Developing your characters' personalities
I got an email from Jeff last week asking how I develop my characters' personalities and create dialogue. Since a lot of you are writers, I thought I'd answer his question in a blog. Jeff said that he's good at writing scenarios, but not so much at dialog and motivation.
I think this happens to a lot of us when we're starting with a fresh idea with new characters. It's the question of which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Or in our case: which comes first, the plot or the characters? For me, the characters come first -- at least my main character comes first. And she arrives in my head complete with the beginnings of her personality; the nuances and fine details will come as the story develops and the character grows.
But before I start writing, I do a LOT of toying with my brand new idea, exploring the possibilities, expanding the scope, deepening the complexity. And as that happens, more characters come into being as the story idea takes shape. The story will determine their motivation, inspire their dialogue, and fuel their actions. Some of these characters will share your protagonist's goals and values -- these will be her friends and allies. Some will be at odds with your her goals and values -- these will become your villains. The way to write authentic sounding dialogue is to immerse yourself in that opening scene, become a part of it and your character. Get inside your main character's head. Start asking them questions. Put them in hot water from the very first sentence. Then you'll soon find out what really motivates them because they'll tell you.
CONTEST UPDATES
Thanks to all of you, Armed & Magical has won its way to the championship (and final) round of the BookSpot Central March Madness Book Tournament! A&M is going up against Kitty and the Silver Bullet. Most of the regular visitors to BookSpot Central are hearing about my books for the first time through this contest. Needless to say, this is great publicity for my work. Here is the link for voting. Note: This is the FINAL round, so this is the LAST time you'll have to vote. Some of you have voted in every round -- you guys are awesome (and tireless). ; ) The deadline for voting is next Monday, April 13 at 8 pm EST. If Armed & Magical wins, my little book gets a very cool trophy -- and some great exposure.
Don't forget, today at 6 pm EST is the deadline for you to submit your "Tam" entries to be entered to win an ARC for The Trouble with Demons. I'll award the ARC on my blog tomorrow. Send your entries to me at lisa @ lisashearin.com. I'll respond to let you know I got your entry. On Thursday, I'll post some of the other entries.
On Saturday, I'll post another snippet from The Trouble with Demons -- which will be on bookstore shelves three weeks from today! WOOOOOO!
Lisa
I think this happens to a lot of us when we're starting with a fresh idea with new characters. It's the question of which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Or in our case: which comes first, the plot or the characters? For me, the characters come first -- at least my main character comes first. And she arrives in my head complete with the beginnings of her personality; the nuances and fine details will come as the story develops and the character grows.
But before I start writing, I do a LOT of toying with my brand new idea, exploring the possibilities, expanding the scope, deepening the complexity. And as that happens, more characters come into being as the story idea takes shape. The story will determine their motivation, inspire their dialogue, and fuel their actions. Some of these characters will share your protagonist's goals and values -- these will be her friends and allies. Some will be at odds with your her goals and values -- these will become your villains. The way to write authentic sounding dialogue is to immerse yourself in that opening scene, become a part of it and your character. Get inside your main character's head. Start asking them questions. Put them in hot water from the very first sentence. Then you'll soon find out what really motivates them because they'll tell you.
CONTEST UPDATES
Thanks to all of you, Armed & Magical has won its way to the championship (and final) round of the BookSpot Central March Madness Book Tournament! A&M is going up against Kitty and the Silver Bullet. Most of the regular visitors to BookSpot Central are hearing about my books for the first time through this contest. Needless to say, this is great publicity for my work. Here is the link for voting. Note: This is the FINAL round, so this is the LAST time you'll have to vote. Some of you have voted in every round -- you guys are awesome (and tireless). ; ) The deadline for voting is next Monday, April 13 at 8 pm EST. If Armed & Magical wins, my little book gets a very cool trophy -- and some great exposure.
Don't forget, today at 6 pm EST is the deadline for you to submit your "Tam" entries to be entered to win an ARC for The Trouble with Demons. I'll award the ARC on my blog tomorrow. Send your entries to me at lisa @ lisashearin.com. I'll respond to let you know I got your entry. On Thursday, I'll post some of the other entries.
On Saturday, I'll post another snippet from The Trouble with Demons -- which will be on bookstore shelves three weeks from today! WOOOOOO!
Lisa
posted by Lisa Shearin at
6:05 AM
5 Comments:
Final round! Congrats!
Thank you, Jen!
Still waiting for Armed and Magical to arrive (Amazon UK is taking it's sweet time), but I voted for it! Congrts on getting to the final round! :)
Thank you, Jo!
Congrats! Hope you win this round too then! :D
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