How much do you know about your MC?

jeseymour · Mar 23, 2014

No, not master of ceremonies, main character. I'm procrastinating today, and having fun with thinking of things that my character likes. He drives a 1973 Jaguar, I just found a picture of one and posted it to my facebook page. I know he listened to the Rolling Stones when he was a teen, not sure what he'd be listening to now. I guess I don't know him as well as I should.

His feet are size 12, and he likes running shoes, or combat boots. He wears jeans a lot. He's a recovering alcoholic, and will not take anything for pain stronger than Ibuprofen. He likes Italian food, especially a good gravy made with pork sausage.

I could go on, but let's hear what other folks have to say. Anybody else doing character development?

Introversion · Mar 23, 2014

I'm still learning about my MC as I write him, at various ages and places. I learn about him as I write a scene, and recognize when his reaction feels right (or doesn't).

I'm a bit a fish out of water on this board, since I write science fantasy, not MTS.

So in my case, in his universe, he doesn't have consumer choices to make like yours does. But I've written many of the moments that shaped him throughout his life, which helps to inform how he reacts to events and people.

He doesn't know himself well as well as I do, that much I know.

jeseymour · Mar 23, 2014

Introversion said:
He doesn't know himself well as well as I do, that much I know.

See, Kevin keeps surprising me, because I think I know him, and it turns out I don't. He has got a bit of a mind of his own.

Introversion · Mar 23, 2014

jeseymour said:
See, Kevin keeps surprising me, because I think I know him, and it turns out I don't. He has got a bit of a mind of his own.

Oh, I didn't mean that I know everything about my MC, just that he's not very introspective. It can take him a rather long time to reach what seems to me like blindingly obvious conclusions about why he feels a certain way.

I think a MC that surprises you is a very good thing. I'd have a hard time knowing everything about mine, I think. Being surprised is as fun for the author as the reader!

lizmonster · Mar 23, 2014

I always think I know everything about her, but once in a while I need her to do something she Just Won't Do, and I realize I have more to learn.

I know what sort of music she likes, the games she likes to play, what she does for exercise, where she lost her virginity, how many children she is going to have, and how she is going to die. I know she carries a grudge and can be brutally unforgiving, and she tends to meanness when she's backed into a corner. She's a vegetarian more out of habit than philosophy, and she's allergic to alcohol.

I think I would admire her in the real world, but I don't know that we'd be friends.

I have another MC who is much more "me," although he's more screwed up than I am. (At least I hope he is - he's pretty screwed up.

)

Michael Davis · Mar 26, 2014

When I start a novel, I have only a vague image of who and what they are. By the last page, if I've done my job, we are best friends, sharing inner secrets, struggles, and an expanding awareness of who they are and what has caused their turmoil and evolution. If not, I go back and rewrite, for if I don't feel that way, neither will the reader.

Ken Hoss · Mar 26, 2014

Kelli and I met a long time ago, but it wasn't until I started writing her stories that I really got to know her. She can act like a real bitch at times, but she usually has a good reason for it. She is extremely loyal to her friends, has no family and has a tendency to throw caution to the wind. When she gets her teeth into a case she's like pitbull and won't let go until she solves it.

It took us a while before we could be open and honest with each other, but now we're old friends and can talk about almost anything. Granted, there are things she still won't tell me, but that's okay, I like a little mystery.

I know her likes and dislikes; she loves to listen to classic Rock (Q104.3), can't get enough of Praline/Pecan ice cream, is a die hard Yankees fan, loves Italian food, hates slow drivers in the fast lane, and will kill anyone who messes with the people close to her. There's more, but I'd be here all day!

Jamesaritchie · Apr 9, 2014

Nothing at all when I start writing, including name. If there's anything I need to know, the MC will time me when and if I need to know it.

EarlyBird · Apr 9, 2014

I know my MC intimately. I can tell you what they had for breakfast, who their first love was, their earliest memory, what they fantasize about. I don't meant I write a bio, it's just how I create them in my head. I may not know them so well on the first page, maybe not the tenth, but certainly after I've written a few chapters. I couldn't write if I didn't know my MC very well.

