A question I constantly get is, “how do you come up with your characters?” And it’s a good one, because the answer varies on the character. I’d like to say I have some formula for creating and forming characters, but their creation is sporadic.
Some of my characters are drawn from inspiration of people I know. Other characters are literally created in the back of my mind, where I’ll wake up on some random Tuesday at 4:00am and go “that would make a great character in a book.” Sometimes, I’ll be in a flow of writing and a new character will magically appear across the screen, and five seconds ago I didn’t even realize I was going to create them.
With my main character in my upcoming book, Tori Knott, I knew I wanted her to be fun and quirky, and Zooey Deschanel’s character in “New Girl” was all I could think about when creating her.
Creating characters is a little bit of an art, inspiration, and a tiny bit of creative madness.
Talking to yourself isn’t always a crazy or bad thing…. Especially when it comes to character development. Unlike an actor who may take up some type of method acting to get into their character for a movie or TV show, I have conversations with my characters as if they’re my friends, family members, lovers, or even exes that left me in pieces.
I like to understand what makes them tick, what gets them angry, riled up, elated, jealous, secretive, emotional, and an overall complex of a character. I ask them questions just as any person would ask someone they’re trying to get to know. Even if I may not like a character I’m writing, and they’re eventually going to be the “bad guy,” I’m no less fascinated by them.
And sometimes, my characters take on lives of their own, especially when I unlock my imagination and tell myself that anything goes. Often, my characters surprise me, and I love that.
Just as readers become obsessed with certain characters and wish they could have someone like that in their real lives, us authors feel the same way when we’re creating them. If Catalina Perez, a character in my new book, was a real person, I’d have to become her friend right away because she’s electrifying. On the other hand, if I met Jim from my first book, You, Always, I’d probably run away after my first date with him and save myself from a lifetime of an emotional rollercoaster.
But, just like us, my characters create and experience their own crazy, messy, beautiful lives, bringing their stories to the page so the readers can smile, laugh, scoff, and cry along with them. And that is why I keep listening to the voices in my head, because I never know which one might be the next character in my book.
