I try and get them down a bit, but what I think their personality should be definitely changes throughout the first draft.
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Do you try to get the characters right in the first draft?
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Character, world and plot have a strong influence on how a work develops, so it makes sense to have a reasonable idea of them before I start. But once I let the little buggers out of the box they do squirm about like crazy. I find it's easiest and kindest to listen to them and let them develop their own personalities and direction in the redrafts - and that applies equally to character, world and plot.
I thought I had a good handle on my characters until I finished the first draft of my WIP and realized all of them were 1-dimensional and boring. 100,000 words in, with over 10 complete "starts" for the story, and I finally discovered who my main character was supposed to be. My problem is that I try forcing characters to live within the set of rules I established for them before I even start writing, but that method causes me to create boring characters. It might work for some people, but not for me. I decided to make one small physical change to one of my characters, a preppy kid with blonde hair. After changing his hair to blue, I realized this character wasn't preppy at all. Sometimes changing something that is seemingly insignificant might give you a new perspective on your character and help you "discover" who they are, not simply who you want them to be.
I'm not sure if I really do first drafts. I go back and revise as I write, so by the time I'm at the end, the earliest chapters have been revised many times.
I'm maybe halfway through my WIP, and there's one character who still seems rather stiff to me--but that's also how he appears to the young and impulsive narrator. So as long as the reader gets that the narration isn't fully reliable, I might not have to change him too much.
I'm maybe halfway through my WIP, and there's one character who still seems rather stiff to me--but that's also how he appears to the young and impulsive narrator. So as long as the reader gets that the narration isn't fully reliable, I might not have to change him too much.
I thought I knew them. Then I started writing them.
Well meaning, but selfish and ditzy became self absorbed, a paedophile and a pathological liar with an arguable drinking problem.
In the first few pages she's the former, in the more recent pages, she's the latter, by the end of the first draft, she'll be even more different.
Still, I never started something without expecting to have to fix it later.
Well meaning, but selfish and ditzy became self absorbed, a paedophile and a pathological liar with an arguable drinking problem.
In the first few pages she's the former, in the more recent pages, she's the latter, by the end of the first draft, she'll be even more different.
Still, I never started something without expecting to have to fix it later.
I edit each page as I write it, so it's either get everything right before moving to the next page, or it will never be right.
But why not try to get them right in the first draft. You may not succeed, but if the effort isn't there, I doubt much of anything will be right.
But why not try to get them right in the first draft. You may not succeed, but if the effort isn't there, I doubt much of anything will be right.
Personally I HATE editing. I usually have a good idea of my character's even when they are in my head. I suggest you write a one shot, or scene with the character's you don't know very well from their pov. It doesn't HAVE to be in the story.
Mine developed as they went along. Characters who I thought would be good turned out not to be so, and others ended up surprising me. I'm glad I didn't keep them the way the were in the first draft, because I know them a lot better now.
I thought I had a really strong grasp of who my three MCs were when I started to write my first draft. I wrote a few sketches from the POV of each one and developed their backstories, and I was pretty sure I knew exactly what would be going on in their heads.
But once I started on the actual ms, they squirmed all over the place, and by the time I was done with my first draft the one that I thought would be angry had turned into a puppy dog, the one I had thought would be reserved and polite had developed unexpected reserves of hostility, and the one I thought would be well-adjusted had turned into a seething mass of neuroses.
They're much more interesting that way.
But once I started on the actual ms, they squirmed all over the place, and by the time I was done with my first draft the one that I thought would be angry had turned into a puppy dog, the one I had thought would be reserved and polite had developed unexpected reserves of hostility, and the one I thought would be well-adjusted had turned into a seething mass of neuroses.
They're much more interesting that way.
This happens to me. Another writer I know, Diana Gabaldon (she talks about her process here), divides characters into three types: mushrooms, onions, and nuts. The hard-to-write characters are the nuts, and for me, at least, it usually takes time and much writing for the right hammer to appear that will crack them open.
I don't write in drafts, unless it's at the sentence level, which means I revise constantly as I go, and that's how my characters reveal themselves, some faster than others.
But it seems to me that if I did write in drafts, then I'd consider the first draft to be the raw material and subsequent drafts to be the refinement process. If that's the case, why would anyone expect to get anything "right" in the first draft?
Yes I do. But the first draft is shit and the second draft is polished shit. Nothing's perfect the first two or three drafts, at least for me.
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I try to get them right, but sometimes they surprise me with revelations as the story moves along. However, when I look back at what I've already written, it's often all there from the beginning. I just hadn't recognized it yet.
