On Developing Characters

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Fun fact: after I’ve finished plotting a potential book from start to finish and I’ve prepared everything I need to to start writing, I know very little about my characters.

I mean, when it comes to my protagonist and love interest(s), I know super basics like name and physical description, but if I’ve fleshed out any personality at all it’s usually only a really vague idea, if anything.

The truth is, I don’t really get to know my characters until I’ve started first drafting—and that also goes for my protagonist. And for me, this where the fun almost-pantsing comes in—because while I know pretty much how the plot is going to lay out, I don’t really know how my characters are going to develop, at least, not in the first draft.

This is also why I don’t call a WIP a WIP until I’ve hit 10,000 words—I have, on more than one occasion, started writing a totally solid idea then put it away because the protagonist’s voice just didn’t sit with me. But that’s something I really can’t predict until I’ve started writing.

There are a few things my protagonists tend to have in common: they’re often snarky because I’m a snarkmonster IRL, they’re often internally conflicted because I love writing internal conflict, and many times they’re outcasts of some sort, because I love writing characters on the fringe of society.

But honestly? That stuff can manifest in limitless ways, and there’s still so much room for drastically different personalities, and ways of speaking and thinking and viewing the world. And I love figuring it out along the way, and I never tire of having a protagonist surprise me with a stray thought, or memory, or off-handed comment, or unexpected action that I never could have predicted from day one.

In later drafts is where I then take those personality seeds and push them further. It’s where I dig into characters and unearth the stuff the first draft hinted at—it’s where I push them harder to be raw and real.

Unlike plotting, I tend to develop my characters really instinctively. From a wisp of an idea upon character conception to a fully-developed, layered character over time.

And that’s how I develop my characters. How do you develop yours?

Twitter-sized bite:

Writer @Ava_Jae shares how she develops characters instinctively. What does character development look like for you? (Click to tweet)

How to Write Strong Supporting Characters

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I’ve mentioned this before, but some of my favorite characters ever aren’t the protagonists of their respective stories—they’re supporting characters. Sturmhond (Siege and Storm), Magnus Bane (The Mortal Instruments), Kenji Kishimoto (Shatter Me) and Sirius Black (Harry Potter) are easily among my top favorite characters, and none of them are protagonists.

We often discuss how to write strong, interesting characters with our minds on the protagonists, but supporting characters are just as important and should receive just as much attention as our protagonists do when being written and developed.

But what makes for a strong supporting character?

• They have their own lives and backstories. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to go into every detail of that backstory in the narrative (in fact, with few exceptions, it’s probably best that you don’t). But knowing the lives of our characters, supporting characters included, helps us to create a more three-dimensional, fully-realized character. And speaking of which…


• Their world doesn’t revolve around the protagonist. Your supporting characters have their own dreams, priorities and goals. Sometimes their goals may intersect with your protagonist’s goal, sometimes not, but they don’t live to serve your protagonist. When they’re offscreen, they’re still going about their lives, experiencing the world and moving towards some kind of goal—all things you’ll want to keep in mind when writing your supporting characters. 


• They have their own motivations. And sometimes (though not always) those motivations may come at odds with your protagonist. Again, remember that even when your supporting characters are working directly with your protagonist towards the same goal, their motivations may not be the same as your main character—and that’s something you’ll want to consider and keep in mind. 

What else is important to remember when writing supporting characters?

Twitter-sized bites: 

Supporting characters need just as much development as protagonists, and here's why: (Click to tweet)  

What makes for a strong supporting character? Writer @Ava_Jae explains a few important characteristics. (Click to tweet)

On Letting Your Characters Go

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So I’m a little weird.

In the past I’ve written about ways to get to know your characters, but over the course of several manuscripts, I’ve come to realize that my methods for getting to know my characters has changed over time.

You see, I’ve come to realize that while I’ve become a plotter as far as the events of a manuscript goes, when it comes to my characters, I tend to pants them. Or…rather…write them off the cuff, not take off their…ehem.

Anyway.

I usually have a general idea as to what the main characters will be like (usually the protagonist, love interest or significant other and the antagonist), and I usually have physical descriptions all set up, but I don’t really get to know them until I start writing. Why? Because I kept finding that just about every time I tried to force a character into a particular personality, it came out flat and…well, forced.

So instead of fighting my characters and trying to shove them into a particular personality box, I’ve been trying a new method of just letting them do their own thing. I start with a vague image of what they look like and what I think they might be like, then run with it. And so far at least? It’s been pretty fun to watch them develop, and on more than one occasion, they’ve surprised me.

