Developing a Person

Where does the idea for a person come from? No, I'm not asking about the meaning of life...I'm talking about developing a fictional character. To be honest I don't consider them as characters. I actually see them all as people, not just a written name with some listed traits on a page. They live, they breath and they are a part of me and the people that surround me. I say this because a lot of characters come from real life walking inspirations...consciously or subconsciously.

Before putting anything down on paper, I develop a handful of characters (some I use and some that I save for a later book). I create their names, their looks and their entire life history. It is important to have some form of life history made out beforehand. It makes the character more believable...more real...more relatable. It also helps form a bond between the author and the character. If the author has no passion or emotional attachment to a character (even it is fear and loathing towards the antagonist), then they will just turn out flimsy and weak. Every character must be strong, even if it is a minor character that neither helps nor hinders the progress of your book. On top of that, every character must be flawed in some fashion. For Example: The protagonist has a dark secret to hide, he was beaten with the ugly stick or he even suffers from drug addiction.

Now comes the part where I will probably be shipped of to Terrell to weave wicker baskets and feed nuts to squirrels for the rest of my life. When I write, my characters speak to me. As I am writing about them, they seem so real that I can actually see them in my mind and hear all of their unique voices. They don't speak to me all the time, just when I need to figure out which direction to take the story. If anyone knows the setting and situation the best, it would be the characters. So I always listen to what they say, because they know their limitations.

Now it's time for me to get struck down by a bolt of lightening. To the characters, you are their god. You control every aspect of their life. You choose where they work, how much money they make, who they can and can not fall in love with and where (and if) they live. To sum it all up, you hold their fates in the palm of your hands. Who lives? Who dies? That's up to you. For me it is really hard to kill off some characters, but there are others that I know right off the bat that will not make it to Chapter 10.

If you asked me, personally I believe (whether you like it or not) every character is a mirror of your own subconscious. Sure you try to avoid that...but it will tend to slip out in bits and pieces. I'm not saying that inside of you is pure evil that wants to blow up half the planet...but some of the mannerisms...some of the thoughts...some of the feelings subconsciously slip through into your antagonist or any other character.

So if you want to get into the writing game, developing a person is one of the first steps to the next great book. Give it a try even if you don't want to write a book because creating your own personal character is actually really fun.