Hark! (Characters)

[Tersa]

In preparation for NaNoWriMo, I was reading through the hard copy of Jim's LiveJournal entries that I keep with all my other writing books, and I came to the section on characters.  In trying to apply his tips about "traits" and "tags" to my characters, I started wondering... How do writers come up with characters, anyway?  Do they actively plan them out, writing up a description before they do any writing, or just learn as they go?  Where the heck do all these zany beings come from?

I couldn't think of an answer.  I know what I do, but I've been told more than a few times that I'm a little bizarre in my character creation technique.  Maybe it is just because I'm a beginning writer, but how it happens for me is that the character just shows up inside my head  one day and says,  "HEY! Oy! *Waves arms* Listen to me!" After that, I write from there, just letting the words flow, doing short, one shot scenes until I have a good enough feel for the character to write something longer, letting the character do whatever they want.  This "technique" isn't without disadvantages, of course.  Just recently, I was trying to write more in the story I have going with my character, Jacob Bowen, as the main character and his best friend and the archangel of "lovers, healing, and fluffy pink bunnies," Raphael, stole my attention.  I haven't written more on the story centering around Jake in a few weeks now. 

So, I ask you, my fellow writers... How do you come up with your characters?  Do they just "appear" in your brain, or do you base them off of someone and go from there?  Or maybe you do something else entirely, writing out all of their little quirks and traits in a little chart before you ever write anything? 

Remember, odd posts generate conversation.   They also help the thread maker not feel like such a dork.   

[Belial]

As I've said elsewhere (I think... I might not have), my first idea for a story is usually the character. Whether he's an eternal jokester or an eternal cynic, he usually molds himself in my head (and no, not all my characters are male, I've written both, but "he" is better than "it" and less work than always saying "he/she") for a while, until I have a good grasp, then I come up with some supporting characters (mentor, big evil, etc etc), design an interesting world, and drop them into it (the characters almost -always- come first, there have been few times when I've made a world or story arc before the character).

Sometimes I use characters that I play in RPGs (i.e. Dungeons and Dragons) if I feel I have have a good enough character.

It's interesting that you mention that other characters have stolen your attention recently, because when I think about it, in two of my larger stories other characters stole my attention.

"Listen Belial, this chick is nice and all, but you know that the real story here is mine. Listen to what I say, you may have an interesting ending with her, but -I- can make that ending so much more interesting, with lots more twists and turns."

Or, "Listen Belial, writing a story about my 'father' is all well and good, but if you look at my bloodlines, I have much more to tell. To hell with his story, tell -mine-, I won't dissapoint."

Hrm... I always thought that most of my characters were pretty nice guys... I guess they're greedy assholes. 

[Lord Arioch]

I cheat.  If I want to creat a vampire, I find one of my VTM books and create a character based off of that.  I generally give them more powers than VTM would allow, but after a few hundred years, they'd get more powerful.

I do the same with Werewolves, etc.


I use those as the BASIS...  there is still the fleshing out process.




To date, I think the most... interesting fun annoying vampire I ever created was a Malkavian that spoke like yoda, but in riddles.  He'd RARELY speak if not in a riddle.  Of course, being a Malkavian, he was quite insane and as such, the riddles usually made no sense at all.

[Dom]

I get my characters from all sorts of places.

A handful came from a dream.  The dream formed part of the story, and I fleshed out the characters in the dream from there.

Some come from an idea--hey, I haven't done a [insert type of character...mothering, cynical, religious, airheaded] character before!  Let's try that!  And then I develop it.

Or...hey, that person on the street is really interesting!  How would a character like that go?

Sometimes I develop them bit by bit.  I'm just writing along, and they do something, and I'm surprised...but go with it.  Eventually they flesh themselves out.

So I personally have no set way.  They come when they come!

[Cathy Clamp]

Now, see--for me, characters don't arrive fully formed. I have to develop them, sculpt them from primordial ooze. I come up with a basic archetype (grouping of characteristics that personality types share) and then sit down to start to write their background. I have a long list of questions that I answer about each person . . . whether a primary or secondary character. After I've answered them, I quite literally "throw" the circumstance of the plot at the person and, based on their background, I have a good idea how they will respond.

But...

I'm also "God" of my characters, so if I like the plot better than the character, I'll slash and burn their background to give them a different one that will fit with what I want them to do.    My co-author is often both fascinated and horrified by the way I'm willing to turn a character into a pillar of salt for turning at the wrong moment, or transform a whole life history on a whim of subplot.