Nancyleeny · Apr 17, 2014

Hi,
My character is my age, 52, and also an ex-drinker. She's a teacher and a triathlete and she "meets" the victim when out in the ocean for a swim. She is snoopy and a rule follower, except when trying to solve crimes that occur in her small town. Also kind of sarcastic, but I'm holding her back, until I figure out how snarky she can be and still be likable.

She is cool. I like her!
Nancy

sheadakota · Apr 17, 2014

Hmm, let me pick one-
Montana Thomas - Lakota Indian born in Nevada, now lives somewhere in the Montana wilderness. His first name was chosen for the place his mother conceived him, the last chosen out of the phone book.

he drives a black Jeep Wrangler which he keeps immaculate, a throw back to his Army Ranger days. Stoic and stubborn, he says very little but hides volatile emotions beneath the calm exterior. Favors dark Ray-bans and has a passion for Mexican food.

He is fiercely loyal especially to his brother and his other family of Rangers. his past has left deep scars he is not comfortable with and sleep is not a friend. Until recently he had worked as a PI, but circumstances caused him to sell the business.

He is more comfortable with an assault rifle than he is with relationships. woman constantly baffle him.
and thats enough for now- after four books about him, I feel he is family.

juniper · Apr 18, 2014

I like hearing these short descriptions. I went to a new writers' group last week and it was a "character clinic" rather than a regular group meeting.

Two hours of in-depth talk on digging into your MC's psyche, backstory, likes, etc. The speaker said this was based on Holly Lisle's character clinic found here:

http://howtothinksideways.com/shop/create-a-character-clinic/

and this first meeting was only on the 1st part of Holly's 3 parts. 2 more parts to go, I guess 2 hours each. ?

Seemed like overkill to me. Maybe it's quicker if you go through Holly's course on your own. It's $9.95 online. But seems like something to do instead of just writing.

onesecondglance · Apr 19, 2014

Agreed, juniper. I know next to nothing about my current MCs other than a few key details - I'll let them surprise me with the rest as and when it becomes important.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 19, 2014

I treat MC characters like real people I meet on the street, or in the course of life. I know zero about them when I first meet them, and learn over time, as they reveal themselves.

I've found that in-depth character analysis and character sheets too often means overblown characters who have too many skills, too many flaws, to much of this, and too little of that.

I give my characters skills and traits based solely on real people I know, and do my best to make the ordinary, fart and burp guy down the street people who just happen to stumble into trouble.

BlackHawk · Jun 10, 2014

I've just started my novel, and so far the MC….

Is in his mid-forties, divorced and terminally single. Two kids he never sees and a wife who walked out because he's an asshole. No one at work (Las Vegas Metro) likes him, although his partner keeps trying to wear away at his walls.

He is a womaniser, who frequently visits brothels in nearby Nye country and dabbles in underground gambling. His favourite drink is a whisky sour and he likes the Silverton casino because it's off strip and away from the tourists. He likes Mexican food and drives a beat up old 80s Mustang.

He works in investigative services, gang crimes, and can often be found touring Martin Luther King Blvd and tormenting wannabes while on duty. He has no emotional connections to anyone around him and has no loyalty to anyone but himself. He likes to think and perpetuate the idea that he's a big shot, but actually his life is about to go completely and utterly down the toilet and to very dark places.

briannasealock · Jun 30, 2014

I'm one of those weird people who don't keep a character bible or things like that. I'm a seat by my pants writer and I just let the character's write themselves.

Rise2theTop · Jun 30, 2014

briannasealock said:
I'm one of those weird people who don't keep a character bible or things like that. I'm a seat by my pants writer and I just let the character's write themselves.

I'm the same way. Yes, I have a vague idea, but the individual quirks and things that make one unique come about as I go.

jeseymour · Jun 30, 2014

Well, I have to say I am also a pantser, but I have to start with the characters. I don't have a character diary as such, or even a notebook, but I have a timeline of major events in my MC's life. I've also been writing about this character since like 1983.

So I know him pretty well.

lexxi · Jun 30, 2014

I first had the idea for a character named Trish Travis, tiny blonde motorcycle-riding crime-solving stage manager, many years ago.

