Building Characters
I believe building characters is the most important part of the story, one notch up from plot. They are the ones that give the story depth. For me, I love creating characters! There are three parts to building a character: what they look like, how they react, and how they will grow.
When it comes to a character’s description, I like to keep those descriptions vague, giving just enough detail to let you (as the reader) create your own image of what they look like without stifling your imagination.
How the character reacts to a situation—in thoughts, words, or action—will give them a unique personality. We’re all different and they should be too. A character’s personality should have both negative and positive traits, quirks, and their own voice.
A character also needs to grow (lessons learned) throughout the book, and a great way to do that is by giving them a fear or secret that they don’t want anyone to know. One way or another that fear or secret will be exposed and give the character a chance to face it, fix it, and then overcome it.
So, how do I find my characters? I have a folder of images taken from magazine cutouts, internet shots, and model cards that I’ve collected throughout the years. I’ll go through the images to select my characters based on their look, expression, and pose and if they’ll fit the story’s premise. On a rare occasion, I’ve created a character based on a person that I briefly met or knew in the past. One of those characters is Rex from my novel “Gitana – Life Plan.” The secondary character is one of my favorites and a reader favorite.
