Thank you for this, Kristen. What amazed me most about writing a trilogy is how my characters grew in unexpected ways. I did the due process in the beginning of getting pictures, and writing character sketches, but throughout the writing process, my characters developed human responses, made mistakes, had moments of being bad-tempered, and persevered even though gripped by fear. Is it possible for a character to teach lessons to their writer?
Of course it is possible for characters to teach lessons to their writers! If they become real enough, eventually, they won’t even follow your plan. They’ll lead you on theirs!
I had a clear idea of what my main character would look like from a less known celebrity. I couldn’t remember his name, so thought my character could have one of his names too. After a google, I found my man, the image of my character. It turns out his name is a name I’d never have chosen myself but I’ve gone with it.
When I first started writing I spent a lot of time on character bios though later found the effort was largely wasted. For key characters like protagonists and antagonists it’s worth the effort though for minor or walk on characters it isn’t. In my first book I often based characters on real people and had lots of fun. Later on I thought of types of people. The best advice I found and the hardest to follow was to find the telling details that mark a unique character. Often less is more when it comes to description.
I find my characters come to life when I find their contradictions -- those places where I expect them to be one way (she's sarcastic and cold to pretty much everyone), but in fact they are obstinately another (she gives the most thoughtful, meaningful gifts to her loved ones).
Thank you for this, Kristen. What amazed me most about writing a trilogy is how my characters grew in unexpected ways. I did the due process in the beginning of getting pictures, and writing character sketches, but throughout the writing process, my characters developed human responses, made mistakes, had moments of being bad-tempered, and persevered even though gripped by fear. Is it possible for a character to teach lessons to their writer?
Of course it is possible for characters to teach lessons to their writers! If they become real enough, eventually, they won’t even follow your plan. They’ll lead you on theirs!
I had a clear idea of what my main character would look like from a less known celebrity. I couldn’t remember his name, so thought my character could have one of his names too. After a google, I found my man, the image of my character. It turns out his name is a name I’d never have chosen myself but I’ve gone with it.
When I first started writing I spent a lot of time on character bios though later found the effort was largely wasted. For key characters like protagonists and antagonists it’s worth the effort though for minor or walk on characters it isn’t. In my first book I often based characters on real people and had lots of fun. Later on I thought of types of people. The best advice I found and the hardest to follow was to find the telling details that mark a unique character. Often less is more when it comes to description.
In praise of editors:
https://open.substack.com/pub/davidduncan/p/genai-and-the-rise-of-the-editor?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I’ve started to read my dialogue out loud and it’s really helpful… and also hilarious 😆
Laughter is always better than tears! Glad you’re having fun!!
No tears in the whole five years I’ve been working on my book…… yet!
I find my characters come to life when I find their contradictions -- those places where I expect them to be one way (she's sarcastic and cold to pretty much everyone), but in fact they are obstinately another (she gives the most thoughtful, meaningful gifts to her loved ones).
I love this! Thank you for sharing.
https://open.substack.com/pub/alkatp/p/the-hanged-man-poetry?r=5jq1a3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Give your character flaws, fears, or habits that come from their past or personality... Maybe?