Now, that doesn’t mean that they’re perfect after the first draft—far from it. I often have to take some time during revisions to really pull out elements of their personality and make them distinctive, interesting characters with their own backstory, and flaws, and a life of their own. For me, at least, the time to pull out character sheets and brainstorming methods comes after I’ve already drafted them and gotten to know them a bit—because now I have a solid starting point to build off of.

So that’s my current method—now I want to hear from you: how do you get to know your characters?

Twitter-sized bites: 

When do you meet your characters? Here's why a plotter stopped planning characters before drafting. (Click to tweet) 

Writers, how do you get to know your characters? Join the discussion at @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet) 

On Writing Characters Who are Nothing Like You

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Fun fact: up until recently, I found it more difficult to write female POV characters than male POV characters. 

Now that’s not to say that I consistently wrote one with a greater degree of success than the other, but I often found the voice harder to nail with my female POV characters than I did with the guys. 

For the longest time I couldn’t really figure out why that was—as a heterosexual woman, it would make sense that I’d find it easiest to write from a female POV…right? 

Problem was, I often got bored with the voices of my female characters. They largely came out sounding the same, which I knew was a problem, and if I was being honest with myself, they really weren’t all that interesting. It wasn’t until I wrote a WIP with a female POV character who was absolutely nothing like me that I realized the problem—my previous female characters were too much like myself. 

Writing is an opportunity to take a journey through someone else’s eyes. It’s a chance to step out of yourself and experience someone else’s life. I love that about writing, and so it makes sense to me that I love to write characters that are very different from me. 

Granted, parts of myself do slip into my character’s personalities. Many of my MCs share my love for sarcasm and have analytical minds. Some of them have trouble with empathy, like me, and many of them are pretty strategically-minded.

I’ve often seen people online ask how to write characters different from themselves, and the biggest bit of advice I’ve seen is one that I couldn’t agree with more: think of them as people first. Beyond race, gender, religion or sexual orientation, our characters are people first. They have opinions, desires, fears and dreams like everyone else, they have tempers and motivations and pet peeves and loved ones. 

If you figure out who they are first, the rest falls into place. It’s just a matter of getting to know them well enough so that you can. 

Do you find it difficult or easy to write a character unlike yourself? Why? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

"Beyond race, gender, religion or sexual orientation, our characters are people first." (Click to tweet) 

Do you find it difficult or easy to write a character unlike yourself? Join the discussion at @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet) 

Writing Tip: Know Your Character Truths

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Note: I'm guest posting today over at The Writer Diaries on cutting out distractions and finding time to write. Feel free to head on over there and say hello!

Every character has a few core beliefs, values or motivations that are integral to who they are. These “truths,” as I like to call them, are essential to a character’s identity, and are underlying influences on every decision they make. 

For example, in one of my WIPs, I have a character with two core truths: to avoid unnecessary loss of life at all costs, and to uphold and maintain honor. These truths not only influence his decisions, but at times come into conflict, which creates moments of indecision and internal struggle.

For a more accessible example, let’s take a look at “Sherlock.” While most renditions of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous Sherlock Holmes series follow the same core values with Sherlock’s character, the BBC TV series does an especially wonderful job highlighting Sherlock’s core truth and driving force; that is, solving the puzzle. To Sherlock, solving the puzzle is  the most important thing there is—and if he happens to save some people along the way, fantastic. But that’s not his motivation.

Now that we’ve defined the truths, you may be wondering when in the writing process is a good time to figure them out.

For effective character development, the sooner you know your character truths, the better. But if you don’t figure it out before you start writing, there’s no need to panic—it’s something you can refine during drafting and revision.

As for me, I tend to work out my character truths during the actual writing process as I become better acquainted with my characters. Sometimes, the truths reveal themselves during the first draft, but many times I have to dig a little deeper and really refine it through several rounds of revision.

In the end, what’s important is that you work out these truths for each of your major characters (yes, that means your antagonist, as well). Once you’ve worked out what really makes them tick, the rest will follow.

Do you know your character truths? When in the writing process do you tend to work it out? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

What are character truths and why are they important? Writer @Ava_Jae explains. (Click to tweet) 

Do you know your character truths? Here's why they're important. (Click to tweet)

Character Development: Write Gray Characters

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When I first began writing, I wrote characters who were black and white—good and evil—with little
in-between. My antagonists were entirely villainous with few, if any, redeemable qualities. My protagonists were the essence of good and had little to be ashamed of.

I had this thinking, I suppose, of pure good against pure evil, but what I didn’t realize is that people are rarely completely black or white—our morals and our understanding of what is good and what is bad come in shades of gray.

