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Who Are You Writing About? By Deanna J. Jones Let me ask you a question: If someone offered your best friend 1,000,000 dollars to break into someone's house, would they? Now ask yourself the same question about your book's main character. If you couldn't answer the second question as quickly or as confidently as the first, you haven't developed your character enough. If a character is thoroughly created, you will walk away from their story feeling like you know them personally. There are several things you should do to make certain that your readers experience this reaction. Pick a Good Name The Grand Ball Room fell silent, the waltz the quartet had been playing coming to a lilting halt, as she descended the Italian marble staircase. Every beautifully coiffed head and the eye of every rakish dandy in attendance were turned her way. She heard an appreciative murmur begin to ripple throughout the room, and smiled to herself. Bertha's debut was beginning to look like a smashing success. Your character's name is one of the most important aspects of their development. It must reflect the personality type that you are trying to represent. It must also correspond with the time frame and setting. For example, Eugene could possibly be a dashing, wealthy lord, but would have a hard time passing himself of as a rugged, flinty-eyed cowboy. Likewise, Gertie could be a beautiful 19th century milkmaid, but would not appear believable as a willowy French courtesan. Useful links: Baby Names http://www.babynames.com Everybody Needs Role Models If you don't get specific with the details of your character's personality, then you will wind up creating generic characters. Generic characters are two dimensional and do not inspire readers to care about them. However, to create three dimensional characters for your readers, you must get to know the characters as well. My favorite way of doing this is what I like to call the Role Model Method. There are two different variations of this method, one to be used in creating heroes and heroines, and the other for villains. For your "good guys," choose two famous people of the same gender as your character that you would classify as good and admirable. Some excellent resources for this include: Heroine Worship Time's Top 100 Heroes and Icons http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/ Women's Military History Next, select one famous villain or outlaw; people that you would call bad or nefarious. Links for famous villains: Bad Guys http://biography.about.com/arts/biography/cs/badguys/index.htm Famous Women in Espionage http://famousfemales.tripod.com/6.htm War Crimes and Criminals http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/war_criminals.htm Outlaws Pick three character traits from each of the famous people you have chosen; 'good' traits from the famous heroes (loyalty, kindness to animals), and 'bad' traits from the villain (dishonesty, jealousy). For your villains, simply reverse the process and choose two famous villains and one famous hero. Just remember, characters that are all bad are unbelievable, and characters that are all good are boring. Visualizing Your Character Now that your character has a name and basic character traits, you are probably beginning to have a general idea of what they look like. Go ahead and fill out their stats. I like to do it APB style, with a few extra categories added in: Height: Weight: Build: Hair Color: Hair Length: Eye Color: Heritage: (German, Irish, French, Asian) Clothing sizes: (Women: shirt, pant, dress, bra, and shoe. Men: pant, shirt, coat, shoe.) Skin Hue: (olive, beige, tan, cocoa, etc.) Markings: (Moles, scars, tattoos, etc.) They Weren't Born Yesterday Unless you are writing the biography of an infant, your characters were not born yesterday. You need to reflect this in your writing. Everyone has memories, and it is those memories and life experiences that shape who they are and how they react. For your characters to become real, you must give them memories as well. Here is an easy checklist for doing so: Did something traumatic happen to them in their childhood? Who was their personal bully? How did their first romance end? What was their hardest subject in school? What was their favorite subject in school? Who was their favorite family member? Where was their favorite place to play? When were they sickest? When was someone really nice to them? When was someone really mean to them? What has always been their biggest goal? What is their biggest fear? What was their alternate career choice? As a child, how did they think they would be living when they were [the age they are now]? What is their most closely guarded secret? Next, number a piece of paper, one number for each year of their life. On each line, write one memory they have of something for each year. Congratulations, your character now has a life. The End is Just the Beginning Now that you've finished all the steps, you may add the finishing touches to your character, such as personal tastes and style. Remember, though, your actual character development should continue as your story progresses, because real people do not stay the same, they change as the events of their lives unfold. For your character to become real and memorable, they must continue to grow. About the Author
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