Chris Johnson's picture
Chris Johnson from Burlington NC is reading The Proud Highway August 20, 2012 - 4:10pm

I was wondering how other writers go about it. I read somewhere about an author that would create files for each of her characters, going into the deepest details, i.e. their favorite books, their clothes, their favorite music, et cetera. Does anyone here use that kind of intensive process? How do you make your peoples real, yo?

Stacy Kear's picture
Stacy Kear from Bucyrus, Ohio lives in New Jersey is reading The Art of War August 20, 2012 - 5:09pm

Trying to think how I've done it in the past, most of my characters have been sitting in my head for years.  When I start to write them they morph to the situations I put them in and take on a life of their own. I'm very aware of how cliche that last bit was.  I have done the list 50 things in the room sort of thing, where you think about everything this person has in their room or another setting in the story. I used that mainly for setting though. 

I just finished a class that I wrote four new stories for and had to come up with characters quickly and write the story specific to an assignment.  One of the ways we tackled writing tension in dialogue was to write it all out first with nothing added. I think that is an incredibly hard way to tackle a story but it worked wonders in forming character voices and fleshing them out in my head. The way they talked and related to one another made them real.  To write the dialogue separate you are concentrating on having their language speak for everything and are forced to "make" this person. 

Don't know if that made sense or will even work for you but it's how I wrote the last handful of characters I wrote. 

GaryP's picture
GaryP from Denver is reading a bit of this and that August 20, 2012 - 5:24pm

I tried doing detailed character things but could never think up stuff without them interacting with other characters, their setting, and the plot.

Courtney's picture
Courtney from the Midwest is reading Monkey: A Journey to the West and a thousand college textbooks August 20, 2012 - 5:31pm

Characters exist mostly in my mind, and some for years, like Stacy said. When it feels necessary to flesh them out on paper or list their details, it usually means that they aren't really characters that I'm comfortable writing and should probably shelve them for a while.

I came up with a character when I was fourteen and wrote a story about her, but it was terrible. Then I wrote a story about her in January and another in April, but neither had anything in common. She had morphed into two distinct people simply because I had her in my mind for so long.

The best way that I've found to develop characters that already exists is to find a photo that really looks like what you have in mind. Once you have that, you can sort of study it and consider where the picture was taken, who took it, what emotion is being conveyed, etc. It helps get a more intimate sense of the character.

If you can't come up with a character, look through photos of someone similar in age/gender/stature, whatever you need for the story, and see what pops out at you. Intuition is a writer's best friend.

Dialgue is another great way to develop characters, Stacy's right. I only recently started working on improving dialogue in my first draft and used my latest story to do it. Since it was interaction between an old man and a woman who died at a young age but was trapped on Earth (yeah, it doesn't make much sense when I say it like that) for thirty years, I had to consider what consequences that would have on their speech, if any.

So the man spoke in long, compound sentences, and the girl spoke in stuttering, stacatto statements that sometimes seemed very immature. It helped me get a sense of who they were -- the girl died so young and didn't have contact with anyone after her death but the old man, so she never had formal education past the second grade. The old man had been with the girl and only her since she died.

She wouldn't know how to speak in anything but short sentences and wouldn't be able to control emotional outbursts. He, on the other hand, was used to people listening to him -- since his only interaction had been with someone so immature and naive -- so he was used to speaking in long, unfettered and unbroken sentences.

A lot of the other aspects of the story -- concept, dialogue, plot, etc. -- can be used to help figure out your character for yourself. I write thousands of words that I never use for stories just so I can practice. Write a story about the photo, include the dialogue, do all of that. It really helps, for me, at least.

Renfield's picture
Renfield from Hell is reading 20th Century Ghosts August 20, 2012 - 5:34pm

Think of someone you know then give them a cool facial scar. In the story, I mean.

OtisTheBulldog's picture
OtisTheBulldog from Somerville, MA is reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz August 20, 2012 - 5:57pm

I've brainstormed and filled out the character worksheets in Scrivener and I've also been more intensive and did "interviews" with my characters - a good exercise can be found in the book What If. But that's worked well for me to really flesh them out and the questions aren't things I'd necessarily consider, so it really deepens them. Plenty of it won't make it into your story, and that's fine, but lots of info you'd not expected is there for your disposal.

Gordon Highland's picture
Gordon Highland from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore August 21, 2012 - 6:16pm

I usually begin with their occupation. With the kinds of stories I tend to write, their job is often what defines them and drives the plot. Secondary characters serve specific functions to either challenge or enable the protag, so their given traits are a direct reflection of their story need (otherwise they're deleted), which sometimes is merely to illuminate some facet of the protag's character, through contrast or similarity.

