Getting into character's heads

Different people do diifferent things to "get to know" their characters better. I know it's especially hard in more plot-focused genres (mystery, thriller). There are a ton of different character-fleshing-out excercises online. You could probably find a few just with a google search.

I usually find that a short bio, and a little bit of "test" dialogue in a non-novel scene is helpful.

I've also used the character building exercises at poewar.com. Here's the link.

Write scenes that might not make it into the novel, but would make great characterization otherwise. Scenes where your characters are pushed to their absolute limits--they're at their wits' ends. Scenes where they lose it, with terrible consequences.

You have to sit for a while and feel how they feel, sometimes. Let their emotions travel through your body, and translate that. Method writing does wonders for me in these emotional scenes...becoming the character.

Make sure each character has a backstory that explains why they behave the way they do. It's also helpful to make sure they have emotional needs and specific external goals. I find it's easier to get into their heads if they're active characters who are making things happen to resolve the story. Also, for me, it helps if they have a lot of faults. I can't write good people. But that might just be me.

I know it sounds weird, but I talk to mine.

I imagine them sitting right next to me, and I just have a conversation with them. They usually come to life pretty quickly in my stories after doing this a few times.

Danger Jane said:

Write scenes that might not make it into the novel, but would make great characterization otherwise. Scenes where your characters are pushed to their absolute limits--they're at their wits' ends. Scenes where they lose it, with terrible consequences.

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Yes. I do this, and it's extremely helpful. You need to know how your characters will react when they're anguished or in great danger.

I also go to the opposite extreme: I write outtake scenes that go through a very typical, undramatic time in their lives. If the events in the plot weren't happening, what would Character A be doing? I once wrote a whole series of scenes detailing that most dreaded of character situations: character wakes up, gets out of bed, looks at herself in the mirror, and gets ready for the day. It was fun to write because it's one of those things that's generally looked upon as "forbidden" as a novel opening, so I felt completely free to explore my characters and create some really treacherous prose in the process.

I even pretend to be my characters when I'm out and about. I write realistic, character-driven fiction, so it's easy for me to say, "Okay, I'm Character B, and here I am at the supermarket..." and try to see the world as she would. Sometimes I just leave it at that, and sometimes I'll imagine any number of crazy plot scenarios that could happen during this supermarket trip. I've never devised a workable novel out of these real-world experiments, but I've certainly come up with some great backstory moments that I've worked in here and there. Plus, it makes food shopping a whole lot more fun.

I write about half a page biography of my main characters. What were they like in school, were they picked on, were they spoilt, were they good at team sports - all sorts of things. I have failings for my heroine and good points for my worst villain. Then when I write, I know them better and it's easier to stay in character.

This also sounds to me like a potential POV problem. What is your narrative POV? Do you have a central narrative character? If not, how are you handling the narrative?

It's real easy to drift into the dreaded "head-hopping" when you get over-worried about what's going on in various characters' minds.

caw

You could try working out what each character wants most - and what they want least. That will give the character some character.

One way to get into characters' heads: Interview them.

I like to interview my characters.

In my most recent novel, a justifiably jealous husband (Dan) unjustifiably murders his wife (Faith) and her lover (Zorem). The police catch up to him, and just as he's being hauled off to jail (29 hours after the murder) the universe has a time-hiccup, and Dan finds himself back at the murder scene, his two intended victims still alive (or alive again--hard to say with a time loop).

Anyway, a few chapters into the novel I got stuck. So rather than continuing with the plot, I interviewed these three main characters:

• Interview with Dan (the murderously jealous husband)
• Interview with Faith (the cheating wife)
• Interview with Zorem (Faith's young lover)

I focus first on what they're doing in the story, what they want, what matters to them about what they're doing and what's happening to them. Then I simply (!) follow the energy wherever it goes.

These were my first three character interviews. I'd never done that before, and I was surprised and delighted to find that all of the characters became snarky with me. I got to know two of the characters much better. The other one remained a cliche (for the time being).

Anyway, that's what worked for me: Interview them to find out what makes them tick.

