Character motives!

ZannaPerry · Oct 14, 2007

Hello! You know how some romance novels, or any kind of book really, have a short, detailed motive in front of the book about each key character? Like I said, some books have this, some don't. I think it helps me understand my character way lot better if I wrote out their motives.

Has anyone else done this?

kristie911 · Oct 15, 2007

SuzyB said:
Emma Daniel --after seven years of surviving on her own, Emma returns home for her childhood friend's funeral. But the longer she stays in town, the harder it is to stay away from the unanswered questions surrounding her death.

Bolding mine.

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to poke fun but this made me laugh because it sounds like Emma's investigating her own death...which of course, would give you a whole new twist! :roll:

I think this is a great idea...I might have to give it a try. I've seen it done in books but never thought to try it. Thanks for the great idea!

mirrorkisses · Oct 15, 2007

I've never read or seen a book like this, but in a lot of writing books, they tell you to write a short bio about your characters for the very reason you do it. I do it sometimes, but it always changes so much throughout the novel that it kind of defeats the purpose for me.

ZannaPerry · Oct 15, 2007

kristie911 said:
Bolding mine.

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to poke fun but this made me laugh because it sounds like Emma's investigating her own death...which of course, would give you a whole new twist!

I think this is a great idea...I might have to give it a try. I've seen it done in books but never thought to try it. Thanks for the great idea!

I get it! I can fix that.

And it was fun writing down their motives. You should try it!

ishtar'sgate · Oct 15, 2007

I find these lists a bit confusing plus I prefer to learn about character motivation from reading the story. Maybe it's because I love a mystery and part of the fun is discovering what makes the characters tick!
Linnea

HoosierCowgirl · Oct 15, 2007

I wrote a bio of one heroine as though I had sat down with her and interviewed her and wrote it in first person. It did help me fix a plot hole in the story and helped me try to figure out her voice. One question that she had was (bear in mind this is inspirational) "How does my being a Christian make me different from any other *nice* person?" I thought that was a valid question I hadn't thought of before.

Ann

ZannaPerry · Oct 15, 2007

Writing these motives actually really helped me get a clear picture what kind of part each character had in the story, how big, and what they would mean to the finale, what they'd bring to the readers.

Cathy C · Oct 15, 2007

I have to admit that these character profiles are confusing me as to what the story is about. For example, this:

Sheriff Matt Slater --a week away from retiring as sheriff of Samara, Matt Slater has to push back his celebration plans to solve the first unsolved murder case the town ever had.

Says to me that there are TWO murders going on--the wife, and someone who died long ago. But I find it hard to believe that someone who is ready to retire would worry about an unsolved case, unless he had a personal stake. Most people would turn over the file and wish the successor good luck. They MIGHT offer their help in introducing the successor to people around town who have been around long enough to have remembered the people in the old case. But is seems a really strange motivation, because if this was common in law enforcement, nobody would ever retire.

ZannaPerry · Oct 15, 2007

Samara is a very small town, and he's been the sheriff for a long time. He's taken care of every case with the best of his abilities. He knows every living soul, which isn't a lot. At the beginning he thought the suicide of Angie Malone was intentional, but then he has this woman he knew as a young girl, Emma, coming back to town and asking new questions about her friend's death. Slater dismisses her until strange things start happening. And he doesn't want some new big-shot sheriff coming in to take over what has to be the biggest case Slater ever had as sheriff.

Awwwwww....isn't it great what a little editing can do? Does it still sound confusing, Cathy C?

BTW, I saw your book at Barnes&Noble last week!

WittyandorIronic · Oct 17, 2007

I don't know about the actual blurbs on books, but as for my writing goes, I write down everything about my character I can think of. Some examples include:

She is so cold, so manipulating, so untrusting because she feels abandoned by her parents and all those who "should" have taken care of her. She won't let herself be disappointed again. This needs to be woven into action, but also into an actual scene.

She wears bright colors to force a little happiness into her life.

These are little points that I return to when editing, and when stuck for inspiration or how to phrase or pace a scene.

mirrorkisses · Oct 17, 2007

HoosierCowgirl said:
I wrote a bio of one heroine as though I had sat down with her and interviewed her and wrote it in first person. It did help me fix a plot hole in the story and helped me try to figure out her voice. One question that she had was (bear in mind this is inspirational) "How does my being a Christian make me different from any other *nice* person?" I thought that was a valid question I hadn't thought of before.

Ann

Imagine if someone came across that! Off to the looney bin!

Character motives!

ZannaPerry

^ Just Me & a Sharpie

kristie911

Happy to be here

mirrorkisses

ZannaPerry

^ Just Me & a Sharpie

ishtar'sgate

living in the past

HoosierCowgirl

ZannaPerry

^ Just Me & a Sharpie

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

ZannaPerry

^ Just Me & a Sharpie

WittyandorIronic

mirrorkisses