I discovered over the course of several manuscripts that I really enjoy writing characters who struggle against that darker side of themselves—whether it’s addiction, rage, a thirst for revenge, or something else. Characters who make terrible mistakes with dire consequences and have to face and accept the side of themselves that they so desperately want to bury.

Characters who aren’t white or black, but somewhere in between.

When I say “write gray characters” I don’t mean characters who are apathetic, or boring, or plain—I mean antagonists who feel justified in their actions, and protagonists who make bad decisions and say and do things they didn’t mean. I mean write characters who are dynamic, who struggle to make decisions, who aren’t always sure if they’re doing the right thing, or what the right thing really is.

Because the truth is, no one is 100% evil or 100% good. So why should our characters be any different?

Think back to your favorite characters—are they entirely black or white, or are they gray?  

Twitter-sized bites: 

Are your characters black, white or gray? (Click to tweet)

Do you write gray characters? Here's why you should. (Click to tweet)

How to Write Multiple POVs

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Quite a while ago, I wrote a post on why you might consider using multiple POVs in your WIP, but it
occurred to me that I never followed it up with a post covering the how.

A general rule of thumb I follow is to tell the story in as few POVs as possible. If you can tell the full story of your novel in a single POV, then there’s no reason to add a second or third POV (remember: nothing in your novel should be unnecessary). If, on the other hand, you need more than one POV to fully tell your story, then multiple POVs are certainly something you’ll need to consider.

Once you’ve decided that using multiple POVs is the right choice for your novel, and you’ve chosen your POV characters, the most important step is your first step: getting to know your characters.

The process is no different from getting to know your protagonist in a single POV novel, except that you’ll repeat the process with every one of your POV characters. Depending on what your first draft process is like, you can hypothetically leave a couple questions unanswered when jumping into your first draft, but by the time you’ve churned out your final draft you should know each of your POV characters equally well.

The reason this is so crucially important for multiple POV novels, is that if you don’t know one character as well as the other, rather than reading distinct voices, all of the characters start to sound like the one you know the best.

In order for a multiple POV novel to work, every POV must have his or her own distinctive voice. A reader should be able to open up a chapter, read a couple lines and figure out what character they’re reading with relative ease. If the voices start to blend together and mirror each other, you know it’s time to sit down and really get to know your characters.

One thing that has helped me with multi-POV problems is to sit down and differentiate what makes your POV characters different. I’ve found that making a list of these differences—ideological differences, varied fears and dreams, and particularly how they speak and think differently—helped me to narrow down a specific voice and focus for each POV character.

When done correctly, multiple POVs can add an extra interesting element to your WIP. The key is just to take enough time to do it effectively.

Have you ever written multiple POVs? If so, what was your experience like? If not, have you read any multi-POV novels that stuck with you?  

Romance in Writing: Don’t Force It

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It seems that nowadays the vast majority of novels have some aspect of romance intertwined into the plot. The why is understandable— romance is exciting, and real, and it's a part of our lives that we writers like to write about (and readers like to read about). As an added bonus, romantic subplots provide great plot opportunities, twists, moments for character growth and tension. It makes both readers and writers happy.

Sometimes romance is the core of the novel, sometimes it's a minor subplot, and oftentimes it fits somewhere in between. But while romance can work really well in novels of various genres, writers need to be careful not to force something into the writing that doesn't belong.

I once wrote a WIP where I had the romantic subplot all worked out: my protagonist was going to fall for Character A, while Character B fell for my protagonist. There would be unrequited love, and guilt, and all sorts of lovely tension-building things that I enjoy writing about. 

I wasn't very far into my first draft, however, when I realized I was going to have a problem—you see, Character B was very quickly falling for my protagonist, and while said protagonist was initially resisting his advances...well. Her resolve was weakening. And she didn't really care much about Character A after all.

I had a decision to make: I could either refocus my protagonist on her planned romantic interest for the rest of my WIP, or I could forget my original plan and just let the relationships play out the way they wanted to. I'll admit that at first I resisted a little—I had a plan already and I didn't really want to deviate from it—but I very quickly realized that Character B was a force to be reckoned with, and he wasn't settling for anything less than the serious romantic interest, whether I liked it or not. So I adjusted my plan, and in the end I'm confident that I got a better story out of it.

