Congratulations, You Have a Character
Image courtesy Smabs Sputzer
I am ever amazed at the way my mind creates characters. I don’t even have a “usually” I can tack on to that sentence. Initial character creation is easy…for lack of a better word, it is a moment of inspiration. It is the deepening of these characters that proves the challenge.
Some characters spring, fully formed, from my mind as if I were Zeus and the character a would-be Athena. These characters show up named, fully apparent in dress and persona, and demand attention. These are the characters most likely to yell at me “I will not do that!” or “I would never say that!” My most recent character of this type is a warrior woman named Tameth. She appeared one day, midmorning, wearing leather and a chain mail shirt.
Some characters grow quietly. Vague information swirls around until it finally coalesces in a personality. Sometimes I get to name them. More often, they are content to pick a name from a list. These are the characters that quietly refuse to do what I tell them to if it is out of character, or do it with such resentment that I have to scrap the section and start over. Tylen is a good example of this kind of character. His creation took several days, as if he were too shy to come out and say hello. I have since discovered that Tylen has a shame-based personality. Maybe that explains it.
A few characters are introduced to me by an already established character. I am almost always surprised by this. They are introduced by name, or by a pointing finger, but there they are, a bit amorphous, but ready to get to work. These characters are almost partners in their design, making suggestions or choosing topics to get me thinking along the right path. Elyse and Jareth (from different stories) were both introduced to me. While Elyse is still something of an enigma, Jareth has not been shy about giving his opinion, especially on the main character, his friend.
A short story I finished recently was intended to have only one character in it. To my surprise, the main character invited his agent to visit. It became clear that the MC did not want to “do bad things,” and expected his agent to shoulder that role. I played along, and found the story stronger for the introduction of ongoing dialog. I am still miffed at John Skinner, however. He isn’t a warm fuzzy kind of guy and should have had no problem resolving his issue with violence. He simply set things up for his agent to take the blame.
How do your characters arrive on your doorstep? Do you gestate and birth them or do they arrive in full blown glory? Have you had arguments with your characters? (I have.) Which part of the process of characterization do you enjoy the most?
I have a good view in my mind of my characters before I start writing the chapter in which they appear. They evolve with the story because of the situations they are forced to deal with.
At the end of Draft 1, I go back and take a hard look at these little literary people at the beginning of the novel. Then I adjust them to be true to themselves as shown in the later half of the book.
This style has it’s drawbacks. Not everyone you meet in the real world are three dimensional. Some people are even flat and predictable, so I have to be careful not to over do it.
While I don’t get a lot of time to write fiction, I’d say that my characters usually start with one strong characteristic, kinda fuzzy like a fish under water. Then they grow and become clearer as the story progresses.
Funny, I’ve never thought about how they come to life before.
@ Anthony: I do find that I need to go back and adjust things at the beginning, especially for characters that started out minor and developed into something more. All of my main and supporting characters exist prior to their appearance. I do find that walk on characters just appear and disappear as needed.
You are right that not everyone in the real world is three dimensional. I hadn’t thought of it in those terms. Some characters just never develop beyond what is minimally required of them. Good thought, that.
@Jamie: I admit I’m weird. I think about the process all the time, maybe because I work to explain it to new and non-writers. I like your analogy of a fish under water…visible but not clear. How true for Tylen, who took his time. Thanks!
Most of the time, they are “birthed” so to speak, and they grow over time. I have many who like to remain mysterious and then suddenly side swipe me with something.
Ohhhh…the side swipe thing sounds fun. Is that like getting clobbered on the back of a head by that Tameth of mine?
Characters are often troublesome for me. I will have about three per book that want to some to life on me.. and everyone else usually has to be content as a secondary cardboard cutout. But at least my main ones are good.
I like the way you talk about your main characters on the forums and your blog. I really like hearing things like “X and I are having a good time.”
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