1. The first step to creating believable characters is to forget that you're writing a book. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true! At least it works for me. If you forget that you're writing a story, then your characters aren't there to make the story exciting or dramatic--they aren't working for your story. You're probably thinking . . . what does that mean?! Well, without a story to tell, they can't do things that are good for the "story" but aren't necessarily realistic