Characters are the most important part of writing a book, and I have seen many books written about the art of character-building. There are many websites that claim to explain how to write a real character. I don't think in the same manner as these people. Many years ago, I thought perhaps I should write out a character, and flesh him/her out like the pros and non-pros claim.
So, I found a few dollars (19.99) and bought a file that had many questions online. I printed off a few copies. Each character took four pages of Q and A.
As I worked my way through the questions, they became more and more worthless. I couldn’t see how most of them would relate to the story. They wanted more information (so I could know my character) than I knew about my best friend. I still do not believe we need this much information.
Recently, the most common thing I've read is to interview your characters. I don't see the point in this. Some writers, though, feel they need to know everything about their characters, including a current telephone number.
Here's a list I found online:
1) Name
2) Background
3) Parents
4) What do they like to wear
5) greatest fears
6) Places lived
7) Current address and phone number
8) Education
9) what did they want to be while growing up
10) salary / Job
11) Friends
12) things characters want to avoid
13) first love interest
14) Cats or dogs
15) social media interests
ect....
The above list is basic information and many character-building worksheets ask for the same information. My question is why. Why do I need this information? Numbers 1, 8, 9, and 11 are the most important, plus 5, that's a given. No question about age. I think that is very important.
Other questions were about physical appearance. Why would I interview a person on their physical appearance? I can see them. I might ask about tattoos or scars, right-handed or left-handed.
Things like political leaning, strongest / weakest traits, etc. are not required I believe. Some sites boasted of having over a hundred questions for the main MC. Most sites I checked had between ten and thirty. Readers Digest online has a list of ten questions to ask. This is a good list.
If you are interested in doing this, it's good exercise. Don't go overboard.
AutoCrit has a list of four interview styles. I like number 3.
Readers digest.com 10 Questions you need to ask your characters
30 questions to ask your characters at clarywatters.com
Joe Bunting blogged 35 questions to ask your characters from Marcel Proust
Helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com by K.M. Weiland
This is what I do:
Characters just pop into my head and start talking.
Some people call it schizophrenia.
I call it population building.
This is the first time I have built a character. Usually, they just pop up in the book. I seem to know them and are aware of their role in the story. This task was not that easy for me, apart from Lyall. He's the MC. His original name was Peter. He had been brewing in the back of my mind for a while now. So, my subconscious already had his role and descriptions.
The three points I focussed on were:
Name
Description
Date of Birth
Let's discuss each point above in a little more detail as each point is more than its parts. And each point above is the most important. Other writers may disagree. The previous list shows how much information some writers add to a character. I must point out that not all those points are mentioned to the reader. These descriptions and other details are for the writer to know the character. Not for the reader.
I feel the three points above are the most important. Let's find out why:
Point One.
Names are important. (Note I changed the main character's name as it didn't fit.) I believe that names should match the character. This is where a baby name generator comes in handy and there are plenty of them online. I used three different name generators. One standard one that gave descriptions of where the name originates (which I feel is important for the character). The second I used told me the most common baby names in this generation compared to the last generation.
As a general rule I stay away from strange movie star kids’ names. For example: Shiloh (Brad Pitt's daughter). I also try to shy away from 60's names like Moonbeam. But to each their own. My book is not like your book. We are different people and we have different ideas.
Which leads me to the third generator: Celtic and Old Norse baby names and their meanings.
Lyall means Wolf in Old Norse.
Fen (short for Fenrisulfr means Wolf of Hell.
Tate (Lyall's father) means Stalking Wolf.
Daciana means Wolf (in Galic it means Wicked man)
Point Two.
The description is very important. You must know what your characters look like and you must be able to pass that knowledge onto the readers.
Scrivener has an excellent function for descriptions. Surf the net, find a movie star or model that is the splitting image of your character and add the picture to the file. It's neat. I haven't used this function yet, but I'm keen to give it a shot.
I don't know much about actors or stars. I know my favorites, but no the newer guys. I'm getting to know them as they get more popular or get more media attention. So, I got online and typed in a web search for movie stars and I added their age. Like for the lead, Lyall, I found Asa Butterfield. I'll make a couple of changes to his appearance, like giving him longer hair and a hardened look.
There are a lot of actors out there. Don't just settle for the one Google first shows you. Scroll through the list. Take a good look at the actors or models. Look at their eyes. Think about what you currently know about your character (i.e. characters place or role in the story / can you imagine the character where mountain-man clothing, firing a gun, morphing into a werewolf, or being a secret vampire that either sparkles or rips and tears or blood). Does the image speak to you? Is there some part of your subconscious mind telling you: yep, looks like him? Always listen to your gut. It is rarely wrong.