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I figured out last week that I am primarily a character writer. Kind of knew it already, but after starting yet another book with the MC practically reaching across the keyboard and grabbing me by the throat, it sank in that that's what I am. They take over, and they change me. I talk different, act different. I listen to whatever music they like, even if it isn't something I'd usually turn on, and in many cases I know things about them that I shouldn't—like places they've lived and things they've done. I've been in Kansas my entire life! From the very first second, if I don't have a good feel of my MC's voice, I wait until I do know them or I just don't write. I love my characters, it's true. I cry for them, laugh for them, and yes, I do know who they are in the first draft, but it's okay to let them morph along the way. It's those little changes that keep it interesting.
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My important characters are usually 90% there in the first draft. Any changes are small ones that won't change a story.
Minor character who exist to do things like trip the MC and steal their wallet don't matter and can be written out if I need. Less minor supporting characters can and do change.
I try to get it as right as possible in the first draft, but I don't always manage. Sometimes, even with shorter works, my final draft has little in common with my first.
Minor character who exist to do things like trip the MC and steal their wallet don't matter and can be written out if I need. Less minor supporting characters can and do change.
I try to get it as right as possible in the first draft, but I don't always manage. Sometimes, even with shorter works, my final draft has little in common with my first.
I think I have a pretty good grasp of the characters (although not always), but I'll often write new scenes for them/take scenes out if I want to express something in particular.
Characters spring to mind alive and ready to go. They are right throughout the first draft. It's the other stuff that stymies me.
. . . All except for Luan. I don't know if it's because I don't know him well enough or if it's that I can't write him.
. . . And then there's those women.
I don't use character mapping or outlines or anything like that. The guys — even the other-than-human ones — are always willing to carry on conversations with me, though, and they don't mind me following them around.
. . . All except for Luan. I don't know if it's because I don't know him well enough or if it's that I can't write him.
. . . And then there's those women.
I don't use character mapping or outlines or anything like that. The guys — even the other-than-human ones — are always willing to carry on conversations with me, though, and they don't mind me following them around.
This.
+ This.
This is an odd question for me, because while it's true I do learn alot about my characters as I write, and my perception of them changes, I wouldn't say I got them wrong to begin with, only that I have a much deeper understanding of them now. Maybe it has to do with how I view my characters. I've always very much thought of them as real people who I'm simply learning about, rather than people I've invented. My characters grow new layers, but they're still the same people they were when I first met them.
I have a basic idea of who the hero/heroine is and what they look and act like, but I'm not afraid to toss in a few changes along the way. Face it, none of us is perfect, and I hate reading about Mary Sue or Gary Lou sweet'n'perfect characters. I want flaws, but flaws my characters can work through to make them better people.
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I always have a clear idea of who they are, but as seems common here, they start to find their own way as the story progresses. Sometimes they will change enough that I have to look at earlier chapters to check for inconsistencies. Other times, that change is the good type that has to happen through their journey.
Keeping characters distinct is sometimes a problem for me. My WIP has seven major characters, and quite a few more minor ones, and I have to be careful to make them not all speak alike.
Keeping characters distinct is sometimes a problem for me. My WIP has seven major characters, and quite a few more minor ones, and I have to be careful to make them not all speak alike.
For me, trying to get it right the 1st time hasn't worked. Letting your character breath and change as your story comes to life works much better.
Really, I think all that advice about making a sheet for your character about his likes and strong points just doesn't work. It needlessly restricts you during the creative process.
I certainly don't have a vision. None at all. I have situations, and the characters grow into them, then get polished and refined.
But I suppose it's personal style as well, like outlining or not. Or maybe others have characters first, and let them define situations later.
Really, I think all that advice about making a sheet for your character about his likes and strong points just doesn't work. It needlessly restricts you during the creative process.
I certainly don't have a vision. None at all. I have situations, and the characters grow into them, then get polished and refined.
But I suppose it's personal style as well, like outlining or not. Or maybe others have characters first, and let them define situations later.
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In My Experience, speaking as a pantser who not so much writes fiction as follows my people around taking notes:
Some characters are full-blown the moment they hit the page, and never need adjustment. Others take time to develop, sometimes a LOT of time, and may require considerable retrofitting to make them self-consistent across the manuscript. This doesn't mean you "got 'em wrong"; it just means you didn't know them well enough yet.
As a general rule, minor characters tend to be the former, and major characters the latter.
Consider them as acquaintances vs friends. You may learn all you need to about an acquaintance at first brush, but it takes time to know a friend.
Some characters are full-blown the moment they hit the page, and never need adjustment. Others take time to develop, sometimes a LOT of time, and may require considerable retrofitting to make them self-consistent across the manuscript. This doesn't mean you "got 'em wrong"; it just means you didn't know them well enough yet.
As a general rule, minor characters tend to be the former, and major characters the latter.
Consider them as acquaintances vs friends. You may learn all you need to about an acquaintance at first brush, but it takes time to know a friend.
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I'm always trying to get my characters right on the first go. That doesn't tend to happen. My characters always seem to evolve and their personalities shift a little bit until they finally settle into their groove. Once, I really get the feel for a character then I always end up having to go back. I do try to nail down personalities as early as possible.
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