This week: Thoughtful Characters Edited by: Fyn  
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Sound character provides the power with which a person may ride the emergencies of life instead of being overwhelmed by them. Failure is... the highway to success. ~~Og Mandino
It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment. ~~Marcus Tullius Cicero
Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness. ~~Anne Frank
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When writing, we give birth to numerous characters - each of whom has a history, a personality, a set of expectations and emotions. They are not flat blobs but fully rounded entities who change, grow, have bad moments, excellent days and fall flat on their faces occasionally. We attempt to make them as 'real' as possible given the confines and framework of the tale.
Ever been reading a book and suddenly a character does something totally 'out of character' and which appears to make no sense to you, the reader? Or discovered a 'fact' of the character's existence that is simply 'wrong or incorrect' given the work thus far? It jars the reader out of the world of the story.
Characters are complex. We, as writers, know (or should know) them better than the majority of our friends and family. Thing is, with a friend you can ask, "When is your birthday?" or "Didn't you once tell me you had three brothers?" Nothing like reading along and a brother has simply disappeared or morphed out of nowhere! With our characters we need to remember or keep track. Several books into a series, I know I don't always remember all the character's names and idiosyncrasies. So a long time ago, I started creating 'histories' for my characters. Each has a section in a notebook. Or, over time, its own notebook. I add little things as the 'occur' and then I had a handy reference. Doing this builds a more complete history of the characters and gives me a handy reference source for the odd facts or experiences. Another way to handle this could be with spreadsheets if that is more in your wheelhouse.
Doing this can help the writer to avoid plot-holes. Especially, with a series with numerous characters over a number of books. One can't have a birthday mentioned in book two in June and then have it be in March three books later!
So, having said this, it can also be incredibly useful when just starting a new set of characters, or, even a main character. As you are creating this character, it can be quite helpful to fill out a grid on the character. To that end, I offer the following suggestions to get you started.
Character 1
Name
Age in story, born when?
Physical characteristics: eyes, hair, etc.
Born where? Living where? Small town, NYC, the edge of a glacier?
Nationality?
Prefers (in an ideal world) living where?
Family life - parents, siblings. Large or small?
Married, single, dating, widowed, a kid...
Favorite color, season, holiday, car, person.
Education
Job? Aiming for what?
What is this person's dream?
What's the best thing to ever happen to them. What's their favorite memory?
Worst thing to happen? Biggest nightmare?
What's their health like? Mental illnesses? Quadruple bypass survivor? Skinny? Just right? Curvy? a double six-pack?
Are they rich, poor, muddling through, comfortable.
Religious?
What do they believe in?
Pets? Dog, pet swan, hummingbird or Planaria worm?
Best friends, who are they?
Who or what inspired them? Why
These are just some ideas so you can get to know this character, become emotionally attached to them as they share their history. (Because if your are not emotionally invested in them, your audience won't be!) Will you actually USE all this info in your tale? Probably not, but what happens in a life, how a person responds to the world around them, is influenced by their personal history. They weren't 'born' when your first sentence hits the page with a twenty-something year old character. They need to exist, even if only in your mind and heart, before they ever step fot on the page.
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Some useful resources from WDC writers!
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Quick-Quill  writes: I'm plotting a thriller that involves Preppers/survivalists. These people are interesting and can live without the modern conveniences if necessary. What would we do if life changes for us? My book isn't a sciFi but about a man on the run from a government agent and asks a woman he doesn't know to help him. They are both running to some sort of safety with preppers.
Good question. Answers anyone?
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Gita  adds: Would just like to tell you that I really enjoyed your newsletter,
"Observations on a Dark Hot Weekend" Gita
Thank you! It is so nice to read words like these!
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For Authors: August 21, 2019 Issue [#9719]
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