You see, there's this fascinating thing that sometimes happens with writing, and while it sounds slightly crazy to non-writers, it seems that many of us writers experience it whilst writing novels: sometimes the characters take a life of their own and start running the show. Sometimes those plans that we originally had while brainstorming simply don't interest our characters, because while we're writing and we really begin to understand our cast, we start to realize that sticking to the original plan doesn't always fit their character. Sometimes that means those romantic subplots that were going to be fabulous just aren't meant to be, and sometimes it means that you have to adjust the climax, or the plot twist, or various other important plot points throughout the course of the story.

When it comes to relationships, this is especially important to pay attention to.

The thing about romance, is that in order for it to work, there needs to be chemistry between the two parties. This is true for real life, and true for writing, so when two characters don't naturally start to flow towards each other in your writing, you don't want to force it. On the other hand, when two characters who you didn't plan to gravitate towards each other do, you may want to seriously consider letting it unfold the way it will.

After all, you may just be pleasantly surprised with the results if you do.

Have you ever read (or watched) a story where the relationships felt forced, or alternatively, the relationships worked very well? How did it affect the story?

Character Development: Morals & Ideology

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Every one of us lives by a different standard of morality with a unique worldview etched into us over the course of our lives, beginning with simple lessons in childhood and culminating with deep introspection of controversy sitting in the moral gray.

Just as you and I have different ways of viewing and interpreting the world, our characters should each be unique in their worldview and moral code. And it shouldn’t always reflect your own, either.

Each of our characters have (or should have) a history that shaped them into who they are. This very same history will also help to mold the way that they view the world, from their outlook on life (pessimist? optimist? realist?) to the rigidity (or not) of their sense of right and wrong.

Knowing this aspect of your characters is essential to both character development and plot. Throughout the course of your novel, your characters will be pushed to their limits and challenged in various ways—and knowing the basis of how they view the world is the foundation to the decisions that they make.

Here’s an example: in the Twilight series (Stephanie Meyer), the Cullens drink animal blood because they believe it’s immoral to hunt humans. Most other vampires, however, have accepted their human diet as part of their nature, and see nothing wrong with it. This makes the Cullens act very differently around Bella than other human-hunting vampires. Different worldviews. Different moral codes. Different decisions.

Another example: in Shatter Me (Tahereh Mafi), Warner tries to manipulate Juliette into using her ability to torture people fighting against The Reestablishment. To Warner, it is a necessary part of living in a world torn apart by war, but Juliette refuses because she can’t bring herself to intentionally harm another human being. Different worldviews. Different moral codes. Different decisions.

There are many other examples out there, but they all lead back to the same conclusion: our worldview and moral code shapes our decisions, and they should affect our characters the same way.

Make a point not to neglect this aspect of character development—it is an essential part to truly understanding your characters and allowing them to act in a way shaped by their beliefs and understanding of the world.

How do you incorporate your characters morals and ideologies into your work?

Character Development: Make Them Angry

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You probably don't need me to tell you that a story without emotion isn't a story worth reading. Emotion is an integral part of who we are as humans—everything from sadness to excitement, happiness to fear, influences who we are and changes the way we experience our everyday lives.

Humans are emotional, and in order to ensure that our stories are interesting and our readers connect with our characters, our characters must be emotional as well. Emotions are a key part of character development, and I'd like to focus on one of my favorites to write: anger.

Anger is an interesting emotion—it fuels us with a particular type of energy that demands action, and it can affect characters in many different ways. For some, it clouds judgment and incites violence, for others it inspires an unquenchable motivation, and still for others it pushes them into deep, dark places. I like to make my characters angry for a couple reasons:

• It's a particularly strong and passionate emotion. You can be a little sad (disappointment), slightly excited (anticipation), sort of afraid (nervous) and kind of happy (optimistic). It’s not often, however, that you feel slightly angry. Anger demands energy and passion in a way that many other emotions don't, and for that reason alone it can be a fantastic tool for character development and plot progression. 


• It tests a character's self-control. Anger often makes us want to do things we normally wouldn't even consider doing. Whether or not our characters act on these impulses truly tests the bounds of their self-control and ability to think clearly under times of high stress. 


• It often fuels action. This is closely tied to the last point, but depending on a character's level of self-control, anger can often fuel action—and usually not the kind of action that you look back on proudly, which makes for great plot. 


• It reveals quite a bit about the affected character. One of the many reasons I believe strong emotions like anger are closely linked to character development is because how they react to the emotion and what causes the emotion speaks volumes about the character. What makes your characters angry? Is it something personal, like betrayal, or something more global, like injustice? Knowing what triggers these powerful emotions is absolutely essential to effective character development. 

