Writers get asked a lot how do you come up with your characters? Frankly I have no right way to answer that. Every writer comes up with their characters differently. In one of my completed stories the characters came to me in a dream. In other book I wrote the character was similar to my personality which is what made it easier to write.
An author Susan Dennard did a post on crafting characters and her idea made so much more sense when I couldn't think of how to write it down.
Her five tips for creating characters went like this
- Voice
- Desperate Need
- Backstory/History
- Behavioral/ speaking Quirks
- Looks/Physical Quirks
I followed her advice and found it really easy to make my characters for what I'm going to write for NaNoWriMo! I try to find new ways when I write something new to see what works best for me.
Now back to crafting the characters. By using the points she wrote here are the questions I ask myself when I am making each character. If you follow it you can be sure you will get the voice of the character into your mind that the story will just pop onto the pages! Here is my tip for each.
How is this character supposed to be? When we are in their mind are we going to be able to tell what they are feeling all the time?
Desperate Need
What is it your character desperately wants? What do they need to get what they want? What is it your character desperately wants?
Backstory/History
What are the events leading up to the story? What is the characters background history? Did the family recently make a move?
What are the events leading up to the story? What is the characters background history? Did the family recently make a move?
Behavioral/ speaking Quirks
What is their behavior when they are around others? Do they slouch? Sit up straight? Do they have their legs crossed? How is the pitch of their voice?
Looks/Physical Quirks
How does your character dress? What is their body type? Does the way they look match their personality and voice?
Have these characters crafted and you are sure to have something that is going to pop off the pages! Good luck with making your characters for NaNoWriMo!
