I have tried to read as much as I can on how to
get into the mind of my characters. The risk taker that I am, I love the idea of not knowing what
is going to happen next. At other times my analytical mind wants every teenie
weenie detail down on paper.
I am
currently in the plotting stage of my new WIP. My Beta Reader cum Crit Partner
is going over my completed manuscript
with an extremely fine tooth comb.
For my
current WIP, I have decided to get to know all my characters, not just the
protagonist and the antagonist, but also characters who have smaller roles to play
in the story.
I am going
to pretend that I am a journalist and interview
all my characters by asking them about their family background, work
interest, relationships, religious beliefs, politics, favourite leisure
pursuits, hobbies, dreams, ambition in life, relationship with parents and
siblings, educational qualification, any fears that they have, friends,
favourite childhood memories, pets, people they loved and lost, people that inspire them, things that
touches them the most and things that
turn them off.
I am also planning to throw in a few questions like what they would
do in case they win a million dollar lottery, if they are stranded alone on an
island with their enemy, if they meet an alien and what happens if they
suddenly develop a super power: the ability to interpret dreams, to read
people’s minds, to see the future and the ability to change something.
The
responses I imagine my characters giving me will be kept short; these responses I am sure will help me know my characters better. It will also be an
useful way of catching each character’s voice,
personality and individual style of
speaking.
As I am
currently in the brainstorming mood, it will be a fun exercise to do. What do
you all do to get to know your characters better? Do you have a method that
helps you get into the skin of your characters? Please share with us.
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23 comments:
Wow..what a lovely post. I enjoyed reading the questions you are going to ask your characters. I only wish you will post the answers too...it will be fun to read them. Hope you don't mind :)
Very cool! and I think acting as a journo to interview your readers is a good idea - I've heard that suggested before.
My writing mentor told me years ago to have my characters write me a letter telling me all their fears, joys, loves, etc. I don't have them write me a letter physically, but I play interviewer for sure when I'm learning about them.
I definitely do character sheets. Sometimes I end up tossing a lot of those ideas, but it helps turn them more human before I start writing.
I LOVE this post. It sounds like a fun thing to do and it will help in getting into each character's skin. Thanks for sharing this wonderful technique :)
Your methods of getting to know your characters are interesting. I know people who go through methods similar to yours. I don't do anything too formal. I write, I have days in between when I don't. Those are the times I think about my characters.
I usually try to ask my character the same questions I would if I met a new person for the first time. By the second draft I know them pretty well, but they key is getting the read to know them well also.
This is a great idea. I need to try it with my characters in my current WIP. Thanks for the tip!
Have a great weekend. :)
I create a character analysis from the view point of a psychiatrist - they can't keep any secrets from me! Nice post - thanks!
An interesting insight into your methods. A really engaging post.
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José
Ramón...
Beckett refrained from elaborating on the characters beyond what he had written in his plays. He once recalled when Sir Ralph Richardson sent him a five-page questionnaire wanting to know, as Beckett put it, "the low-down on Pozzo, his home address and curriculum vitae, and seemed to make the forthcoming of this and similar information the condition of his condescending to illustrate the part of Vladimir ... I told him that all I knew about Pozzo was in the text, that if I had known more I would have put it in the text, and that was true also of the other characters."
I’ve tried to write histories for my characters and failed miserably. Like Beckett they exist for me only in the confines of the novel. If they happen to remember the past all fine and well but I find that all I need to know about them comes to me as I write. It’s like getting into conversation with a stranger on a train. In the hour or two you’re with them you might learn quite a lot but there will be so much you never knew. That’s why readers have imaginations. My forthcoming novel Milligan and Murphy is really based on me asking the kind of question that Beckett refused to – and was probably incapable of – answering: What were Didi and Gogo like then they were young?
Amazing tip...This way we can imagine every small detail of the character, your methods are really creative....Thank you
Now that is a cool way to get to know your characters! I never would have thought of that. I 've heard of writing letters to them (although I haven't tried that.) Normally I just draw up work sheets and include the same kind of information as your interviews, but I can see how the interview would bring them closer. Great idea!
reading all the posts you update, I am inspired to write stories and complete them, as you have suggested before. This post will ready help s how to develop a good character with whom we are well familiar with.
Thank you.
I have written personality profiles against magazine pics of people I feel resemble my characters. I have never interviewed my characters. I did read that every person is full of contradictions and that is what makes them human. My MC is something of an emotionally abusive bitch, but she does try to knit sometimes. LOL!
The ultimate contradiction is Sayid Jarrah the torturer with a romantic heart of gold in LOST! :O)
I actually use interviews as well, because they're a great way to hear the character's voice as well as informative. :-)
I have one suggestion, though, don't limit the length of the answers. You might get more information if you leave the character talking freely.
Enjoy!
Great set of questions. There are a few worksheets available on the internet which you can use to question your characters and flesh them out more fully.
Good move, Rachna. This method helps me tremendously and saves me lots of time when I start writing. If I know my characters well enough at the outset, then I can gauge what their reaction/s will be in pretty much every situation and what will be outside of their range if they do the unthinkable.
The way I get to know my characters is I draw up their arcs. I tend not to do interviews (I like to make things difficult for myself--lol).
I am planning on doing some similiar character profiles. There are some cool questionaires online. I like your list of questions, too!
Also, there's an award for you on my blog!
I'm afraid I don't do enough in this direction, but I think of Enid Blyton, still popular, and she did very little to bring her characters to life. Just followed the same formula, however I think many children expect a little more character development today.
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