Making your characters angry is a fantastic way to move the plot forward, push your characters into making mistakes, develop them, and (not the least of which) make for some interesting scenes. Once you've figured out how to set your characters off, make sure you build opportunities into your plot to infuriate them. Your plot will thank you.

How do you use character anger in your writing?

Thanksgiving: A Writing Exercise

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Seeing how it's Thanksgiving in the States tomorrow, I thought it especially appropriate to talk about—what else?—being thankful. Rather than going through a list of things I'm thankful for as I did last year, however, I'd like to do something a little different and think instead about our characters.

As writers, it's important to know our characters as thoroughly as possible—everything from their fears, to their birthdays, to their favorite foods, nightmares and aspirations are relevant, even if we don't intend to include even half of that information into the actual writing. The important part is that we understand our characters so that we can write them as realistic and multi-dimensional people.

That being said, take a moment to think about your characters in your most recent WIP: what are they thankful for this Thanksgiving? Go through each of your major characters—yes, that includes your antagonist—and think about what they would say they were thankful for on Thanksgiving. Is what they say they're thankful for and what they're actually thankful for different? Are they actually thankful, or do they just go through the motions to get to the turkey and cranberry sauce?

Maybe your characters live in a world where Thanksgiving doesn't exist—that's ok, place them at a Thanksgiving table anyway. What would they say? How would they act if they had to sit at a table full of food and share things that they were thankful for? Would they consider the holiday quaint? Wonderful? Ridiculous? Pointless?

I'd like to hear your answers: what are your characters thankful for? And for fun, what do you think various book/movie/TV show characters would be thankful for this Thanksgiving?

And to all who are celebrating—have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Discussion: How Do You Get to Know Your Characters?

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Easily one of my favorite parts of writing is getting to know new characters—whether it's learning about my protagonist from page one, or becoming enamored with a minor character who surprises me, meeting these characters throughout the writing process never fails to excite me.

For me, the process of getting to know my characters happens over time. It starts with their conception: usually while brainstorming for main and major characters, or occasionally spontaneous existence for minor characters. Usually at this stage I know only the basics about the characters: generally personality traits or circumstances that are a significant part of who they are and sometimes a few physical characteristics. For those spontaneous minor character cases, at this stage I usually know even less about them.

From there I try to think less about general characteristics (i.e.: hair color) and more about what it is that makes them unique. I look for personality quirks, unusual physical markers and flaws. I want to know their secrets—things that I might not necessarily reveal to the readers, but will help me understand them better. Memories, fears, dreams, weaknesses—I want to know it all, regardless of whether or not I plan to actually use the information explicitly in my WIP.

This is where character profiles can become extraordinarily useful. While I admit I don't use them as often as I could (and probably should), profiles and character sheets are a great way to keep track of and organize information about your characters—from the basics to the nuances of their personalities and backgrounds. For a particularly thorough character worksheet, check out this post from Martina Boone.

With or without a character profile, after the building blocks of the character are completed, I tend to find that much of the rest is discovered while writing the story. Everything from unexpected quirks and fears, unplanned tendencies and mannerisms and favorite words often reveal themselves as the characters progress through the story. Pre-planned aspects of my characters sometimes disappear, while new ones develop. This process continues well beyond the final draft—characters often continue to surprise me during second and third drafts and even later revisions.

So while that's the gist of my character development process, I'd like to hear from you: how do you get to know your characters? Do you use worksheets or is your process more organic? I'd love to hear your experience.

Character Development: Fear

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Everyone is afraid of something—most of us, many things. That may seem a bit cliché or redundant to say, but while we do our best to avoid fear in our everyday lives, we should punctuate on it in our writing.

What do I mean?

Fear humanizes us. It's something we all share as a species and an emotion that our characters should share as well—even the bravest and baddest of them all. You see, a character without fear is automatically unbelievable and more difficult to connect with—not to mention missing out on plenty of plot opportunities a character with a few fears has.

When looking to develop your characters, I highly recommend you get to know their fears—five each is a good place to start. The fears should range from anywhere as deep and integrated into the plot such as the fear of dying alone, to something as silly and simple as the fear of butterflies (which is a real fear by the way, linked to the fear of moths and called lepidopterophobia, but I digress).

It's not enough to be aware of our characters fears, however. Once you've developed a list, it's time to take a look at them and figure out how you can incorporate a couple of them into your plot.

Is your main character afraid of rabbits? Make sure she comes across a field full of those adorable little bouncing fluff balls.

Is your secondary afraid of bright colors? (again, a real fear believe it or not)—send him on a trip to Vegas.

Is your antagonist terrified of losing a loved one? Incorporate it into the plot.

