Re-post: Method Character Writing

The first time I ever tried to write a fiction story, my characters seemed flat and one-dimensional. So I quickly added emotions. I added a temper tantrum here and there, a prank, a bad joke. And I successfully created cardboard robots who laughed on cue, cried on cue and got angry with no apparent reasoning.

Like all writers, I wanted to create real people that my readers could empathize with, people who were believable. The first time that a friend/pseudo critic asked me “Why did so and so do that?” I had a huge epiphany. I hadn’t spent seven years as a theater and drama student for nothing. I began to use the same philosophies I had learned under the guise of “method acting” in creating my characters.

The actor who stands on stage and nearly crumbles when a firecracker goes off knows why even if it isn’t part of the script; he knows that as a child he witnessed the gunfire at a jewelry store holdup that killed the friendly shop owner and the loud and unexpected noise is now making him replay that scene and causing a severe meltdown. The actress who bursts into real tears as she is given the news of another character’s demise is remembering the funeral of a loved one, maybe her sweet old granddad, and the finality of knowing she would never see him again.

When I envision my characters I build a dossier on them. Okay, not really a dossier, but enough to fill an index card. I know their education, what kind of relationships they had with their parents and siblings. I list a few of the vacations they took as a child and their most memorable experiences. I may include the outcome of their first serious love affair. Even their food allergies are included; it doesn’t matter if that information is never known in the story.

When I develop my story, I decide on the main characters, the basic conflict and the eventual outcome. I think of a few events that might be interesting along the way. Otherwise how I get from point A (the beginning) to point B (the ending) is totally up to my characters. I have stated in interviews that my characters write their own story and they do because their reactions and actions are all based upon their past experiences.

In one of my novels a supporting character took on such a life of his own that I had to write a story about him. In the first novel (His Lucky Charm) the hero asked why Tom could give so much good relationship advice. The response was a mere six sentences which told of a tragic ending to a high school romance. But I knew more details and the impact it had on Tom. Tom became so real because of that paragraph and the poignant story behind it, that I had to write a story about him (Within the Law) and, in the romance genre I write, I had to give him a happy ever after ending as well.

When the character is more than just a name on paper and has a history, likes and dislikes, they can begin to live. That’s when the story becomes real.


Writing Exercise:  Using any three Zodiac signs as a basis for personality, build a "dossier" on three characters that would interact in the same story.

Writing Prompt:  What first name would you choose for a  1) murderer;  2) grandmother;  3) stripper;  4) newborn;  5)  US presidential nominee;  6)  playboy;  7)  dying patient;  8)  hero firefighter;  9)  class clown;  10)  rocket scientist.

 Challenge Assignment:  Think of a major decision you made that was influenced by a past experience. Write what you would have done differently if you had experienced something exactly opposite.