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Post by The Voice on May 18, 2016 8:28:12 GMT -6
One of the things I love about writing fiction is how a story and it's characters slowly come to life as the tale develops. I've read comments from other authors about how a story will sometimes take on a life of it's own and I never really understood how that could be until I started writing.
I'm often asked (by others and by myself), "why did this happen?" or "why did that character do that?" and many times I just don't have an honest answer. I find myself often saying things like "Perhaps she felt this way" or "I like to hope that this happened" which sounds pretty uncertain and I guess that it is.
While I try to flesh out my characters with different personality traits and backgrounds, there's no denying (for me) that characters and that fickle hand of Fate often seem to act on their own accord and my job as a writer is simply to provide space for events to unfold.
How do the rest of you feel about your stories and characters? I'm guessing that even with the best laid plans, strange things happen when you write.
~V
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Post by Joy Pixley on May 19, 2016 22:10:30 GMT -6
I just had the opposite happen, if that counts (oppositely). I had this revelation where it gobsmacked me that I totally don't understand my main character or where she's coming from. It's like you find out something totally disturbing about your best friend or partner and realize you never really knew them...
ACK!
Okay, deep breath. I'm taking a time out, and I'll go back this weekend and see if she and I can work this out.
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Post by angietrafford on May 23, 2016 5:42:03 GMT -6
When I am going to start a story I tend to do a character interview with them that I can then keep referring to when I am writing the story. It is quite an in-depth interview, but I find it very helpful. Feel free to use it as well :-)
Character interview Name: Birthday: Place of birth: Parents: What was important to the people of the raised her: Siblings: Economic/social status growing up: Ethnic background: Places lived: Current address and phone number: Education: Favourite subject in school: Special Training: Jobs: Salary: Travel: Friends: How do people view this character: Lives with: Fights with: Spends time with: Wishes to spend time with: Who depends on him and why: What people does he most admire: Enemies: Dating/marriage: Children: Relationship with God: Overall outlook on life: Does this character like himself: What, if anything, would he like to change about his life: What personal demons haunt him: Is he lying to himself about something: Is he optimistic or pessimistic Morality level: Confidence level: How is he viewed by others: Typical day: Physical appearance: Physical build: Posture: Head shape: Eyes: Nose: Mouth: Hair: Skin: Tattoos/piercings/scars: Voice: What people notice first: Clothing: How would he describe himself: What five words would he use to describe himself? What five words would his best friend use? Health/disabilities/handicaps: Characteristics: Personality type: Strongest/weakest character traits: How can the flipside of his strong point be a weakness? How much self-control and self-discipline does he have: What makes him irrationally angry: What makes him cry: Fears: Talents: What people like best about him: Interests and favourites: Political leaning: Collections: Food/drink: Music: Books: Movies: Sports/recreation: Did he play in school: Colour: Best way to spend a weekend: A great gift for this person: Pets: Vehicles: What large positions does he own (car, home, furnishings, boat, etc) and which does he like best: Typical expressions: When happy: When angry: When frustrated: When sad: When afraid: Idiosyncrasies: Laughs or jeers at: Ways to cheer up this person: Ways to annoy this person: Hopes and dreams: How does he see himself accomplishing these dreams: What’s the worst thing he’s ever done to someone and why: Greatest success: Biggest trauma: What is the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to him: What does he care about most in the world: Does he have a secret: If he could do one thing and succeed at it, what would it be: He is the kind of person who: What do you love most about this person’s character: Will the readers sympathise with this person right away: How was this character ordinary or extraordinary: How is this situation ordinary or extraordinary: Core need: Anecdote (defining moment): History:
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Post by The Voice on May 23, 2016 7:08:28 GMT -6
Angie, I've used those before too. I find it helps to get to know them better, but characters will still surprise me sometimes. And yeah, that's a really long character bio...lol.
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Post by Joy Pixley on May 23, 2016 7:34:05 GMT -6
Wow, what a long and comprehensive list! I have to think of the character in terms of their story, build up their background, their relationships with family and others, what events happened that helped make them the way they are now. I would find it really hard to answer the questions on your list without doing that first. But once I had the whole story, these items could certainly remind me of issues I hadn't thought of yet.
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Post by angietrafford on May 23, 2016 9:37:34 GMT -6
It is a long one but then I don't always use all of it, it depends on the character. I mean, for example, Jordan has not lived in the modern times so he does not understand things like movies or music. Also, he did not really go to school. But I still managed to build quite a good character interview for him.
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Jade
Junior Member
"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."
Posts: 63
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Post by Jade on Jun 1, 2016 17:15:31 GMT -6
Wow! I've seen character lists before but never one that comprehensive! I'm similar to Joy where I come up with the character's background and bio, I usually write it up as if I'm writing a simple biography: "so-and-so was born on this day. So-and-so loved doing this growing up, but this happened, etc." and I find myself fleshing out not just the character but ideas for the story that I have in mind for the character. It's like a twofold thing. I've also been known to draw out detailed family trees/relationship trees when I have a lot of characters to work with.
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gahlearner
New Member
“Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.” ― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Posts: 46
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Post by gahlearner on Jun 8, 2016 7:17:20 GMT -6
I had no idea about these character interview sheets until Joy Pixley pointed the very helpful website and books of K.M. Weiland, who gives very helpful tips and also has one of these interview sheets in one of the books. But I find that this bores me. But, she also recommends, if nothing else helps, to try free writing an interview with the character without a list. I've had trouble with knowing my characters, too. I thought I knew them, but they just didn't do what they should. I tried the free writing, it ended up as a long and rather intimate dialogue, and that was so surprising... I know it sounds crazy, but they threw stuff about themselves at me that I never would have considered in a 'rational' writing mode. I keep these conversations and just add to them as I run into more questions.
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Post by Joy Pixley on Jun 8, 2016 7:40:17 GMT -6
I had no idea about these character interview sheets until Joy Pixley pointed the very helpful website and books of K.M. Weiland, who gives very helpful tips and also has one of these interview sheets in one of the books. But I find that this bores me. But, she also recommends, if nothing else helps, to try free writing an interview with the character without a list. I've had trouble with knowing my characters, too. I thought I knew them, but they just didn't do what they should. I tried the free writing, it ended up as a long and rather intimate dialogue, and that was so surprising... I know it sounds crazy, but they threw stuff about themselves at me that I never would have considered in a 'rational' writing mode. I keep these conversations and just add to them as I run into more questions. Interesting approach! And that doesn't sound crazy to me at all. I'll have to try that.
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Post by angietrafford on Jun 8, 2016 9:46:24 GMT -6
K. M. Weiland does have many useful tips, I am permanently crawling over her pages in the hope of gaining some guidance. She is also very good at answering any tweets or Facebook messages about any specific problems you are having. Also, her actual fiction work is amazing! I like doing free writing with my characters as well because you really do learn a lot in that time. It's like they actually think for themselves :-)
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Post by Joy Pixley on Jun 8, 2016 9:57:48 GMT -6
I love KM Weiland's blog, too. I just ordered one of her craft books, whee!
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