All those details remain and are not subject to change. But I'm still figuring out her vulnerabilities and quirks that will allow me to build a character arc in this novel, to give it more realism and emotional depth instead of just making her a cerebral uncaped crusader.

I know a lot more about her love interest who is one of the main suspects. I love that guy, flawed as he is, but I need to focus more on the protagonist and the other suspects as well.

Maggie McT · Jul 1, 2014

BlackHawk said:
I've just started my novel, and so far the MC….

Is in his mid-forties, divorced and terminally single. Two kids he never sees and a wife who walked out because he's an asshole. No one at work (Las Vegas Metro) likes him, although his partner keeps trying to wear away at his walls.

He is a womaniser, who frequently visits brothels in nearby Nye country and dabbles in underground gambling. His favourite drink is a whisky sour and he likes the Silverton casino because it's off strip and away from the tourists. He likes Mexican food and drives a beat up old 80s Mustang.

He works in investigative services, gang crimes, and can often be found touring Martin Luther King Blvd and tormenting wannabes while on duty. He has no emotional connections to anyone around him and has no loyalty to anyone but himself. He likes to think and perpetuate the idea that he's a big shot, but actually his life is about to go completely and utterly down the toilet and to very dark places.

Sounds like a catch!

lindz · Jul 1, 2014

My MC is a bit of a blank slate, but that is part of the story. She's a sixteen year old good girl, a bit naive and innocent. She's going to be thrown into the 1947 Hollywood night life scene and will have to figure out who she is pretty quick. I'm kind of learning about her as I go, figuring out how she'll react when she's exposed to situations she's never experienced before.

gp101 · Jul 19, 2014

I used to write entire character sketches for not only the main characters but minor ones as well and included everything from parents' names to childhoods, educations, etc. Honestly, they really did help me when I first started writing.

Now, I have zero patience for all that. I know the bare minimum about my MC and other characters going in, and learn more about them as I write the first draft. It's when I dive into rewrites that all these other cool tidbits about my MC tend to crop up--I keep the ones that make sense, that seem not only plausible but as organic as possible. By the time I finish a final draft, I tend to know what happened in the MC's earlier life that has led him or her to be the way they are now--though none of that info needs to be included in the story.

kristenvalentine · Jul 23, 2014

I usually have a pretty good sense of my MC before I start writing, but I always get to know them so much better by the end of the piece that I have to go back and redo the beginning.

jeseymour · Jul 23, 2014

kristenvalentine said:
I usually have a pretty good sense of my MC before I start writing, but I always get to know them so much better by the end of the piece that I have to go back and redo the beginning.

I've found myself having to fix things in the third book, which is due to my editor on Labor Day. I wrote it a long time ago, but I've been rewriting it, now that I have sold the first two in the series. But my main characters have changed a bit, and I wanted to write that in. So I have had to go back and redo things about the characters.

WeaselFire · Jul 24, 2014

jeseymour said:
Anybody else doing character development?

Everyone better be or they will lose the readers.

It's important for an author to know these things about a character (and not just main) for that character to be real on the page. It's not usually necessary for the reader to know. But all the tidbits can work their way into the book to enhance the reader's understanding. For instance, the character is limping on a sprained ankle:

"You want a hydrocodone for that pain?"
"Nope. Ibuprofen works fine for me."

Just that exchange can explain the character to a reader better than three paragraphs of straight description.

Jeff

How much do you know about your MC?

jeseymour

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!

jeseymour

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!

lizmonster

Possibly A Mermaid Queen

Michael Davis

Ken Hoss

Storm Rising A Kelli Storm Novel

Jamesaritchie

EarlyBird

Grinding it out

Nancyleeny

sheadakota

part of the human equation

juniper

Always curious.

onesecondglance

pretending to be awake

Jamesaritchie

BlackHawk

briannasealock

Rise2theTop

To Live the Dream, Ya Gotta Feel It

jeseymour

lexxi

bold enough for both those XXs

Maggie McT

lindz

gp101

kristenvalentine

jeseymour

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member