Point Three
Birth dates are important in a multigeneration story like Wolf. Keeping all the information together I use Scrivener and notepads, which I laminate, in case of accidents like spilled coffee, and other such things that can and will erase or smudge the information you spent hours building.
Putting it all together.
This is what it looks like when you have these answers.
Lyall Dufort
Main Character. He is a true Lycan but doesn't know it. He killed his Step-Father at the age of three, during a domestic. Father saw, tripped over backing away and Lyall ripped out his throat. (This is the untold back story that may be used at the right time).
He does not remember
and his mother has done her best to keep the gene suppressed with a cocktail of drugs placed in his food, school lunches, and drinks. Since his accident, it has been easier to give him drugs.This changed as the story developed more and I discovered a medical condition that would allow the body to change but can transform and repurpose bones and muscles.As a true lycan, he needs the saliva of a werewolf bite to activate the gene.
Side note: Sarah cannot kill him. All her attention is on Eric in the hospital. Sarah feels betrayed by Willem -- the Leader.
(Excuse the quality of some of these images as I just used my phone to capture these images)
Here’s an article I wrote a few years back on developing characters:
Character creation
Lee Pletzers
When writing a character do you...
A) Base one of them on yourself (good or bad)?
I’ve heard a few authors do this. They look at their good points and bad and add them to make a character. I think this is mainly a trait of new authors - but don’t quote me on that.
B) Base them on people you know.
Many authors do this as well. Some even run contests to use your name in their book. The best thing about basing characters on people you know is that, well, you know them, you know how they will react to a certain situation. Just change their name and appearance and boom, there’s a character.
C) Base them on a certain emotion.
If you can think of a character in the basic sense (just an object at first) and consider their jobs, lives, etc, you can find an emotion to associate with them. Emotions are direct links, which most people can and will relate to. More on this is described below.
D) Something completely different?
E) No idea, they just pop in and say, "Here I am".
When I write a character or introduce a new one, I know exactly, what they are like before I decide on a name.
I choose “F”.
In my current project, 2 cops just popped in. I was taking a break at the café while transcribing handwritten notes into scenes when this happened:
In my head, I saw a young guy with two chicks try to get into a nightclub, but he couldn't get in ‘cause it was a costume night, so he flashed his badge, one of the chicks did the same and the doorman had to let them in. The guy said, "Being a cop has its advantages."
I saw what he looked like, and the other police officer, the second chick was no longer around. I knew where to put this scene and how to introduce them earlier in the book.
I won't use the above in the book, this I know but they will be at the bar and they will help the main character without knowing it until later.
From the image above I got the basic "tone" of the character. By "tone" I mean the type of person he is. A cop who loves the advantages and disadvantages of his line of work. A nice guy but often suspicious of things that seem a little out of place.
This is how most of my characters and books come into existence.
I have come across a few “how to create characters” sites on the net. They all say roughly the same things: Name, age, height, appearance, discerning feature, Favorite things they like to do, and their least favorite. Their habits, and background (somewhat full details, others only the stuff that can be related to how they perform in the story). More stuff asked for is family, attitude, personality, traits, and what they think about themselves. And don’t forget the interrelation with others.
Wow, that’s a lot to think about and a lot to write, and let’s face it, not everything will be included in the story. That’s just the way it is.
Another way I heard was to associate 3 words to instantly have a character. An example would be; Friendly, loving, and domineering. What kind of person comes to mind? What’s their job? Nickname? >>> Friendly Jack, loves his wife, and loves his new position and pay rise at R&R Laborers. His wife is beautiful, drop-dead gorgeous in his eyes and he mentions her at every opportunity. Every man wants her, Friendly Jack is sure of this. To curd the advances of arduous men, he decides what his wife will wear to work, to meet her friends, and what’s in her closet. He controls all aspects of social gatherings as much as he can. He controls his wife and she resents this, but to the rest of the world, he is Friendly Jack with the new position and new salary.
With three words, I just created a sleaze-bucket, who comes across as friendly and loving to the rest of the world. This is only a very loose overview of a character and more of the personality will be revealed in the action of the story. This could come under “C” of the choices at the start of this article.
Every author has his or her way of creating characters.
I use what works best for me and that is usually “E”, maybe A or C or all of the above will work for you?
Only one way to find out ……. WRITE THAT BOOK!