I'm sure many of you noticed in my last example I used the antagonist, which brings me to my next point: evil characters have fears, too.

Yes, I know, it sometimes seems like an oxymoron to think of our antagonists as actually afraid of something, but the best, deepest antagonists have fears of their own that often color their actions and—at times—even causes them to make some fatal mistakes.

When it comes to fears, your antagonist should be no different from your main character —even the most nefarious of villains must be afraid of something to be believable. Their fears could be simple and linked to the plot—fear of losing power, for example, or fear of failure. I recommend, however, that you try to give your antagonist a normal, humanizing fear as well.

What if your antagonist's greatest fear really was losing a loved one? What would happen if his fear came true—or, perhaps, if it already did?

Discovering and developing our character's fears is a fantastic way to deepen your host of characters and make them more believable—not to mention the plot possibilities it provides you (how many times did Ron Weasley have to face his fear of spiders, for example? Or Indiana Jones and his phobia of snakes?)

Then once you've figured out what your cast is afraid of, it's time to start incorporating them into the plot.

Do you know what your characters are afraid of? Have you exploited their fears in your WIP?

On Writing Memorable (Minor) Characters

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Everyone is the center of their own universe. Really, think about that for a moment. Each of us have our own lives, families, friends, memories, dreams and fears. We all have regrets and joys, disappointments and celebrations.

And your characters are no different, or at least, they shouldn't be.

It seems like a no-brainer, especially when we're writing our main characters— most of are aware that we need to know their fears and dreams and all the little intricacies that bring them to life.

But what about our less important characters? I don't mean the second lead here, I mean the bell boys and bus drivers and bartenders that populate your world. Writing them tends to be a secondary thing— characters that arise out of necessity and convenience rather than careful planning and development.

But even our least important characters have their own personality, experiences and lives and if you aren't utilizing it, you're missing out on a huge opportunity.

Writing less important characters doesn't have to be boring— in fact if it is boring, you probably have a flat character on your hands that needs some revising. Let's take a quick look at a hypothetical example. Say you're writing a scene in which your male MC (Mike) and female secondary (Sara) are going to have a conversation at a bar downtown, so naturally you need a bartender. In your first round of writing you slap down Bartender A.

Bartender A is named Greg. He's butch and bald and over-muscled and smells like beer. He grunts when Mike orders his drink and hands his order over silently. Your characters have their conversation and are able to ignore Bartender A easily.

It could work. But it's boring. Let's try Bartender B.

Bartender B is named Rachel. She's young and pretty and smiles at Mike when he orders his drink and even flirts back a little when he says something flirtatious, which makes Sara jealous. A little better, but still stereotypical.

Bartender C is named Holland. She's in her late twenties and relatively attractive, but hides behind her rectangle glasses, stutters a little and ignores Mike when he says something flirtatious. She interrupts their conversation to ask Sara if she'd like a refill frequently but never asks Mike.

Then she leaves Sara her number.

We could go on and on with various bartenders, but I think out of the three we know which one is going to leave the biggest impression.

Every character you write has their own motivations, fears and desires and provides an opportunity be memorable. Are you using your minor characters to their fullest potential?

Who are your favorite minor characters? What made them your favorite?

Do You Really Know Your Characters?

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So I posted the other day about inner beauty versus outer beauty and it got me thinking: if every one of your characters looked and sounded exactly the same, would you be able to tell them apart?

This could be a really good test of characterization. In a hypothetical world where we are all copies, how would you tell your character apart from everyone else? Does he shuffle instead of walking? Does he keep his eyes low and shoulders hunched or is he brimming with confidence? What about the way he talks? Does he curse a lot? Does he stutter? Does he speak in short, abrupt sentences or long, eloquent phrases?

Since I’ve been rather philosophical and haven’t posted any exercises in a while, try this one:

Take two of your characters and pretend they looked and sounded exactly the same. Ask yourself how you would tell them apart and write down every difference you can think of. The way they hold themselves, the way they walk, they way they talk, how they would react to different situations—anything goes. If you have trouble differentiating between the two, you might need to work on a little more characterization.

Since I love The Hunger Games, I’ll use two of the main characters as an example:

Katniss	Peeta
Makes unwavering eye contact Stands with her shoulders back Walks with her chin up Blunt—doesn’t really care about eloquence Fiery temper	Makes eye contact, then looks away Slouches slightly Shuffles Soft-spoken, has a way with words Patient

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

So lets see it, guys—how would you tell your characters apart? 

