When Your Characters Become Real

Ms.Write · Jan 22, 2007

I am going back to novel writing after a long absence (published short stories in the interim) and I am now on Chapter 3 of my first draft. The characters don't feel quite REAL to me yet. I seem to recall with my earlier manuscripts that I only started to feel them as real people by Draft 2.

I do quite a bit of conceptualising but the magic only seems to happen on the page.

I wonder what your own experience is? Do you feel that you're making them up for the first 50 or 100 pages, or do they feel real to you right away?

farfromfearless · Jan 22, 2007

That's the thing about writing and developing your characters, it might be in the first quarter of your book that you actually hear your characters come alive with their own voices, or it might not happen till much later. I wouldn't let this distract you from the work early on - that's why it's a first draft.

I found that by the last third of my WIP I had a better gasp of my characters had since I'd been working with them for some time I found it much easier to backtrack a little and re-write parts of the book (near the beginning) to match the voice of the character later. Keep in mind too that sometimes as your characters evolve, their voices and attitudes evolve - this can be a good thing.

KimJo · Jan 22, 2007

My characters usually walk up to me and demand that I tell their stories (figuratively speaking... I think...), so they usually seem real to me before I even start writing. But they become more real as the story goes on.

finch · Jan 22, 2007

I'll mention again what I always do with my characters before I put them in the story: I'll do a character interview with them, and ask them tough questions (on paper, of course) until they come out with an answer that surprises me -- might be 2 pages, might be 20, but when that happens I feel as though I've got a good handle on who the character is.

It's cheesy, I know, but the thing I do right after that is choose an actor I know well and use them as the basis for the character's voice and speech patterns. It makes it a lot easier to keep dialogue consistent across characters early on.

IrishScribbler · Jan 22, 2007

KimJo said:
My characters usually walk up to me and demand that I tell their stories (figuratively speaking... I think...), so they usually seem real to me before I even start writing. But they become more real as the story goes on.

This is the situation for me, as well. And if I'm telling their story wrong, they let me know it!

Gabriel · Jan 22, 2007

I usually start being bossed around as soon as I try to make them talk, insisting that they won't talk in funny accents and what not, the ungrateful *mutter mutter*
(For the safety of your eyes, souls and bank balances the previous statement has been muttered. You may resume your viewing)
say wha?

Azure Skye · Jan 22, 2007

My characters show up and bring their belongings with them. Some take over and run like mad all over the pages and others creep along a little more quietly.

Edward G · Jan 22, 2007

finch said:
I'll mention again what I always do with my characters before I put them in the story: I'll do a character interview with them, and ask them tough questions (on paper, of course) until they come out with an answer that surprises me -- might be 2 pages, might be 20, but when that happens I feel as though I've got a good handle on who the character is.

It's cheesy, I know, but the thing I do right after that is choose an actor I know well and use them as the basis for the character's voice and speech patterns. It makes it a lot easier to keep dialogue consistent across characters early on.

Actually, that sounds like a really good idea, but I have a problem with trying to map out my characters before writing the story. I mean, obviously, I have a basic idea of who they are, but there's no point in inventing all kinds of characteristics if they have no part in the story. I suppose it depends on whether a story is plot driven or character driven.

finch · Jan 22, 2007

GordonJerome said:
Actually, that sounds like a really good idea, but I have a problem with trying to map out my characters before writing the story. I mean, obviously, I have a basic idea of who they are, but there's no point in inventing all kinds of characteristics if they have no part in the story. I suppose it depends on whether a story is plot driven or character driven.

I outline extensively prior to doing any scenework, so I generally have a very good idea as to who's important and who's not. Naturally, interviews tend to go to the characters I'll be spending the most time with, but there are always exceptions. I've done a few extensive interviews with decidedly minor characters, simply because I wasn't happy with the way their scenes were coming along. Eventually I'd realize that the scene was blown because I didn't know enough about those characters to write them well. Once the interview was sorted, the scene flowed just the way I'd hoped it would.

I admit, though, it's as much guilty pleasure as writing tool. Possibly borderline psychotic, too, but that's okay so long as I acknowledge it, right?

jodiodi · Jan 22, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by KimJo
My characters usually walk up to me and demand that I tell their stories (figuratively speaking... I think...), so they usually seem real to me before I even start writing. But they become more real as the story goes on.

IrishScribbler said:
This is the situation for me, as well. And if I'm telling their story wrong, they let me know it!

I've got to add my agreement with these two. My characters are already real when they come to me and start telling their stories. I'm just the documentarian.

Ms.Write · Jan 22, 2007

I really like finch's interview process. I've dialogued with characters, but often not the minor ones, and the scene I just wrote didn't come off well because I really don't KNOW the minor character at all.

I also like the idea of interviewing the character UNTIL something surprising comes out. That means it's the character talking, and not you putting words in his or her mouth...

jodiodi · Jan 22, 2007

I can't recall ever 'making-up' a character. For me, there is no story until the character starts to tell me about it. I may see something and wonder 'what if?' But until a character starts telling me 'I did that and here's what happened ...' I have no story.

But then, that's just me.

swvaughn · Jan 22, 2007

Characters

GordonJerome: It's definitely good to put on paper only those characteristics which are germane to the story you're telling. But (you knew there was a "but", right?

