Ask a group of writers about how they create characters, and you’re likely to get dozens of different answers. Some people prefer to “pants” their way through a novel, or sit down with a vague idea of what the story is and who the characters are and just start writing. Some take a more structured approach.
I believe in the structured approach.
When I was preparing to write Between Seasons, a paranormal novel that tells the story of a ghost who falls in love with the woman who buys his house forty years after his death, I started with my main character. Name and physical appearance are important factors. I knew I wanted his family to be Irish Catholic, so I picked a good Irish Catholic name: Patrick Boyle. I have a different approach when it comes to physical appearance – I go searching for a photo online, someone who at least vaguely resembles the person in my head. It helps to solidify what I’m thinking. In Patrick’s case, I found a photo of a guy with feathered hair. Patrick dies in 1970, so the right hair was imperative (something I never thought I’d say!). And then it’s time to write it out: scars, eye color, hair color, jaw-line, nose, body type, height, weight, how he walks, his favorite words, nervous habits.
I’ve read arguments that this kind of stuff [link: http://damyantiwrites.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/writers-why-are-character-lists-a-waste-of-time/] is useless, a waste of time. Maybe for some writers. For me, giving a character detail breathes life into him. And when there’s a fully fleshed out character beating on the inside of my head, I’m going to be able to write him well. Sure, I could have sat down and started writing Patrick’s story, but he wouldn’t be half as real – to me or those who read the novel.
Read a review of Between Seasons, and you might see people talking about how they were touched by his loneliness, confusion, and despair but taken with his quirky late teen attitude. They like the true to life characters and real feel of the dialogue. I doubt I could have managed that without serious work up front on characterization. Patrick is engineered in a very specific way.
What do I suggest for good character building, regardless of whether you’re a pantser or a plotter?
Make a decision about your character’s ethnic background before you choose a name. No one is going to believe a sixteen-year-old Amish girl is named Shaniqua D’Amico.
While detailing physical attributes is good to do before you start writing, at least write down these details as you make them up during writing. Why? It stops you from giving your main character blue eyes in one chapter and green eyes in another.
Decide up front if your character is going to have any speech affectations or nervous reactions – a lisp, a word he or she uses frequently, the habit of chewing his nails when he’s nervous, a face twitch when someone says the word “moist.” Again, it helps with continuity and reduces the need for edits later on.
Nothing’s worse than reading a book that begins with a character who speaks like he’s in the third grade but suddenly switches fifty pages in to a character who comes off like he’s a Harvard educated Ph.D. Don’t let yourself get caught in that trap!
Want to judge whether Patrick Boyle is well-written as a character?
Try: BETWEEN SEASONS
$3.99 in electronic formats at Amazon US [http://www.amazon.com/Between-Seasons-Aida-Brassington/dp/0615562264] | Amazon UK [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Between-Seasons-ebook/dp/B0061G3HHA/]| BN [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/between-seasons-aida-brassington/1107065107] | Smashwords [http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/100552]
$12.99 at Amazon in paperback [http://www.amazon.com/Between-Seasons-Aida-Brassington/dp/0615562264/]
December 15, 2011
