Some of you have wondered how it is I create characters. The response is pretty clear to me at first... sort of.
Finding the bases
1)Actually finding the characters somewhere else:
I watch a lot of -- and varied -- television, when I'm not at the computer (and sometimes when I am here, because I like it for background). I watch reality shows, and cooking shows, bizarre movies and lame ones (ever seen the SciFi Network at 3AM?). There are some amazing people out there in TV-land, and I guess it's the television version of people-watching, really. I pay attention to different ways of speaking, to different ways of dress, different customs -- usually, I end up with an amalgamation of various people I've seen this way, though every so often I run into a character who could stand on its own (ever seen "America's Next Top Model"? I do have a spy who's solely based on Jade...)
I do a little bit of historical reenactment with the SCA -- the way I people-watch there is roughly the same as if I were watching television or a movie, but it's more fantastical in this case. SCAdians work with history, and they give some of the most extraordinary characters life. I know there are a couple writers around in this area who also play SCA, and I don't doubt they'd agree with me. (conversely, I can get the damndest tales out of "No ()U)*)#$#$# there I was" stories, often to be told around SCA campfires).
Lastly, and maybe I'll be shot for it, but I also get ideas for characters from other writers' books and stories. Seriously.
2)Characters coming from my mind:
These are most likely from dreams, but sometimes they come during periods of stream-of-consciousness writing. They're usually fantastical.
By this point, then, I know:
Name
Where you're from
Rough sketch
Speech patterns
Lingo
Any Weapons
Race (since I write everything from human to alien to all sorts of fantastical and mythological creatures)
Now, how the character, once I have a base for it, goes, is another story.
Then, I take that character, and I figure out what they'd do if I backed them into a corner. Some bad situation. It says a lot about your personality, you know?
Sometimes, though, I have trouble with this. In cases such as these, I will actually have a conversation with that character. Talk to them. Ask them questions, imagining they're in front of me. I've had characters shrink from me (like Kaeladhra the centaur filly who's very nervous), and characters who attacked me (like Charlotte Kelly the knight).
By this point, I should have an idea of how their backstory went -- even if I never write that into a story, it helps me make the characters more realistic to the reader. I should also know things like their fears, their personality, their quirks (I know an Urchin who plays the flute, and an alien who blows crystal bowls out of alcoholic breath), their dreams and nightmares. Do they have a limp, does this one carry weapons or anything important (like, say, something special to them in a pouch)?
Third Step
Ok, so now the character needs more depth. Yes, I'm big on character depth. And that means language, sociology of the creature/person, what makes them different or not from that social system, what's the story in which they belong?
For instance, I've created languages for "Rubikia" -- they may never see the light, but they're there. I have also done a bit of basic language stuff for the varied creatures in "Kritter" stories, because vampires have a completely different way about them than goblins or harpies do, and so on.
I keep very detailed notes once I have characters: I have a full notebook on Kritter and its various creatures, with maps, sociological stuff, and stories they've been in. Then I can go back and peek at what's there if I want that character again. I've done the same for every world I created.
So now you know.
Tags:
character_clinic, joely, writing
Posted at: 03:25 AM | Add Comment
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