developing characters

[LusciousLoralie]

besides name and maybe age what things about a charcter are essential in the beginning so that you can get into a story? I want to have my characters fully formed in my head before I start writing about them.

 

[Austin8]

besides name and maybe age what things about a charcter are essential in the beginning so that you can get into a story? I want to have my characters fully formed in my head before I start writing about them.

I seem to form a mental image of my characters I tend to base my characters on people I've either meet or seen. I usually carry a stack of 3x5 notecards with me and make character notes.... but to answer your question I think to start, where are the characters and how do they talk....

 

[sr71plt]

I have the necessary character roles in my head before writing (which I expand/contract, as/when needed--usually expand) and the only personal characteristics I have about them as individuals in my mind before starting to write is anything that was necessary to the role in terms of my original ideas of the hooks I was using the storyline I was unfolding. I let the characters differentiate themselves as I write--but only to the extent--and revealed when--it serves the story (if it doesn't matter what color her eyes are, I don't give her an eye color--the least you can reveal of a central character's physical attributes, the more readers who can see themselves in that character).

 

[Stella_Omega]

I think about personality attributes, and how those will make a person behave in the situation they find themselves in. A strong-willed, optimistic mindset? How will she behave if she's forced into a submissive position-- or wishes to be in that position?

I think about physical attributes in regards to how those will make other people respond to my character-- huge strong guy with a permanent scowl? that's going to make people approach him with caution-- which may or may not be warranted. A sweet-faced blondie-poo will get a lot of patronising responses, which she might resent or might respond to eagerly...

those sort of things.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Accents, socio-economic class, education, place of national origin . . . all these are things that come to mind when I'm building a character. Does he/she have any military combat experience? If so, the bad guy may be in for a nasty shock. What sports does your character play? There's a serious difference in personality between a rugby player and a tennis player.

And what kind of surprises does the character have in store for the reader? What happens when the fussy gardener turns out to also be a master of swamp and forest? All these things make it fun to write.

 

[Safe_Bet]

Something that was recommended (by Svenflicka, I think) during NaNoWriMo is this Character Chart. Like SR said, you don't need to use every detail you dream up for a character, but this chart makes you create a stable character and keeps you from making "red hair to auburn hair" kinda mistakes.

 

[LusciousLoralie]

Accents, socio-economic class, education, place of national origin . . . all these are things that come to mind when I'm building a character. Does he/she have any military combat experience? If so, the bad guy may be in for a nasty shock. What sports does your character play? There's a serious difference in personality between a rugby player and a tennis player.

And what kind of surprises does the character have in store for the reader? What happens when the fussy gardener turns out to also be a master of swamp and forest? All these things make it fun to write.

 

[sr71plt]

Something that was recommended (by Svenflicka, I think) during NaNoWriMo is this Character Chart. Like SR said, you don't need to use every detail you dream up for a character, but this chart makes you create a stable character and keeps you from making "red hair to auburn hair" kinda mistakes.

I do character charts when editing novels. As you note, I come up with all sorts of inconsistencies the author has gotten him/herself into. (The worst I've encountered was a major character killed in chapter three and making dinner in chapter seven.--and this manuscript had made it through an agent and acquisitions editor.)

 

[LusciousLoralie]

and keeps you from making "red hair to auburn hair" kinda mistakes.

When I read that, the first thing that I thought of was STEPHENIE MEYER! She does that constantly and uses the same 3 or 4 words to describe someone on each one of the 500 or so pages.

 

[Safe_Bet]

I seem to form a mental image of my characters I tend to base my characters on people I've either meet or seen. I usually carry a stack of 3x5 notecards with me and make character notes.... but to answer your question I think to start, where are the characters and how do they talk....

Accents, socio-economic class, education, place of national origin . . . all these are things that come to mind when I'm building a character. Does he/she have any military combat experience? If so, the bad guy may be in for a nasty shock. What sports does your character play? There's a serious difference in personality between a rugby player and a tennis player.

And what kind of surprises does the character have in store for the reader? What happens when the fussy gardener turns out to also be a master of swamp and forest? All these things make it fun to write.

That's why all of my characters are either cute, sweet, charming, shy, polite, intelligent, blond lesbians from San Diego or big mouthed, obnoxious, rude, brunette lesbians from the Midwest (usually named Amy)... just saying...

 

[sr71plt]

blond lesbians

A blond lesbian is pretty much an impossibility. I'd believe a blonde lesbian, though.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I like to stick a solid image in the reader's mind. Take MISTER SOFTEE as an example. I'd characterize him as the perfect blend of Gilligan and Frank Burns (MASH).