Dale

I agree with Jack and Dale, but I like the formality of the interview that Dale uses. He can refer back to the interview later, if need be.

The interview can be unstructured. allow your questions to grow from the character's answers. Your creative mind will build an interesting character, filling in most of the blanks.

The interview idea is a great one, I would have suggested the same thing. Dale's example is awesome and I bet he had a good time while doing it. If you read the interview with Dan (the murderous husband), there are a lot of things that are fleshed out... arrogance, cockiness, ignorance and even insecurity (there are more elements but those stand out)... all great facets to exploit in a project and a well rounded character.

Sometimes it takes a little work to get to know somebody... even a person that exists only in your own head!

I have had instances where I need to really re-group. Going to psychology books will often help-- It all depends on what your characters are going through. Usually in a book, it is something "overboard" that us normal people would hardly ever have to deal with-- murder-- incest--- a kleptomaniac arsonist in the family-- something a little more radical than "normal." Characters also act a bit more psychotic in books than in real life because "normal is boring."

I would look at what the "normal response" would be to certain things (I don't know what your events are... so I couldn't say,) and then make them ten times worse. You could do that by looking at newspaper stories as well. In other words find things in the "Real World" that will help you get into their heads.

A useful project is to collect "things that belong to each character."
Get old magazines and cut out pictures. make a collage. I have bunches of photos saved off the internet of things my characters would have seen, or been involved with. Newspaper articles that might have affected them.

Find things that you sense belong to your characters. If your character is into something that you can find a venue to visit (for example if the character is a hunter, you can go to one of these big hunting stores to soak up ambiance).

Sometimes, if you find yourself no longer in your characters' heads when once you were, it is because you've sent them off in the wrong direction and they are somewhere in the story where they don't belong. Try backing up a bit and see if you made a wrong turning.

I use my usual trick of freewriting, the all-purpose block breaker. Though it may sound contradictory, I direct freewriting for specific purposes.

Recently I wrote three long "speed essays" about the MCs of my current WIP, trying to get deeper into their heads for the second draft. Each essay quickly took on the voice of the character, and each ended up emphasizing different aspects of character development. The Sean essay was about emotions and motivations, the Jeremy essay about control and learning to let control go, the Helen essay about her personal history and how it shaped her internal conflicts.

I started the free-writing sessions with sentences like: "Okay, what about Sean?," or "Let's try Jeremy," or "Helen's turn." After a little initial mumbling and recitation of dry facts, the characters took over and started talking about their core concerns.

I simply pretend to be my own characters. This might come more easily to me as I never fully grew out of the "pretending" stage of life, but it's how I slip in and out of their minds while writing from their POVs. I'm the one performing their actions, saying their words, thinking their thoughts, etc. It's just like when I used to play pretend on the playground, only I'm doing it on the page now.

Someone mentioned writing scenes unrelated to the story and this is a good suggestion. Another one might be to write private journal entries by the characters (another instance of pretending to be them). There are lots of journal prompt sites to get questions/ideas from; just answer them as if the character is the one doing so.

Or you can simply think up different scenarios--say, getting caught in a bank robbery, or having to order dinner in a fancy restaurant with a snooty waiter--anything at all--and imagine the various characters going through these situations, how they might handle things differently. I have a character-building book which does exactly this--it offers various situations and a list of different outcomes, and describes a character's personality based on the outcome you choose. I can't recall the title off the top of my head, but it's easily done without the book too.

When I was younger I loved to pretend to be my own characters chattering on audiocassette--I would just sit there and record them talking to each other, and I made it all up as I went along. Much of it was just dull or stupid, but once in a while it got quite funny. This could be a good way to more immediately get into a character's head.

Yep, I do what Dale does (though a lot less structured). Strike up an imaginary conversation/interview with the characters in question.

"So, Mr. ...?"
"Kickass."
"Okay Mr. Kickass. Where do you fit into this story?"
"I make the hero's life a living hell. It's fun. Sometimes I even help him by accident." Mr. Kickass leans forward confidentially. "By accident, understand?"
"Got it."
"Anyway, I like my job. There's this chick at the office..."


