CREATING UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS
& MAKING LOCATIONS COME ALIVE
(And a Couple of Book Reviews)
CHARACTERS:
Before you begin your story, let’s make your characters come to
life. Characters that will compel your reader to keep reading. Characters that
your readers will truly want to succeed or want to see them go down in flames.
1. Characters, like
buildings, need a good foundation. The first bricks were laid the moment they
were born, fictitiously. Was the family supportive, kind and loving? Was your
character adored and spoiled? Maybe your character grew up in a dysfunctional
family, ignored or worse. Ask yourself why the parents treated your character
like they did. Backstory is vital.
2. Next, let’s think about
the talents and personality types that make your characters interesting. NOTE:
Drug and alcohol issues have been overdone in my opinion, but successful
authors keep using the device to good advantage.
Talents – a short list:
Chess master - thinks ten steps ahead
Musician – singer, composer or plays an instrument and always
looking for the next perfect melody
Mathematician – everything must add up
Painter, Potter, Sculptor - looking for perfection
Engineer – every piece has its place in any puzzle
Poet – sees the deeper meaning of life
Computer hacker – always looking for the backdoor.
Research Scientist – willing to keeping trying over and over and
over
Writer - a little bit crazy with a brain full of characters wanting out...now!
Writer - a little bit crazy with a brain full of characters wanting out...now!
List of quirks and personality types – another short list:
Optimist who sees life as all sunshine and honey
Pessimist who sees life as all rain, doom and gloom
Suffers from agoraphobia, OCD, PTSD, bipolar or any number of
mental issues
Likes to quote Shakespeare, Socrates, music lyrics, Wizard of Oz,
etc.
Compulsive liar
Prefers to talk with their cat/dog vs. a human
Conspiracy theorist
Too curious for their own good
Punster/joke teller
Consumed with their work, their looks or sex
Neurotic collector of Star Wars action figures, Barbie and Ken
dolls (1959-1969 only), Stephen King first editions, anything & everything
relating to the Beatles, stamps, coins, etc., etc.
Perfectionist
Protector of the innocent
Stubborn, Hardheaded, Uncompromising
Picks at and adjusts clothing
Uses a pen to solve the Sunday “New York Times” crossword puzzle.
Benevolent and altruistic
Talks too much…or, thinks “yep” and “nope” is contributing to a
conversation
Narcissist
Simmering with anger
Thinks failure means it’s time to try things differently
Poor hygiene
Prankster
Likes solitude
Hates solitude
Style of character’s glasses can say volumes
Gossips about the other characters
Thinks a shady deal is a great deal if they are running the con
Physical issues – one more short list:
Injuries from an accident, battle or self-inflicted
Facial tics
Constantly adjusting shoulders
Lip biting
Limps
Chews nails
Must wear hearing aids
Clears throat or smooths beard, hair, mustache when thinking,
lying or nervous
Fidgets, can’t sit still, crosses legs and bounces foot
Colorblind or losing vision
Suffering from long-term illness or terminal illness
Scars and tattoos
Wheelchair-bound
LOCATIONS:
Cold
and lost, we sat huddled around a small fire that crackled and sent smoke up
our noses and sparks flying into the night sky.
“Too
bad we left the water and granola bars back at camp.” Someone grumped.
“Shut
up!” the rest of us yelled.
Hopefully, you felt as though you were right there with those lost
campers, feeling cold and hungry, watching the fire, smelling the smoke and so
on. The secret is the use of our five senses in your writing. You don’t have to
use them all, but do use as many as you can squeeze into a sentence or
paragraph. It goes without saying, add in the “sixth sense” if you are writing
a suspense/thriller.
Hope these tips help with your writing. Have a great March!
* * *
BOOK
REVIEWS –
☆☆☆☆☆ “Varina” by Charles Frazier – well-researched historical novel about
Jefferson Davis’ second wife, Varina Davis. If you like history, lots of
metaphors and similes this is a great book. I love a book where I can enjoy the
writing style as much as the story. I find his writing to be
lyrical, and many sentences are like completed poems. “Big greasy drops of rain, widely spaced, hissed as they fell, and off
in the woods, a yap of distant dogs carried in the stirring air, faint and
wavelike in rhythm.”
Note: did you see how many senses the author used there?
☆☆☆☆☆ “My Dear Hamilton” by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie – Whoa, took
some time to finish this book. 672 pages chock full of history. Very little is
known about Eliza Hamilton, but the authors wrote a brilliant novel from the
little they did know. Their version of Mrs. Hamilton was a wife, mother and
founder of numerous charities who lived through the chaos of the Revolution,
the bedlam in its aftermath, and married to a loving, complex and unfaithful
husband. After the death of her oldest son and her husband in duels of “honor,”
she dedicated herself to collecting all her husband’s letters and papers for
posterity.
* * *
See
you next month where we'll talk about using old newspapers to break down brick walls and get the creative juices flowing.
Other places to find me:
