Sand in our Shorts: Creating Characters

When I read stories or watch movies and TV shows of any genre, my attention is immediately drawn to the characters. I want to relate to them in some way. From my perspective, characters can make or break the story. Many articles and opinions exist on what makes great characters and how to build them for stories.

Some common themes are that characters must be believable, have conflict, flaws, and quirks, and must grab and hold the audience’s attention throughout the story. This can be through understanding their goals, conflicts, and needs, or they may have traits the audience sees in people they know or wish they had. They desire to feel connected to the characters.

One of my favorite novel series is The Women’s Murder Club by James Patterson (and his team of co-authors). The novels feature an ensemble of lead women characters who are best friends and work in professions that bring them together to solve crimes they face. Lindsey Boxer is a detective, Cindy Thomas is a reporter, Claire Washburn is a medical examiner, and Yuki Castellano is a district attorney. Each woman has conflicts in her life, which she works through as she solves cases. They are all engaging, fun, intelligent, strong women with flaws and quirks.

Readers who have enjoyed my stories often tell me they love my characters and how they interact with one another. More than a few times I have been asked how I came up with my characters. I use various methods depending on the story or my level of motivation at the time. Sometimes, I think about my current and past relationships with family and friends. For example, if siblings in my story have healthy, strong bonds, I reflect on my relationship with my siblings and use some traits from our interactions. I draw from the love we have for each other. We are supportive and encouraging of each other’s goals and ambitions.

Other times, I use traits, personalities, and conflicts of people I have met or seen. I once met a man and his dog at one of my first book signings. The man shared his story of traveling cross country after he sold everything he owned, which I think about often. Through this brief encounter, I saw traits in him and his dog that would make beautiful characters in a future story!

At times, I just start writing. As I write, I develop characters as the story progresses. I do end up jotting notes of the traits and struggles the character may need to possess to add color and dynamics to the story. I then break the lists into what works or does not work for the storyline. I then build the character from there.

I also generate pictures of what I envision my characters look like and make an outline of their personalities, flaws, conflicts, quirks, and struggles. This provides a visual to refer to as I write. It is easier to show and build the characters throughout the story. Several AI programs are now available to create characters (for a fee). You only need to type a few descriptive traits you want your character to have, or you can even upload a photo. I have not utilized these yet, but they seem interesting and fun.

I find creating characters to be one of the enjoyable steps in writing stories because you can use your imagination and draw from people you may know, hear of, or even see in passing. Whatever method I use for stories, I always enjoy creating, getting to know, and understanding my characters!

What are some of your favorite characters in stories? What makes characters memorable for you?

Creating Characters Links:

https://www.bbcmaestro.com/blog/how-to-create-story-characters

https://prowritingaid.com/art/2363/character-development.aspx

https://writingcooperative.com/creatingvividcharacters-44ef5690e266

James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Link:

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/james-patterson/womens-murder-club/

AI Character Generator Links:

https://perchance.org/ai-character-generator

https://www.canva.com/ai-character-generator/

https://app.artflow.ai/

https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-good-AI-character-generators