One of the earliest posts I wrote for this Kindle Blog (way
back in 2009) was headed “Method Character Writing”. I mentioned writing up a
dossier for each of my significant characters. In my words, “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.”
It’s a true fact that in real life, and in believable fiction,
everything that a person has experienced goes into forming who they are today.
But a person’s (or character’s) experiences do not stop when they grow up or at
the beginning of your story. Everybody continues to grow, learn new things,
make decisions, perhaps become jaded, knows sadness and happiness and may not
be the same person they were at the beginning of your book. Every character's actions should reflect his/her experiences.
I’ve written a few series-books where the story basically
continues, but the first two series, even though some of the same characters
reappeared, were focused on different couples. My third series, however, (Karma
Visited & Annie’s Karma) was a continuation of the relationship between
Annie and Dave. While they were the same characters that I developed in the
first book, they had both been through a lot and it was now a year or so later.
It was important that I show growth as well as keeping the qualities that drew
them to each other in the first place.
I struggled before I was able to reintroduce the new and
older versions of my creations. Once I realized the problem that I had to age
them gracefully and still endear them to my readers, I decided to add to the
original dossiers. The basic character of a person doesn’t change, they are
still there somewhere inside. This time I had questions to ask my characters
(yes, they become very real to me) how their lives were changed by the
experiences they had in the first book.
In Karma Visited Annie was a very quiet person who tried to
be positive even through a very troubled marriage. A year later no longer trapped
in this bad relationship and now in love with someone else who treats her well…
Would she still be positive? Would she lose all of her compassion that she
displayed in the first story? How anxious would she be to marry again? And
knowing how Annie was treated in her marriage, would the current man in her
life be overprotective, impatient, or indifferent about what she had gone
through?
No matter what, the core basis of these two individuals was
still there. I had to remember that as I allowed them to write their own
stories. By building realistic characters, figuratively giving birth to them, I
can present them with situations and let them work their way through them. If
you make your characters real enough and understand why they have the
perspective they do then they can pretty much write their own stories. And it a
whole lot of fun to take the ride with them!
Writing Exercise: Write
2 to 3 paragraphs about someone important in your life. What qualities do you
admire about that person?
Writing Prompt: Make
a list of 5 to 10 incidents in your lifetime that significantly changed your
outlook on life. How did those incidents change your life?
Challenge Exercise:
Write a 750-word to 1500-word story about what you wanted to be when you
grew up and what/who you are now? What changed and why?