) one of the things I think helps flesh out a novel is for you, the writer, to know more about your characters than your readers will ever find out.

The more you know about your characters, the easier it is to decide how they will react when presented with any given situation or the actions of other characters. You don't have to include everything about them in the story, but it's a good thing for you to know.

I write whole stories about my characters that will never appear in a novel. They help me make sure my peeps are as rounded as possible, and stay true to themselves. Plus, it's really a lot of fun to create entire lives in my head.

By the way, welcome to the boards. I've been reading some of the threads you started, and there has been quite a bit of interesting conversation going on.

Paxton · Jan 22, 2007

Ms.Write said:
I am going back to novel writing after a long absence (published short stories in the interim) and I am now on Chapter 3 of my first draft. The characters don't feel quite REAL to me yet. I seem to recall with my earlier manuscripts that I only started to feel them as real people by Draft 2.

I think it's interesting how differently people can approach the creative side of writing, as well as the practical side.

Most of the time my characters seem to spring to life in their first line of dialogue, which is fortunate because I don't seem to be able to turn them into real people later in the writing process.

I've had stories die because I didn't get the feel of the main character right on the first page, and tried to push on regardless in the hope that I could fix it later.

civilian chic · Jan 22, 2007

This is a great thread!

My characters come to me first, and then after I think (or dream, as it often happens) about them for a while, I discover things like they're allergic to milk, or they have a pet ferret, or that they model nude in the Painting 101 classes on campus ... and the plot forms around them, not the other way around. But they feel very real to me from the get-go. The plot is as secondary to them as iceberg lettuce is to ranch dressing.

However, this is a somewhat disorganized way of writing, and the character interview process may in fact be more thorough.

Chasing the Horizon · Jan 22, 2007

KimJo said:
My characters usually walk up to me and demand that I tell their stories (figuratively speaking... I think...), so they usually seem real to me before I even start writing. But they become more real as the story goes on.

This is the situation for me, as well. And if I'm telling their story wrong, they let me know it!

Yep, that's the way the main characters work for me too.

The secondary characters usually do come to life after I start writing the MS. In my current WIP one of the secondary characters ended up so interesting that I decided to make her a 5th POV character.

Saundra Julian · Jan 22, 2007

They're not real?

PeeDee · Jan 22, 2007

With novel works and serial stories, my characters tend to be fairly organic, with their own lives and problems and everything. They walk up to me, in a way.

But when it comes to one-off short stories, they tend to be fairly under my control. That doesn't make them any less interesting (and sometimes, they do surprise me) but they're more like the characters in a stage play than a well-written TV show, if you see what I mean.

Chasing the Horizon · Jan 22, 2007

Saundra Julian said:
They're not real?

I know, I feel the same way. I'd do anything to have my characters be real. *sigh*
Well, the good ones anyway. My villain's scary!

MDavis · Jan 22, 2007

I hear you. On one hand, it'd be awesome to be able to meet my characters, but then I'm not sure my characters would like me. Which would be kind of a downer, you know?

Raphee · Jan 22, 2007

My characters as well as my stories are written extempore.
I had stopped writing for many years. When I started to rewrite my WIP it was based on the advice: If you want to write; just write.
I typed the following line on my PC:"My grandfather taught me about life." or something like that; because it has now been changed. I had no iddea who said that and why. From that I wrote 70,000 words of a novel.
I do understand that some of my characters need fleshing out and I need to work hard and re write parts of my novel. But it was great learning. I still don't believe I'll ever be able to outline stories or characters.

vrabinec · Jan 23, 2007

KimJo said:
My characters usually walk up to me and demand that I tell their stories (figuratively speaking... I think...), so they usually seem real to me before I even start writing. But they become more real as the story goes on.

This is funny. I'm currently wrestling with too many characters that want the stage. By my current count, I'll be topping out at around 140,000 words. It's going to be agonizing to trim it back to a "publishable" level. I feel like the chick in Titanic, breaking their cold fingers from my hand to let them go to the depths when I cut one of their scenes.

jodiodi · Jan 23, 2007

vrabinec said:
This is funny. I'm currently wrestling with too many characters that want the stage. By my current count, I'll be topping out at around 140,000 words. It's going to be agonizing to trim it back to a "publishable" level. I feel like the chick in Titanic, breaking their cold fingers from my hand to let them go to the depths when I cut one of their scenes.

I have a series of 5 stories, all between 110,000-150,000 words, with a huge cast of characters. I consider them an ensemble cast with some taking center stage in one book, different ones in another, and so on. When they tell me their stories, the ones who don't fit in one work will get their own so each one's story can be told.

Hence, I'd consider it a blessing to have so many characters with so many stories. You'll never run out of material.

JIMBOS · Jan 23, 2007

When I write, the story plays in my mind like a movie. I see the scene happen, then I write it down. To me, the characters become very real!

Jenan Mac · Jan 23, 2007

Jodi, that's kind of how my current WIP came about. The MC was supposed to be a bit character in the last one, basically a red herring. And he was supposed to be kind of a jerk. But he insists he's really not a bad guy, and in fact can be quite heroic. Ends up taking a bullet for someone he really doesn't even like. So how can I not tell his story?

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