It's not for everybody. But it works for me. 

[Athanasia]

First I have to say that I hardly dare call myself a "writer", so I'm basically just throwing in my two cents for the sake of the discussion.

I have two writing modes - relaxed and dedicated, in which I'll handle character creation very differently.

The "relaxed mode" is where I'll write hundred of pages a year around certain storylines I've used for... ugh, two decades already? Anyway, it is my brand of daydreaming. It is  also where I work out some ideas that surface later in my second mode.

It's ok there for me not to define characters at the start, because I can just decide to rewrite certain key points... or be content with the fact I know they should have happened another way, and take it from there. Nobody's going to read it.

The "dedicated mode" is the one I need for sure  in PBEM RPGs. (interactive writing, 1000-2000 words per post, a couple times a week. No three liners). Other people are going to read and hopefully enjoy the result of my efforts, sometimes depend on it, and they will also use my character to an extent. I need to establish a distinctive char that I can stay with in the long run, and remain consistent with it. Otherwise plenty of annoying side effects ensue for all.

The short story is, in "dedicated mode" I spend a lot of time defining a character at the top, after which I'm very careful about sticking with this biography and watching how they grow over time.

Now, about NaNo proper I'm not a trained long distance runner and this is my first attempt at such a large format. In relaxed mode, the 50k would only be an extended outline needing a lot of rewrites. It would end up in the trash can with me discouraged once again... But  I really mean to do this, so I switched to "dedicated".

I struggled for a week with my idea for the NaNo. My main char was rather bland and the story lacked an edge because of it. Last night I went working on "dedicated mode" and realized that this char embodies a concept that can't be revealed before the last third of the story. Doh! Meanwhile, the real main char, the one whose point of view will guide the reader, is the one I originally envisaged as a sidekick... (After that revelation,  the outline just flowed from top to finish, yay!). Am I glad I found out now, because if I had just gone for my "relaxed mode" technique, I was toast. LOL

In any case, putting down all this in words helped me see a few things, among which that I have a couple strengths I should make good use of. I'm going to write bios (*)  for these characters so the old training kicks in and I don't lose my way mid November!

I hope you'll find something interesting in all this, Tersa - I certainly thank you for starting this thread, and all that contributed. It helped

Athanasia

(*) Any lurker I dragged here who ever heard me say I'd most definitely not write another bio this year had better stop sniggering NOW. *eg*

[terioncalling]

Usually my characters just do the appearance thing, kick my brain, and wave their arms at me whilst screaming, "Hey, I'm here!  Now give me some history and a plotline to go with it!"

Also, characters usually only come half-prepared.  I start writing with them and abruptly my brain decides it shouldn't have taken that left turn at Albuquerque.  Then they head off on a completely different direction they were going to go and I'm left sitting confused in the dust, having to scramble to catch back up with the little buggers and reform the plotline they're in.

Sometimes also I'll be reading or watching something and I'll find a character and my brain'll go "Hey, that's an interesting premise...let's try to make up a character that's sort of like that" and it heads off and does that.

So, basically, my characters come from anywhere and everywhere, will I, nill I, and at their will and pleasure.

[Tersa]

You're very welcome, Athanasia.  I feel all useful now. 

All of you rock for responding.  I was starting to think I was going a little crazy because of the way I do characters, but apparently I'm not.  My characters have an annoying tendency to steal the spotlight from each other just like Belial's do.  The two quotes she posted actually sound like they could have come from my character Michael, who is the resident arrogant ass of my story's menagerie.   Good to know I'm not the only author who hears their characters "talk" to them.  

Cathy Clamp, I'm going to be honest... I winced when I read your post.     I'm the polar opposite, I get so bloody involved with my characters that I sometimes start complaining to my writing friends about how they're acting towards each other!  At the same time, however, I wish I could take apart my creations and make them fit so I could get things accomplished more quickly.  It is sometimes such a pain to make the story go forward because some character just isn't fitting or working the way they were originally intended to, so I end up having to change the storyline.   

[Tersa]

Usually my characters just do the appearance thing, kick my brain, and wave their arms at me whilst screaming, "Hey, I'm here!  Now give me some history and a plotline to go with it!"

Also, characters usually only come half-prepared.  I start writing with them and abruptly my brain decides it shouldn't have taken that left turn at Albuquerque.  Then they head off on a completely different direction they were going to go and I'm left sitting confused in the dust, having to scramble to catch back up with the little buggers and reform the plotline they're in.