I do a modest amount of character-buliding, keeping dossiers on them in my Scrivener doc, which will have some of their history, sure, but tends to be more about their wants and needs ("motivation") which I can use for conflict. Also, I "cast" my characters with known actors (occupational hazard: I direct videos for a living), but that's just for my own purposes so I can remain consistent when describing their appearance.

Courtney's picture
Courtney from the Midwest is reading Monkey: A Journey to the West and a thousand college textbooks August 21, 2012 - 8:44pm

The Scrivener portfolios are great for minor characters or keeping track of little details for major ones. When I feel my characters start to get out of control because there's too many, I slap a photo on a character file in Scrivener with their name and basic details for the minor characters. If I really have to get deep into a major character's mind and haven't been mulling them over for years, I fill out the file just to have for reference.

underpurplemoon's picture
underpurplemoon from PDX August 22, 2012 - 9:55am

Think of someone you know then give them a cool facial scar. In the story, I mean.

That's awesome.

 

The Scrivener portfolios are great for minor characters or keeping track of little details for major ones. When I feel my characters start to get out of control because there's too many, I slap a photo on a character file in Scrivener with their name and basic details for the minor characters. If I really have to get deep into a major character's mind and haven't been mulling them over for years, I fill out the file just to have for reference.

Wow. Scrivener is sounding awesomer and awesomer. You may have another convert.

Mckay Williams's picture
Mckay Williams from Oakland, California is reading slowly... August 22, 2012 - 10:31am

I started off my creative life as a stage actor, and in the method we create super intense backstorys for all of our characters. The coolest thing about that for me, is that when you know your characters that well the story will write itself. 

Writing just becomes an improv class after that.

ReneeAPickup's picture
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig August 22, 2012 - 11:52am

I do something similar to Mckay. I just spend a lot of time thinking about them, thinking about situations they might be in, conversations, etc (usually that have nothing to do with the story, just playing with my new imaginary friends) and then I start writing. If a character isn't mostly realized by the time I start writing the story, I have a hard time moving forward.

Andrez Bergen's picture
Andrez Bergen from Melbourne, Australia + Tokyo, Japan is reading 'The Spirit' by Will Eisner August 22, 2012 - 4:10pm

I tend to create characters on the fly, as I write, and during the editing phases hone them a bit more regarding character tics, temperament, etc. Sometimes I'm inspired by mates, aquaintances or memory and start there; other times I have no idea where these people come from!

JonnyGibbings's picture
JonnyGibbings August 23, 2012 - 4:56am

Urgh… this is going to make me sound a right twat. For me, characters kind of gestate in the story and are only given birth once they are needed. I don't have a character outline like when doing a screenplay. My characters seem to mirror the worst in the protagonist, so there is a reaction. Fuck that sounds pretentious.

But once I have the need for a character (such as Stadnyk, a dude in my book), a character sort of arrives, what he/she is like starts with a walk. I don't know why, but if I act like the person I'm going to write, or rather how they walk, they seem to just happen. I had no idea Stadnyk would be called Stadnyk, or would be Ukrainian till I met him.

I have a shitty system when I write, cos I am a shitty writer. I call it 'What, what, Why' I think for fiction to work (for me because I have a short attention span) there needs questions. I use it when I discover a character. Stadnyk was 'What  is needed' - a character that is a bigger monster. 'What about him makes him a bigger monster' - he is a sociopath, but a charming one. 'Why - is that good?' Because he fools the protagonist into further danger etc. etc,

Once I know kind of what is needed, once I get their walk right, the rest just happens. So slouchy arrogant, or menacing or awkward and nervous. Stupid I know. But if I mimic them, they seem more real.

GaryP's picture
GaryP from Denver is reading a bit of this and that August 23, 2012 - 1:25pm

Uh, I read nothing twat-like, pretentious, or stupid in your post, Jonny. I found it quite cool. And I like the what, what, why system.

OtisTheBulldog's picture
OtisTheBulldog from Somerville, MA is reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz August 23, 2012 - 4:00pm

I agree. I like the What, What, Why system as well. From now on when I'm writing, to remind myself, I'm going to sing it like it's a background shout in a rap song, "What, What, Why muthafucker!" When I make enough dough, I'll hire DMX to leave me random voicemails saying exactly that.

Bekanator's picture
Bekanator from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay Hunter August 23, 2012 - 8:47pm

Characters come out of stories, so I usually don't really think about a character until I have story for he or she to be a part of. Usually it's the story that I conjure up first. Like, I'll go play mini golf with some friends and I'll think, Damn, it would be great to write a story about two people having sex here. Or I'll be on the Skytrain in Vancouver and I'll think, Damn, it would be great to write a story about two people getting it on in public here. Or I'll be making out with a dude in a post office storage room and I'll think, Damn, I should write about this.

