On Writing Memorable Characters

For the past few weeks I've been debating writing a few different topics, but every time I started to think about writing down something interesting, I got sidetracked. First about my love-life (I broke up with my boyfriend, he got creepy stalkerish) then about a festival in New York (tons of fun, I went out to dinner in a supercute skirt and top) then more recently about the stupid Rick Perry ad (offensive to the highest degree) and about SOPA, indefinite detention, and how much America is starting to suck.

I kept getting sidetracked over and over by not wanting to do these posts cause they were depressing. I'm not a depressing person, I swear. Even posts that weren't in and of themselves depressing had depressing elements attached. So! I have decided to write none of those posts and do something neither skeptical nor critical. I'm going to write about writing - hence the topic title.

One of the most important elements of my novel writing has been the addition of really dynamic characters. I don't put a character into a story unless I can complete two important tasks.

First, when I introduce the character, I pause and reflect on their life, their personality. Events that seem unimportant can betray feelings and emotions and reactions. Think back to your own childhood and how small events shaped who you are today. Would I be the same "me" if I had continued into a skeptical field of discipline? What would have happened if I had approached my parents when I was a teenager with the knowledge of my gender identity problems?

Similarly, a small event can shape the actions and defaults of a character. Even relatively minor characters (my example would be Darrin, Queen Eleria Selena of Moore's personal guard) must have a fleshed out history - perhaps not as deep as the main characters, but still enough. So, let me introduce you to Darrin, and show you precisely what I mean.

As of now, Darrin is on two pages of my story. I'll probably add a few more pages to make him more interesting. He's mentioned a few times by a few of the characters and his only real actions are to riff off of the queen. He is, as stated, a relatively minor character (he's at least got a name, several of my characters in the story do not.)

Darrin is a 32-year old canine sem. He's more animal than human, with definite lupine characteristics. His father was the retainer to the previous King of Moore and Darrin was raised in the understanding he had to protect House Salena. He grew up alongside his father, learning how to fight and how to read and write (personal guards are expected to perform simple tasks - including some message writing.) When Loris married Eleria, Darrin was assigned to watch over the queen.

He was still rather young at the time - but so was the queen. The two of them quickly grew to be friends, and Darrin learned precisely how best to match the queen's style and personality. Although most of the time this led to sarcastic little quips and good-natured ribbing between the queen and her personal guard, it also let him know when she did not want to be bothered. He is unquestionably loyal to the queen, which results often in him being party to events that he turns a blind eye to, rather than be privy to the consequences.

I'll stop here. I'm going on and on with this biography for a character who mainly is background. He's the potted plant on the shelf in many scenes, addressed by name once or twice, and referred to only a few more times than that. This shows precisely what I'm talking about though. This is Darrin's simple biography. Those for less minor characters could be pages in length rather than a few paragraphs. However this is brutally important.

That small biography has developed Darrin's entire personality. He's fiercely loyal to the queen, he's willing to give her space, he's brave, he's a bit sarcastic and can be funny. Further into the biography I'd put in his treatment of his son and his fatherly nature that comes out with reference to the princess. And remember the most important point about this:

Darrin is a character whose biography is longer than the amount of text devoted to him in the story.

I do this for every character I create. Whether they're mentioned as "the guard" or "the wench" or whether they're one of the main characters in the story. Why put myself through all of this? For the second task.

After finishing my current review and edit, I'm sending the draft to my sister for her to look over. After she's done, I will ask a brief question and answer session. The questions will be like so:

Who was Darrin?

If my sister is unable to answer that simple question for a character, obviously they are not memorable enough. To create a character is more than putting a mannequin in the story and giving them lines and actions. If a character has a name, then that character needs to be memorable. Why do such a pointless little task?

Cause I intend to bring some of these characters back for future stories. My series is not going to be the sort where characters A, B, C, and D go through 7 books and complete a quest. Main characters in the first book are going to be reduced to background, maybe merely mentioned in passing reference, or perhaps interacting with the main characters of the second book - who are either entirely new characters, or characters who were minor in the first book!

If I do not make characters memorable, no one is going to remember that Kamme was the Naval Ensign who gave a ceremonial sword to Dyne. No one will recall that Adan was the son of the nün elf killed in the beginning of the book. When people pick up book two and read the names Kamme and Adan, I want them to respond "oh yea, I remember them" instead of "who are they again?" If I cannot make memorable characters - even minor ones - then I will fail very quickly to make the series what I want it to be.

So that's my goal, those are my tasks to complete. Right now I'm in a slight predicament with my stories anyway because I have to rewrite major areas of plot and character development. It's hard going with that, combined with having to write these character bios.

Anyway, that's the problem with writing, I suppose. Once you think you're finished, you're not.

A simple experiment

Spawned by a post on Greta Christina's blog, I thought, you know, I really can be sexy with just a simple little change.




Here we have me wearing the outfit I was wearing today.

Here is that same outfit with my breastforms and sexy shoes.

Looks good!