Character Series: Part Two, Making Them Real
~ Part One in the series is HERE ~
What’s the best way to make your characters real? Hm. Yep, I need to show you this first…
Literary character of the day: Tyler Durden from Fight Club
Why not start out by imagining them in your daily life? *Now you get the lit character reference, huh? 
Prepare yourself for crazy.*
(Tell no one you’re doing this, by the way. They’ll lock you up. And don’t judge me. I’m as sane as I need to be. )
This may be jumping the gun in the series, but I wanted to start with character development related to characters you already have in mind. So, this isn’t the very first step in the creation of your character. I’ll hit that topic more later.
Moving on… Pick a day and imagine your character is going to follow you around the entire time. Your character is only allowed to observe and give commentary. What would they say or think about the things you do or the places you go? Don’t do this on a day you stay home. Make sure you’re engaged in various activities.
For example, when you’re showering, how would your character act? My character, Mallory, would turn away and think cute remarks, but might not say them aloud. She’d also be thinking of Evan or about how water used to feel when she was alive. My character, Hayes? Dude, he’d talk crap about all the things in my medicine cabinet, but only after trying to peek around the curtain. I’d yell at him and he would respond with a cool and biting comment.
Don’t just have them make commentary on you. What would they say about your friends? What kind of people would they enjoy being around and who would make them nauseous?
How would they feel about your job, your political beliefs, or your taste in music? All of those details may not matter to you or your character, but there must be SOME topics that pertain to their plot or their interaction with other characters in the book.
When I was writing Mallory’s Story, I saw a band member’s name on an album I liked. Hays. I thought it should be spelled Hayes. I liked the name and decided Hayes would be my next main character. (There’s more to his name, but I’ll mention that tomorrow.)
Well, as soon as I had his name chosen, he started to hound me. For instance, I’d be driving while really trying to plot Mallory, when Hayes would pop to mind. I imagined him in the passenger seat of my car, annoying the crap out of me to write his story. He knew I had a starting place. I already had a scene for him in my head, related to a dream from a previous week.
I gave into temptation one night and wrote out the scene. The scene is now much different than the one I originally wrote, but his voice was already jumping off the page in my first draft. I wonder if he would have been like that if we hadn’t argued in the car for so many days before hand?
Mallory was different. I had to work for her voice. (More on her character development later in the week.)
My point is, how can you write a character that feels real if you aren’t even sure what they would do in real-life situations? You need an opinion of your character and — as schizo as it may sound — your character needs an opinion of you. And of life in general.
Need more help figuring out your character’s traits and opinions? Tune in tomorrow for Character Series, Part Three.
So, do you ever use this method for giving your characters more life?
Song of the day: Where is My Mind by The Pixies
I would think I was crazy if characters were haunting me like that. I already have enough voices in my head.
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Regan Leigh Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Ha.
You should try it.
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Yeah – this is right on! One thing I did a few months back was an interview with my MC (it’s on Carol Miller’s blog). And you know, it really helped me because I had to let Natalie (the MC) answer each question however she wanted to. I also had to let her make her own facial expressions and other mannerisms. Great post!
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Regan Leigh Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Oh! Facial expressions, too!? Wild. I like it.
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I actually DO imagine my character’s in everyday situations. It helps me define the personality and all those little personality kinks and flaws that makes us all unique.
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It’s not necessarily that I use it – it just happens. ALL of my characters have ALWAYS talked to me about random things that I am doing. Like right now, a few are wondering why I am commenting on this blog when I should be writing their story! LOL
So I guess I better go do that! Great post!
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“What would they say about your friends?”
HA! I’m dying to know what Hayes and Mallory think of me!! (besides the fact that I’ve criticized Mallory in the past… what would she think of Regan’s FRIEND, Sylvie, not Regan’s READER and major-leage commenter, Sylvie) not to mention Hayes! I’d soooo love to know what Hayes thought of me!
Now you don’t feel so crazy do you???? I think this shows I’m loonier than you!
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You had me at Tyler Durden, then sealed the deal with the “my” song, by the Pixies. lol
Great post. This is a great way to take the WIP with you wherever you go. Slipping in work on it while doing the dishes, or folding socks, or that visit to Nana Gee’s house this weekend that was going to dip into serious writing time.
I often daydream of my characters and work on their development, but never thought to do it this way. It’s going to make my “thinking time” way more efficient.
Looking forward to the next post. Nice! Thanks!
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Great post! Yes, working on right now ;o)
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I imagine characters I read about in real life all the time, but I hardly ever do that with my MC’s. Well, I hardly ever imagine them in MY life, but I really think I *do* imagine them in their own. I imagine scenes and little tidbits that would never make it into the book; they’re just there to give me a better image of these people’s lives. Applying characters to everyday situations makes them everyday people.
I have to quote two sentences because they were hilarious (to me):
“My character, Hayes? Dude, he’d talk crap about all the things in my medicine cabinet, but only after trying to peek around the curtain. I’d yell at him and he would respond with a cool and biting comment.”
-OK, why is it that he sounds more appealing as someone to read about? I’m not insulting Mallory or anything, but it’s Hayes’ sort of character that really draws me in. That sarcastic, biting, personality. It makes him incredibly interesting. I nearly laughed at the medicine cabinet comment. ( :
“I wonder if he would have been like that if we hadn’t argued in the car for so many days before hand?”
-Regan, you are a “real writer” by all insane, character loving, hallucinating standards. You’re in. ( : I loved that sentence and I literally imagined you pulling over to give him a good talking-to after he had driven you nuts.
Anyway, as you can see, I’m trying to read all of these Character Series posts. They. Are. Awesome. ( ;
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Regan Leigh Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
I totally get what you mean. Depending on the circumstance, I think Mallory can be just as interesting. But Hayes throws it out there immediately. lol
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