Jul 23 2008
Getting acquainted with your characters
When it comes to writing romance, how thoroughly you develop your characters goes hand-in-hand with whether or not your book will be successful. Unlike some fiction, which may be plot driven, romantic fiction is all about the love affair of a man and a woman, and you want your readers to connect with your hero and heroine.
There are several techniques that authors use to get acquainted with their characters:
* CHARACTER BIO SHEET - This is a fill-in-the-blank type of form with basic information such as name, physical description, personality traits, etc. This is a handy summary when juggling many characters, even secondary or support characters. Here are a few suggestions for your bio sheet:
- Name/Nickname
- Birth Date
- Place of Birth
- Residence
- Height
- Weight
- Fashion Style
- Hairstyle
- Eye Color
- Tattoos/Birthmarks
- General Appearance
- Significant People (friends, family, enemies)
- Education
- Career
- Habits (good and bad)
- Quirks
- Personality Type
* GMC - Understanding your character’s goals, motivations and conflicts is essential to developing a strong conflict. Spend some time thinking about and answering these questions: What drives your character? Why do they want what they want? What are they willing to do to get what they want? What would be the biggest obstacle to obtaining their goal? How does your heroine’s GMC conflict with the hero’s GMC? What common ground do they share?
*LI
STEN UP - A great way to learn about your characters is to interview them. I know it sounds weird and it can feel a little strange in the beginning, but if you find yourself stuck or the book just isn’t working, ask your characters how they feel about things. Most authors find that once they get into the flow, characters have a distinct voice and personality. Let your hero and heroine have a say in what happens!
* A DAY IN THE LIFE - If you really want to connect with your character, put yourself in her shoes for a day. Confront every situation as if you were really Susie Heroine: What is your morning routine like? What job are you headed off to? What kind of car do you drive? What do you select from the menu at Starbuck’s? Who do you hang around with at the office? Are you the office whiner or the office optimist? What do you purchase at the grocery store? Carry a small notebook to job down ideas, which you can later incorporate into your character sketch or manuscript.
* VISUAL AIDS - Capture your character in pictures. Some writers cull photos of people, homes, cars, office, etc. from magazines or catalogs and then use this to assemble a character collage.
One Response to “Getting acquainted with your characters”
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I’m rather fond of cultivating a voice for them; that gives me a chance to hear them, particularly their quirks. An old friend of mine and I used to slip into character for some of our creations over board games and the like; it was rather amusing pulling out the accents and switching the word patterns around as we moved the marbles around the board.
There’s also “What sorts of conflicts have they already come up against/possibly resolved, and how have they changed them?” That’s always fun to think about.