Digging for Characters

I’ve been thinking about characters a lot lately because I’ve been brainstorming new story ideas. It occurred to me that creating or revising characters is as much about the “why” as the “how.”

How do you come up with characters? The heroine in my current project is based entirely on a friend of mine. The hero came from using THE WRITER’S BRAINSTORMING KIT. Another book’s hero is based loosely on the qualities of the boyfriend in the movie ERIN BROCKOVICH.  The heroine for him is a loose compilation of girls I knew in my old hometown. There are a lot of answers to “How?” and you can find them in books, web sites, and classes.

But why do you come up with the characters you do? For example, in my sophomore year of college I was looking forward to English Literature class, but the recently divorced instructor changed her reading list to only include female authors, and authors or protagonists who were either angry feminists or who had committed suicide or been committed. She also chose not to call on any of the men in my class for the entire semester. As the weeks wore on, the “why” became increasingly clear.

I’ve been thinking about the “why” for me. Yesterday was the 21st anniversary of the day I met my husband, and I’m still crazy about him – so most of my heroes are tall, dark haired, and have one or two of my husband’s traits. I’m learning to ride a motorcycle – one of my heroes designs his own bikes. I love to laugh, so I want at least one character in each book to make me laugh. I am constantly struggling with how to believe that God has an action plan for my life versus settling for whatever life dishes out – my characters tend to as well. I believe in struggle and heroism and sacrifice and redemption – and I want to search for and find those things in my stories.

Once I started thinking about it and making mental lists, my brain just kept going! I often catch myself noticing my own “internal conflicts” and “external conflicts” – LOL! It might be something as small as wanting to accept the invite to go out with friends versus being tired and knowing I have to get up early and run five miles. Or it might be something as huge as the ah-ha moment I had on Sunday when our pastor said that we need to keep in mind that we have an eternal purpose, and our career may be part of it, but not everything about our career purpose has to do with our eternal purpose. I suddenly realized that I might have an identity problem.

Where do you find your identity? Does it bring you contentment? Frustration? Confusion? Are you looking in the wrong place? Or in the right place, but you need to make some adjustments? When you can answer these questions for yourself and your characters, you’ll find your characters become sharper, more focused.

Between the mundane and the ah-ha and the perception of identity, you could really get to know a person. You could figure out what you like and dislike about them, what you have in common, what makes you want to get to know them or root for them in their little trials. These are the things I love about really great characters. I want to know why they are who they are. And that is how I unconsciously choose which authors I’m going to follow – because I get the feeling that the author and I might have a lot in common, that they could be a friend. Why else would fan clubs (the ones started by actual fans!) exist, and how else would they grow? An author or musician hit a chord with their audience, made them feel part of a shared experience.

You have experiences that others can relate to. When you’re writing or rewriting, ask yourself why you create the characters you do. What do they have in common? What do they have in common with you? What answers are you looking for? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you develop deeper characters who resonate with your audience.