... and so on and so forth. It's really fun. I need to do that again with some of my newer characters.

What helps me in this area is to know the characters background. If I have a well developed background for a character it feels like I know the character. Having a background for a character provides reasons and logic behind their motivations and actions in the story that makes up the novel.

Here is a link to a site that contains a very well developed character chart. If you want, you can fill that out and it should help you learn a lot about your character, enabling you to hopefully get inside their head.

Character Chart

Everything everyone on this thread has said:

There are the methodical abstract methods such as interviews with characters and writing character histories in order to understand the characters and their thought processes. But there are practical measures in order to 'know' and 'feel' how your characters are going to act such as improvisation in front of a mirror or talking to yourself in the style of one of your characters or doing what your character would do. (If your character is a particularly violent fellow I would set limits on this!)

There is also the element of research that one can pursue in order to 'get in the head' of a character. How do I do this? Well I sometimes convince myself that I am the character. In my latest WIP by MC is a young man on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It is important to remember that characters are often a reflection of us, that is the author and the audience. So no matter what whether the character is a saint or a pedophile there are certain attributes that the character will possess that we will be able to relate to. What we as writers do is exaggerate certain features and act them out in a preconceived plot (or not if you let the story flow in its own direction).

'Getting inside your characters head' requires you to detach from your existing reality and to completely absorb yourself in to your characters history, mindset and world view.

Dressing up, though fun at times, is optional.

Oberon said:

Just had a note from my granddaughter with a question we all struggle with. I would be interested in your comments and suggestions.

"Right now I'm kind of stuck and need some writing advice. I'm trying to write this story, a longer one, but I'm having some difficulty. Normally when I write I feel connected to my characters, like they're almost real people, but right now I feel a bit like I'm in a room with all of them and I'm supposed to talk to them but I don't know them very well and have no idea what to say. I have a pretty good idea of where the story's going, I just don't feel for my characters as much as I should. Is there some way to, I don't know, get to know them better? Maybe find some way to get into their heads? Or should I just press on and hope things start to click as the story progresse? Have you ever had this problem?"

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If it's a part time problem it's likely not a problem. It's possible to take this, and work with it- where a character is an enigma, like people in life. They can change their mind, their perspective. It's only important that people attach to certain characters.

"Hey, I know that guy---he's the one you can never figure out."

Verrry interesting. Good suggestions all.

I doodle a lot, on scraps of paper, the backs of old envelopes... and sometimes I'll roughly sketch a character's head and shoulders and have him say a couple of lines in freehand speech balloons that quantify who and what he is. Angry samurai swaggers up to a quiet stranger in a saké bar: "I don't like soldiers, see? Bunch'a cowards. Not one drop of courage among 'em." That snippet of dialogue found its way into the story and became the loudmouthed but loyal supporting character's intro to the supercool hero.

Whatever works.

-Derek

Daydreaming, trying to be the characters, and taking my characters and pitting them against other characters I know well. I've done "thought experiments" where I've sent my mage to the Enterprise and had him try to explain to Spock or Riker that yes, magic really does exist. Or sending my mage to talk with Sherlock Holmes. By forcing my created character to interact with a character which is well-defined, it helps me figure out who my character is.

I have a character sheet... that I fill out..

If I am stuck on finding a character, I will randomly pick a name... and then do a google image search and find a picture of someone and use that for my character..
I did that with a character in my novel .... it worked out well.

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself about your character that will reveal alot.

1. What is their prize possession?
2. Do they have a pet? If so.. what kind and what is it's name?
3. What are their past failures?
4. What are their sucesses?
5. What event do they fear most?

Great thoughts, all. Backstories and Bios are a must.

Desire and motivation. What do they want and why do they want it. Johnny wants fame(desire) because his father always told him he'd never amount to anything(motivation). How bad does Johnny want fame? What will he do to get it? What will he do if he doesn't get it?


Those are the questions that must be answered. And never forget that characters are NOT real people. They are created for a purpose and to perfectly fulfill that purpose. Nothing more.

-MM