 

[Safe_Bet]

A blond lesbian is pretty much an impossibility. I'd believe a blonde lesbian, though.

Oooooh, you made me look it up and I learned sumthin... good catch!

Word Usage: blond or blonde?

When describing the color of somebody's hair, blond is normally used of a person of either sex: Jane has blond hair.

When used as a noun or adjective to describe somebody directly, blond is often used of a man or boy and blonde of a woman or girl: He is blond. Jane is blonde/is a blonde.

 

[LusciousLoralie]

what's the difference between chastity & abstinence?

 

[LusciousLoralie]

I like to stick a solid image in the reader's mind. Take MISTER SOFTEE as an example. I'd characterize him as the perfect blend of Gilligan and Frank Burns (MASH).

I feel like solid images work for me maybe half of the time. There have been times when I've really been getting into a story and then all of a sudden it states that the "hero" has long, blond hair. That ruins it for me, but probably because it was in the middle and not in the beginning.

Also, I don't want to say something looks like fill-in-the-blank person because everyone on here isn't aware of the same celebrities. People who are older
than me probably aren't going to know what Pete Wentz looks like. I don't want someone to stop reading so that they can google image search Gina Lollobrigida to understand why the person who looks like her is so attractive.

 

[Liar]

A blond lesbian is pretty much an impossibility. I'd believe a blonde lesbian, though.

As long as it's not a bland lesbian.

 

[Liar]

what's the difference between chastity & abstinence?

Chastity is an attitude. Abstinece is an action (or inaction, as it were).

You can be horny as hell, and still be abstinent.

 

[NoJo]

Actually abstinence makes the cock grow firmer

 

[LusciousLoralie]

You can be horny as hell, and still be abstinent.

you're preaching to the choir!

 

[Dragonlipz]

A narrative description of a character is only that: a narrative description.
Their actions and dialogue bring those descriptions to life and add validity to the narrative...

 

[LusciousLoralie]

A narrative description of a character is only that: a narrative description.
Their actions and dialogue bring those descriptions to life and add validity to the narrative...

I'm not going to do that. I hate it when they first paragraph is just describing one of the characters. "This person has this color hair, this color eyes, they're this size" and what not.

 

[slyc_willie]

I'm not going to do that. I hate it when they first paragraph is just describing one of the characters. "This person has this color hair, this color eyes, they're this size" and what not.

Depends on how you do it. If you tick off a list of measurements, hair color, etc., many readers will roll their eyes and back-click out of the story. But, if your narrative paragraph contains character-building information, it can be useful in that it sets the tone for the character's behavior and demeanor in the reader's mind.

For example:

"Martin returned home to Twin Falls for the first time since his wedding. In the span of those twelve years, wedded bliss had turned to wedded agony upon discovering his wife's infidelity. Shattered, despondent, and seeking a return to the glory years before life's reality had all but destroyed him, Martin decided to return to the one place where life was still Rockwellian."

In just one paragraph, you can set both the tone for the story as well as give a glimpse to a character's background and his motives.

 

[LusciousLoralie]

Depends on how you do it. If you tick off a list of measurements, hair color, etc., many readers will roll their eyes and back-click out of the story. But, if your narrative paragraph contains character-building information, it can be useful in that it sets the tone for the character's behavior and demeanor in the reader's mind.

For example:

"Martin returned home to Twin Falls for the first time since his wedding. In the span of those twelve years, wedded bliss had turned to wedded agony upon discovering his wife's infidelity. Shattered, despondent, and seeking a return to the glory years before life's reality had all but destroyed him, Martin decided to return to the one place where life was still Rockwellian."

In just one paragraph, you can set both the tone for the story as well as give a glimpse to a character's background and his motives.

Yeah, I like that. I just hate the list-y kinds of descriptions.

 

[LusciousLoralie]

For one of the character charts I'm filling out (I'm using 2) it says "birthdate & astrological sign". At first I was thinking "I'll do it later. It's not very important" Then I came across a How-To on it, so I forced myself. It was actually WAY easier than I expected and I feel like it's already helping me "figure them out".

 

[neonlyte]

My characters tend to define themselves, initially. As work progresses, and I'm now concentrating upon longer works, I reach a stage where I need to 'complete' character in terms of their life. I use a proprietary Family Tree programme to flesh out characters, their family, major events in their life, etc. This invaluable as a tool to refer back and check an event could have happened in the context of their fictional life. I've started pasting characters into Google Earth where their geography spans nations. Surprisingly, people click on these links and email asking for information