiction writer and poet, so I recommend reading her works, which you can find on her website.)

Without giving too much away, this is how I’d break down the MC of the novelette, Kiyo:

• Core personality: A demon in a young woman’s body who is by nature a loner, and who views humans as amusing, potential sources of food at best, and as pests to eliminate at worst. Kiyo also views other curses as inconvenient. Kiyo has pride as a demon and hates attachments; not those that gradually form through repeated interactions, nor those forcefully created by subjugation.

• Motivation(s):

  • Main goal = Kiyo wants to break the curse binding her to Akechi, a monk.

  • Secondary goal = To create a new demon. Kiyo plans to use the new demon to break the curse by transferring the curse to the new demon.

  • Tertiary goal = There is one, but I don’t want to spoil anything more than to say it has to do with a past love!

• Relationships with other characters:

  • Kiyo and Akechi = Slave and master relationship. Because of the curse, Kiyo is forced to do Akechi’s bidding, and must always return to him. Kiyo can’t destroy the curse or kill Akechi without dying in return, and has to devise another way to break the curse using a kodoku, a cursed jar.

  • Kiyo and Ryunosuke: Introduced in flashbacks (since these interactions happen before the start of the novelette), Ryunosuke is a human assassin who kept visiting Kiyo. He admits to falling in love with Kiyo, a demon; Kiyo doesn’t admit romantic feelings for Ryunosuke in return, but it’s implied Kiyo felt something. Again, don’t want to spoil too much, so I’ll stop there!

  • Kiyo and Arata: A cat-and-mouse relationship of sorts. Both Kiyo and Arata want to use the other. Kiyo is told by Akechi to kill Arata after they complete a mission, but Kiyo also has other plans for Arata; Arata is revealed to be a demon hunter. There are a few more twists with this relationship, so I encourage you to read the novelette to learn more!

And of course, combining these 3 factors together over the course of the story reveals a part of Kiyo that Kiyo didn’t want to acknowledge in the beginning. 😊

Now, onto #RevPit news!

This year’s editor lineup went live on Friday. If you’re thinking about or planning to enter the annual contest, remember that you can choose up to 3 editors to submit your completed manuscript to! The link to my MSWL for this year is here: https://www.reviseresub.com/editors/leah-rambadt

My #MeetTheEditor session will be on Monday, March 3, so if you think we’ll be a good fit and want to learn more about me and my MSWL, make sure to check it out! I’ll start the thread for my session on my Bluesky account, and the Revise & Resub Bluesky account will also share my #MeetTheEditor thread, so you can watch either of these spaces for updates.

The full annual contest schedule can be found here: https://www.reviseresub.com/annual-contest/schedule

If this is your first time participating in the #RevPit annual contest or if you need a refresher, RevPit Board Member and editor Miranda Darrow made this helpful graphic (click for link to Bluesky post):

Make sure to stay up to date with #RevPit news!

⭐️ RevPit Bluesky Profile: https://bsky.app/profile/reviseresub.bsky.social

⭐️ RevPit Editor Starter Pack on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/starter-pack/jenichappelle.bsky.social/3lao6x3utpr2y

⭐️ Watch #RevPit or pin the RevPit feed: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vxxmae6p5dpnxwcpzcb64gbi/feed/aaabv6dc4ot5a

⭐️ Subscribe to the RevPit Substack: Revise & Resub

⭐️ My Bluesky profile: @leahrambadt.bsky.social

I look forward to seeing some of you at the #RevPit mini-events, and reading some of your work during the actual contest!

If you’re ready to start revising your story and you need another set of eyes to help make sure your main character is memorable and undergoes a satisfying character arc and transformation, consider hiring an editor like me!

I’m open to working with all fiction authors, though I specialize in fantasy, dark fantasy, science fiction, and horror. If the author-editor fit is good, we can book a block of time for your developmental edit in advance so we can get started as soon as you finish your manuscript. Please get in touch!

Until next time!

Leah

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