How to Make Your Characters Talk

Photo credit: ntr23 on Flickr

So now that we've defined character voice, it’s time to talk about how to put it into action.

How do you make your characters talk?

Let me start by saying I’m no expert—this is something I’m still learning and improving myself. But getting your characters to speak to you, to your readers, in their own unique voices is essential.

Confession: the number one reason I don’t continue with a WIP idea (even one I’ve fully plotted out with something like fifty flashcards) is because the voice isn’t right. This is also the number one reason I start with a WIP idea I hadn’t planned at all after plotting out a completely different WIP—in my search for the right voice I found one…but for a different story.

Confessions aside, here are some steps to uncover voice:

1. FIRST, get to know your characters. I can’t stress enough how important it is to get to know your characters before you attempt to discover their voices. The only exception to this rule is when you stumble upon the voice before you know the character, which does happen, but in that case you don’t need this blog post. You need to read Getting to Know Your Characters.

For the rest of us, however, you need to know details about your character first. Their fears, opinions, how they were raised, education, age—all of those little tidbits (and more) play a part in voice.  Do you know your characters? Are you sure? Ok, then let’s move on. 



Pause. Now that you know your character, take a moment to reflect on their personalities. Run over your list of details (whether a physical one, or the one in your head) and close your eyes. Pretend, for a moment, that you are your character. What’s it like to be them? How does it feel? Is it exciting? Scary? Difficult?

Once you’ve sat in your character’s mind for a few minutes, open your eyes and get a piece of paper (or a Word document) ready.


Now…




Let them rant. Choose something your character is passionate (or frustrated) about and let them run loose. Maybe your character lives in a time of war and is sick of the violence, or maybe it’s something as simple as your teenage protagonist pissed off at his lazy brother. Whatever it is, make sure they care and go for it.
Finished? Great.




Now repeat…for a different character. I recommend you do this for at least two characters—even if you’re writing a first-person or limited-third-person novel. Why? One of the best ways to discover the quirks and eccentricities in your character’s voice is by comparing them to another character. What makes their voices different? How are they similar? What can you do to make them more unique?




Finally, push the boundaries. Maybe your rant was slightly amusing. Write it again and go for ridiculous.


Maybe your rant was angry. Go for enraged.


I challenge you to emphasize whatever emotion you pulled from your rant and multiply it. Don’t worry about going overboard, this is a discovery session. The goal is to discover the limits of your character—the quirks, the weaknesses, the phrases he likes and passions he hides. You want to find the core of your character and lather it over the page with a knife. Don’t hold anything back.

Finding your character’s voice is key. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time, that’s what rewrites are for. What’s important is that you take the time to uncover and nurture your character’s voice. Your readers will be glad you did.

What are some of your favorite voices in literature? I’d have to go with Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye. How about you? 

Loving Your Villain

Photo credit: Martin Cathrae on Flickr

I’m going to do this thing where I give you guys a tip I’m going to start taking myself. As of right now.  

Not too long ago I wrote about getting to know your characters. Today I’m going to be a little more specific. Getting to know all of your characters is excruciatingly important, we know this. Knowing every intricate little detail about your protagonist and second lead pretty much goes without saying. We know we need to know everything about those guys because we spend the most time with them.

But the villain…he tends not to get as much love.

As you probably can guess by the first sentence, I am guilty of this in many of my WIPs. I usually start with good intentions—in two out of the last three WIPs I wrote I went in thinking ok, this time I’m going to make my antagonist sympathetic. It’s going to happen!

But then it doesn’t happen.

See, it turns out villains don’t magically become sympathetic (shocker, right?) They’re the villain—they don’t want your pity, they want your respect, your fear, those kind of delicious goodies. But sympathy? Villains scoff at sympathy.

They also tend to make you—the writer—forget that they were supposed to be multi-faceted at all. They want to be evil.

For me at least, the problem was that I didn’t love my villain enough. I loved my protagonist, I loved my second lead, I even loved some minor characters. But the antagonist? Well, yeah, he was cool too. But did I love him? Not really. I just needed him. You know, for conflict.

So now as I’m brainstorming again, I came to a stunning revelation. I already knew that I needed to give my antagonists more attention before I starting writing—that much was obvious. But I came to realize that not only do I need to love my villain, I need to love him more than my protagonist.

Now before you burn me at the stake for heresy, hear me out.

You’re predisposed to love your protagonist—if you don’t, you have a bigger problem on your hands you should probably fix, but nine out of ten times loving your protagonist isn’t an issue. It’s also pretty easy to love your second lead, especially if said lead will be involved in a romance with your protagonist (which, let’s face it, happens a lot.)   

