Writing interesting characters – making them three dimensional- is the very heartbeat of a good story. Even if one’s plot is ho hum, if your reader connects with your characters you’ll keep them turning pages (and lining up to buy your next book and the next).
My first step in building an
interesting character is their name. It shouldn’t be something unpronounceable
with lots of letters and no vowels, or something so unusual that every time
it’s on the page it slows down the reader as their brain stumbles over the
unfamiliar. We don’t want readers spending the entire book trying to figure out
how to pronounce a name.
I always give my main character’s a
first, middle and last name. (What does their mother yell when she’s mad at
them? lol) Even if you never use that middle name, you should know it. As soon
as I name a character, I want to know what other people in the book are going
to call them. Is it a nickname? A pet name? Is one character the only person
that calls her by this particular name when everyone calls her something else?
Do they like the name, hate the name, call themselves by another name?
Next find an image. I tend not to use
celebrities because they already have characteristics I know. I look for a
fresh face, a blank canvas, so my characters are mine, all mine.
Next I give them a birthday. I don’t
allow myself to think about it, or read astrological signs – