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| An example of my character template. The picture came via Flickr.com and, if you click on it, it will lead to the photographer's gallery. |
Is it possible to write a
story without at least one character? I seriously doubt it, even if the
‘character’ is only something inanimate. But is it desirable? Definitely not.
Characters are the writer’s means of delivering story. Plot is a framework, a
guide, sometimes a straightjacket, that determines a story’s direction and
ultimate end. But it’s the character (or characters) who, taking the reader’s hand,
guides her through the twists and turns. And the more believable that character
can be made, the more thoroughly will the reader engage with the story.
A lot has been written
about character development, so I can add to the cannon only by describing my
own method. Before I can start any story, I have to know my main characters. In
my current fantasy trilogy, which is well under way (Volumes 1 & 2 are
written and edited), I’ve so far developed a cast of 83 named characters. Each
of these people has a history, biography, physical description and a picture on
which I can hang my memory. I know; a lot of people will think there are too
many characters here, but this is a tale in the tradition of the epic fantasy,
though it’s more adult than many. It’s common in the genre to have a large cast
list: think of Lord of the Rings. How
I keep track of all these individuals is for another day, another post. For
now, I’ll concentrate on how I ‘invent’ my characters.
As an ex-professional
photographer, my driving creative muse is visual. So, having determined gender
and age, and having a vague idea of what I want the character to look like, I
search my catalogue of images of people. Over the years I’ve been writing, I’ve
made it a habit to collect pictures of real people I come across on my flights
through the matter on the internet. I copy these pictures and assign them a
basic designation according to race, gender, age (approximate), and hair
colour. I have so far collected a library of around 1,200 from which I can take
my pick. (Some of you will be concerned about copyright infringement, but, as
these pictures are never published by me, that’s not really an issue).
Having chosen my picture,
I attach it to a template on Word in the form of a table, listing physical
features, beliefs, relationships, political persuasion, family history and
asking the character two questions: 1. What does this person want? 2. What is
this person prepared to do to get it? I now have a pretty good knowledge of my
character.
At this stage, I use my
table of names to select an appropriate name. (I’ve a document listing over
10,000 names, sorted alphabetically and by gender, with annotations showing the
nations that use the name. For access to that list, please visit the tab above,
labelled ‘Tools & Links’ where you’ll find a .pdf version that you can copy/print
for your own use.) For my fantasy, since I’ve invented a whole world along with
everything that goes with it, I’ve made up my character names and tested each
against Google to ensure I’m neither using one that already exists, nor naming
somebody by using a word that means something inappropriate in another
language.
I now have my character with
name, age, physical attributes and belief system. I also know what motivates
that character and what that character is prepared to do in order to achieve
any ambition. That gives me a pretty rounded person to put on the page before I
even start writing the story. This may seem a lot of work, but in my experience,
the bulk of writing is preparation. Once I have my characters and locations and
any historically factual information that may be relevant, I can start the
story. I find that the preparation allows me to write very quickly. I always
place hyperlinks in the story to each of my character’s bio pages so that I can
quickly check to make sure I haven’t either changed some physical aspect or
turned a peace-loving pagan into a warrior extremist.
So, there you have it: my
method of creating and developing characters. Once they are on the page, I
allow them to guide the story for which I only ever have a very loose framework,
or none at all. Often, they take me along roads I didn’t know existed. I love
that. I learn a great deal along the way, as well. Character is vital to the
story; we neglect it at our peril.
This post first appeared as a guest post on
Brian Hayden’s Blog where you will find lots of other interesting stuff.
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