But your antagonist. Falling in love with your villain takes a little extra work. You see, you’re predisposed not to love your villain. After all, your protagonist hates him and in the end (in most situations) your villain will fail. Why would give a character that’s going to fail (or possibly even die) in the end extra affection? Especially after all the crap he’s putting our MC through!

The answer is simple: if you don’t love your villain, your writing will show it. Your antagonist will have one side: EVIL, and fall under the category of stereotypical bad guy. Why? Because you didn’t spend enough time getting to know his other side.

Take a look at your villain. Do you know his family? Does he have siblings? What are his dreams? What does his mother think of him? What is his guilty pleasure?

Spend some time with your antagonist. Let him tell you all about himself, get to know him and don’t stop until you absolutely love him.

Because once you love your antagonist, something funny happens—you want your readers to love him too. And you’ll make sure they do.

Bet you guessed this question: who are your favorite villains? I’m going to remember to answer this time—I love many killers from Ted Dekker’s thrillers (like Boneman’s Daughters, Adam, The Bride Collector and The Priest’s Graveyard). All have really excellent villains.

Getting to Know Your Characters

Photo credit: Rob Ellis on Flickr

Looking back, a problem I had in many of my earlier WIPs was that all of my characters sounded the all of them, but most were definitely far too similar.
same. Ok, maybe not

I often didn’t recognize the problem until I was nose-deep in revisions, and by that stage it was very difficult to fix it. No longer was it a matter of tweaking dialogue here and there—the only way to correct it was to completely rewrite the character.

Not an enjoyable experience, let me tell you. Especially when it plagues more than one character. Oftentimes I didn’t do it; I started a new WIP instead.

So how can you avoid this? Is there any way to prevent flat characters in a first draft?

The answer is yes. And although I can’t guarantee your characters will be perfect the first time around (in fact, they probably won’t) taking a few extra steps before and while you write can help tremendously.

So! What am I talking about?

Do this BEFORE you write:

Interview your characters…about each other. One of the biggest problems I tend to have in the early stages of writing is voice. This is a significant issue since I often write in first person.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who has encountered this.

So! To remedy the everyone-sounds-the-same disease, let your characters tell you about each other. Even if you’re in the early brainstorming stages, you must have some idea of at least two characters. If you don’t, make up another characters, because you’re going to need them eventually.

Do you have at least two characters in mind? Good, now whip out a blank sheet of paper (or blank document) and label the top with your character’s name. For the sake of not utterly confusing you all, let’s say you have one character named Jimmy and another named Rachel. 

So, slap a nice, big, fat, JIMMY at the top of the page. Now ask yourself, what does Jimmy think of Rachel? and write down what he tells you exactly. Even if you’re writing your WIP in third person, I recommend trying this exercise in first. The nuances you get from discovering each character’s voice will be just as useful in third person as they will in first.

Now write let Rachel tell you about Jimmy. Do this with all of your major characters and note the differences in the voice. Maybe Jimmy curses a lot and uses a lot of short sentences. Or maybe Rachel speaks eloquently and thinks Jimmy is an uneducated moron. Or maybe the other way around. Go all out. Don’t let your characters leave anything behind. Promise them confidentiality so they don’t hold back. Write at least a paragraph.

You’ll get not only different voices out of it, but you’ll learn what the characters think of each other, which is particularly invaluable.

HINT: Are your characters being too nice to each other? Let Rachel rant about that time Jimmy pissed her off. It’ll be more fun to write and you’ll be surprised what gems turn up. 

Finished? Awesome! Now…

Do this BEFORE and WHILE you write:

Create character sheets. These include their name, age, birthday, birth place, physical description, fears, hobbies, dreams, desires, family background, etc. etc. If you don’t want to make up your own, that’s fine, there are plenty of excellent resources out there. I highly recommend this blog post for a list of great writer resources and specifically The Novel Notebook for useful novel-building worksheets galore.

Links aside, character sheets are immensely useful for keeping track of trivia about your characters and avoiding the OH NO FLAT CHARACTER syndrome. Remember that even your minor characters have their own lives that can color what they do and make them more interesting.

CHALLENGE:  Fill out a character sheet for EVERY character. Yes, every character. That means even the taxi driver. Why? Because he has a family, dreams and fears too. And if you take the time to get to know him, he might just surprise you with something memorable.

Know your characters before you write, and I guarantee they’ll be much more fleshed out in your first draft than they would have otherwise.

Since we’re talking about characters, who are your favorite characters? You may pick as many as you like.