"Turn left! *(Barely contained snickering)*"
"Hey, wait a minute! WE'RE IN ROCHESTER!"

Huzzah for Denis Leary.  It fits, it really does. 

Out of curiousity, have you ever tried writing an outline of the plot as soon as the characters appear?  I was thinking of trying that for my NaNoWriMo project to see if it cured, or at least helped, with this problem.  I'm the same way, and as a result I have a horrible time trying to get through "The Great Swampy Middle" of my story because I can't decide how I'm going to get to point A to point B.

[terioncalling]

Usually my characters just do the appearance thing, kick my brain, and wave their arms at me whilst screaming, "Hey, I'm here!  Now give me some history and a plotline to go with it!"

Also, characters usually only come half-prepared.  I start writing with them and abruptly my brain decides it shouldn't have taken that left turn at Albuquerque.  Then they head off on a completely different direction they were going to go and I'm left sitting confused in the dust, having to scramble to catch back up with the little buggers and reform the plotline they're in.

"Turn left! *(Barely contained snickering)*"
"Hey, wait a minute! WE'RE IN ROCHESTER!"

Huzzah for Denis Leary.  It fits, it really does. 

Out of curiousity, have you ever tried writing an outline of the plot as soon as the characters appear?  I was thinking of trying that for my NaNoWriMo project to see if it cured, or at least helped, with this problem.  I'm the same way, and as a result I have a horrible time trying to get through "The Great Swampy Middle" of my story because I can't decide how I'm going to get to point A to point B.

Tried but I've never been able to completely follow through with a plot line.  I can get about halfway through it and then it goes off on a tangent.  My brain - and my characters - apparently hate being stuck in my trappings and decide to go off on their own wee little ways.

[Lord Arioch]

I also seem to suffer for Adams-isms.

I started a story where I created the most evil being I could... and thusly named him Christian Blessings (hey, irony ).  Well, part way thru chapter 2, I killed him off and turned him into an undead avenger.

Of course, I later saw a similar idea in a book and then a movie based on the book.  Only Jimmy Cuervo wasn't all that evil.

[Mickey Finn]

They come to me. Not whole, I discover things about them as we go along (which would irritate me on MUSHes, where, to apply for a character, you sometimes had to write pages and pages of backgrouns...even for mortal characters).
But they appear with plenty to work with.

Of course, if something changes, a rewrite may be in order. The characters don't speak to me or anything, they just show up, and I tell them what to do.

[Kali]

Difficult to answer, for me.  Mostly, I get a vague idea of what sort of person the character is, something stereotype.  I drop into that mindset, and then stuff just starts happening.

For instance, I wanted to create a character who was a killer.  She killed because she didn't grasp the "wrongness" of it.  I knew she was quite emotionless, but very clever.  I knew she liked pain because pain was one thing she could feel that she couldn't hide from.  Then I started to write, 3rd person but her PoV.

Now she has all kinds of traits I didn't set out to give her, but they're inherently there when I write her.  Some of them, I didn't even realize she had until someone else pointed them out to me.   For instance, when I write her, she never names anyone.  She doesn't think of them by name.  She thinks of them by the function they serve in her life.  So there's Cigarette Man (the state psychiatrist who gives her cigarettes to get her to respond to him), there's Painter (a prison guard whose hobby is painting), the Voice, the Preacher.  I didn't plan to do it that way, hadn't even really realized I was doing it.  I was "in her headspace" and it turns out that's what she does.

That's how all my best characters function.  The bad ones are work.  The good ones are all about getting out of my headspace and into theirs.

[Danielle/Evie]

I'd not dare call myself a "writer", either, but I'll toss over a penny anyway.
When I write, I start of just writing. Usually, whatever plot I started out with is NOT the plot I end up with. Same with my characters. They develop as I write them. After that first draft, I go back and slash big red lines over everything, and make it work. That tecnique worked a lot better for me then anything else..but that's only for the few short stories I've written. I'm still trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to do that novel...

[WonderandAwe]

I usually get inspired by something to create a character.  Either a song, someone I know in real life, random person on the street.  This is the spark in a sense.

Then I figure out where I want the character in the story.  What does he need to bring to it.  I give him some very basic traits based on that.

I give him a background.  I use the background to give him a base for the traits I need him to have.  I try to give him a realistic background.  Based on this, all the other traits my character needs fits into place.

Though sometimes I come up with a character first.  Then I create the world that this character lives in.  From that I can usually find some sort of conflict in it.

Disclaimer: I write alot in my head.  Not good at the getting down on paper yet.