Where do you get inspiration for characters?
- on 06.17.09
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I've always had a hard time developing characters. I can easily write scenarios and long, detailed stories, however my characters always seem to come out as the same general archetype. Am I doomed to mediocrity, do I have to ask someone else for inspiration? How can I make my imagination go in that direction?
They come to me. First, I think of them as a whole. Like… a woman named Annie. I know a few basic things about Annie: She is the 5th of 6 siblings, she has long, dark, wavy hair and very white skin. Her eyes are grayish blue. She's bipolar and struggles with it.
As I start to write stories with Annie in it, I start finding things out about her. As the stories develop, I find out she was engaged, that her best friend's name is Melissa and that she's a freelancer journalist, and because of her sickness, she writes A LOT and about anything you can imagine, and sells it to all over the world.
Then, the other day, I found out her real name's Annabella and she absolutely hates it. I didn't want it to be like that, but she told me it was, and it was.
Things just happen when I'm writing. The more I write, the more the characters develop themselves, by their actions and reactions!
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They come to me. First, I think of them as a whole. Like… a woman named Annie. I know a few basic things about Annie: She is the 5th of 6 siblings, she has long, dark, wavy hair and very white skin. Her eyes are grayish blue. She's bipolar and struggles with it.
As I start to write stories with Annie in it, I start finding things out about her. As the stories develop, I find out she was engaged, that her best friend's name is Melissa and that she's a freelancer journalist, and because of her sickness, she writes A LOT and about anything you can imagine, and sells it to all over the world.
Then, the other day, I found out her real name's Annabella and she absolutely hates it. I didn't want it to be like that, but she told me it was, and it was.
Things just happen when I'm writing. The more I write, the more the characters develop themselves, by their actions and reactions!
References :
I had a novel published last year, Time for Patriots. Some of the characters are actual historical persons, and easy to plug into their persona. Examples are Ben Franklin and Mozart. Other characters are based on various people I have known, including making my college history professor into a woman as revenge. But the point is, each of your characters can be based on either a real person or borrowed from a fictional character. You have a salesman in your story? Think Willy Loman. You have a rock musician? You've dozens of models to follow. A newspaper reporter? Heroically Woodward and Bernstein, or more tragically, the image of the half drunk sot cranking out boiler plate.
Take a look at some novels with good characterization and figure out how the author did it.
References :
I base mine on TV or personal experiences. Like I'll see a crazy red head on TV and if I write about a crazy red head I'll see that person in my head. And think " What that crazy red head do in this situation?" And so on and so on.
References :
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