My Characters Are Real

If anyone reads this blog starting at this point, they might think that, following the “advice” in my previous post, I have lost my mind. I guess I have to admit that it’s possible that I have, but if anyone is an ardent reader, movie-watcher, or show-follower, they will probably have to admit that they have the same “problem” as I do.

I mean, maybe they didn’t create the characters, but they’re still probably under the delusion of some other writer, believing that their characters are real.

Come on, now. You know you’ve done it.

When we read a book or watch a movie or TV show, and we meet these people that someone else made up, and we get to know them like they’re real people, we become emotionally invested in them, and therefore in the story. We care about what happens to the characters. That’s what the writer wants. That’s what I want to happen to people when they read my stories. Except I’m not thinking that when I write. I’m thinking that my characters are real, and I just want other people to get to know them.

This illusion (somewhat heartbreaking in that it’s only an illusion) is the key to creating good characters.

Oh, this is a writing lesson!

No, I really am crazy. But keep reading anyway, and hopefully I can help someone in creating their characters.

Here’s how I create/discover my characters:

I talk to them.

Don’t leave! I’m not the only author who does this. If you do a quick Google or Bing search on something like “character development,” you will find many other authors saying the same thing, to have conversations with characters in order to develop them. Personally, I find that easier to do on paper, but I have had mental conversations with my characters as well. I will upload a picture of one of my “conversations” with some of my characters as soon as I can.

I’ve filled out worksheets for character development that I found online, in which I detail the appearances, backgrounds, and personality quirks of my characters, and those can help, but I do think that, for me at least, it actually helps more to have conversations with them. While you are “talking” to your characters, these figments of your own imagination take on a personality of their own, and it actually seems more like you are discovering them than actually creating them. This sort of freaks me out and thrills me at the same time. I love it. You will too, if you try it.*

You’re discovering another person who lives inside your mind, and they develop their own personality as you get to know them, but that’s what makes them so real, and when they’re real to you, they’ll be real in your story, and real to other people when they read it. At least, that’s the goal.

Maybe I am a little bit crazy. But it’s okay—writers are supposed to be.

-Chantel-

*Note: You’ll only love it if you’re an author. You’ll probably find it to be a waste of time if you’re not.

How to Lose Your Mind

I’m a writer. At least, I want to be. According to many sources, one is a writer as long as they write, but I would add that one is a writer as long as they write consistently, and of their own choice. A good writer will try to improve their writing, constantly—and a good writer will improve their writing by writing more, getting feedback and finding the problems in their writing, and improving on their weak points. The problem with the desire for improvement comes when a writer wants to be perfect right away.

Who wouldn’t want to write perfectly? Every “real” writer wants to write to the best of their ability. But there are people who see their writing and look on it with distaste, because it is simply not good enough, and throw it away. This is the best way not to improve on one’s writing.

I have done it myself. I took a break, more or less, from writing for about a year, and late last year I tried to return to writing, only to find that my writing skills had seriously declined. I wrote short, choppy scenes, two-dimensional characters, and awkward dialogue. I was so frustrated that I couldn’t write like I used to.  I would get mad about my writing and leave it “temporarily,” not wanting to deal with my mediocre scribblings anymore at that time. Then I would put off returning to it, because I didn’t like it. I have bits and pieces of stories I have never returned to after casting them aside in frustration. But I have learned that sometimes writing has to suck in order to get better. Now I try to write even when I don’t like it. I can always edit my writing later, but I need to write and write and write in order to get back into things. And slowly, I am improving.

How to lose your mind? Well, if you’re a writer, you’re halfway there already; it just comes with the job. But to lose the other half of your mind, try to be a writer and don’t write because it isn’t good enough. Between your desire to get better and be perfect, your disgust with your own work, and your lack of actual writing because you hate your writing, you’ll be out of your head in no time.

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” –Nathaniel Hawthorne

-Chantel-