That's usually when I start thinking about characters. I usually cast actual actors in my head to be the characters then then I'll build a personality around them based on their acting ticks or whatnot. Depending on how inspired I am, I'll spend a week or so (sometimes it's longer because it's pretty easy to lose ambition) working on the plot in my head while writing down whatever I get. Then I have a draft and I continue my mental notes on the character until the story is done.

Characters are like real people. You get to know them over time, except it's kind of crazy because it's all in your head. Making a "profile" has never much worked for me in the past because I always get bored with the character once I'm done taking notes on all their favourite movies and hopes and dreams. For the most part, all you need to know about a character is who they are in the moment of the story they take part in. It's like you meet them during the course of the story and then you lose track of them after it's over. They might tell you a bit about their past during the span of time that you know them, but once the story's done your friendship is severed forever. Disconnect. I think you kind of need that as a writer.

OtisTheBulldog's picture
OtisTheBulldog from Somerville, MA is reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz August 24, 2012 - 6:26am

I had some success last night, and this ties in with the serialized thread because for about a year I've been toying around loosely with a character. Last night I was just brainstorming writing down facts about him, little personality quirks, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Kind of boring, kind of alright at times but just doing it because I didn't want to write anything else.

I checked out an exercise in my book, "What If" and there's an excercised called "The Truth, The Half-Truth and Anything But The Truth" The example in the book was, "My father died when I was young. My mother was heartbroken and ran off with the mailman. Every once in a while I get a postcard from Minnesota."

You get the idea. So I did that. And out of that one little exercise I came up with the main conflict in my characters life and a secondary character that be a driving force in the series. 

Thought I'd share. It was a pretty nice breakthrough in a night that was pretty much just run of the mill character development. Now from here on out, it should be easy street. All unicorns and ice cream.

ReneeAPickup's picture
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig August 24, 2012 - 9:37am

What I love about Bek is how she embraces her niche openly. Haha.

And no, Jonny, didn't sound pretentious you answered the question as it was posed.

I think maybe the varied answers have a lot to do with how we start. I usually start stories with a character, not find a character for my story, if that makes sense. Sometimes there is an "idea" like the longer project I am working on now, and I work on the characters from the idea--but the story never really happens for me until I know at least one character.

Bekanator's picture
Bekanator from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay Hunter August 24, 2012 - 9:50am

@SparrowStark - I won't deny that I'm kind of a broken record of a writer. I do try to mix up themes between all the explicit stuff, but I love exploring gender differences. Maybe when I'm old and dried out I'll go on a wine tour and I'll think, Golly gee, I should write a story about a mother and her son picking berries here!

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters August 24, 2012 - 9:50am

Most of my writing is sort of really character driven, I think. 

I'm not great with analyzing what I do.

So I come up with a concept and character all in one I guess.  The story I write is the story of a person and what they do, not nessesarily something that happens to a person.  I don't know if that makes sense.  Or if it's true.

I don't usually make notes or anything of their favorite color, but I can usually tell you what it is if you needed to know.  Or if I needed to know. 

I have no idea why I'm writing this because I don't think it's helpful at all.

Bekanator's picture
Bekanator from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay Hunter August 24, 2012 - 9:56am

@averydoll - It shows me that the character of you doesn't give a fuck but is kind of an attention-seeker. It conveys a lot.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters August 24, 2012 - 10:04am

That was depressing for me.

 

Bekanator's picture
Bekanator from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay Hunter August 24, 2012 - 10:17am

But you have reactions!

ReneeAPickup's picture
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig August 24, 2012 - 1:02pm

Bek--I wasn't implying that there was anything wrong with your niche. I personally love it.

Bekanator's picture
Bekanator from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay Hunter August 24, 2012 - 5:46pm

Renee - Don't worry. I know how much you love me. But eventually people who don't love me as much as you are going to stand up and by like, "It's just sex hidden behind the main character's personal insecurites!" And then Bill will write a blog post about how much of a hack I am. It'll be great.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated August 25, 2012 - 2:52am

Most of my characters come from one of three thoughts. Villains or anti-heroes start when I see people leaving themselves open to exploitation and think, "Don't folks realize a scum bag could just come along and X?" And it kind of gets me wondering what kind of guy would do X. Heroes (rare for me) start when I see a way someone/thing could be improved/accomplished at great personal risk/effort that I'm not willing/able to do and I think, "Who would/could just go for it?" I get minor characters when I stop and think about who the characters from the first two questions would know/hang out with/have to deal with.

@Bekanator -

Golly gee, I should write a story about a mother and her son picking berries here!

I'm totally going to treat that as a prompt.