Characters

The creation and development of characters have been on my mind today. I wrote two articles this morning, "Finding Your Characters" and "Motivating Your Characters". I'll have to determine where to send them. I'm sticking to online markets for many of my articles and will post here as they get out and accepted.

I know I said I would go through how I come up with my characters and so I will do so now....

Some characters come to me in dreams, some just jump off of the page and say "here I am!", and others take a little work.

In TKQ, Dagan took some work. I'm female and so it's easier for me to connect with the female mind. Taun came first, naturally. Just out of the blue. A little girl who was her father's joy. Loved and torn from her family at a young age. Her story was the first I wrote and I admit I had a torturous time getting it out. There were so many issues she went through and I wasn't sure how to get them on paper. My husband took a shot and helped me figure out where I had a good start for her and he helped me get the writing to make sense even.

I know, not everyone has a spouse to help and I was lucky he did. I knew Taun for many years, but didn't know how to start her story for the reader. I had forty pages of notes. Once I realized I needed to start at the mine, I started writing. The first words that came to my mind for that scene was "I go... I go... I go... He don't hurt me now." That wasn't Taun. That was a young boy from nowhere who I pictured her watching. That young boy doesn't exist except for that one scene, but his speech remains a focal point for Taun throughout the novel.

Later, after I had her start, the storyline let me know this wasn't a part for one main character, but two. And that's where Dagan came in. I didn't have him in mind for many years like I had Taun. From Taun's quest, grew Dagan's character and he became her equal. It was tough. I hadn't been used to writing from a male pov before. After many trials, I believe I got him right though.

Truthfully, the first character of all for the world of South Reach, which TKQ takes place in, was Druid Mage Kerix. Only he was the Druid Salsa. Don't ask me why, but he refused for over a year to let go of that name. Finally, after many words worth and references to tacos by my critters, he relented and told me his true name was Kerix. Seems he had a strange sense of humor.

Oriel was an interesting character. I just pictured this young woman sleeping in the forest, resting her head on a great forest cat's belly. The two were best friends and bonded. I tackled the question of how did she become friends with this forest cat ... why was she in the woods and what would make her be alone enough to partner up with a wild animal like that. The novel's story grew from her backstory.

I took on a writing contest about writing a story revolving around music in some form. I imagined music being the pull for a person to follow. I needed a person to follow the music. And that's how the character, Terra, came into existence.

For me, usually the story comes from the character. I get the character first and then the story. But once in awhile the story comes first and then the character emerges.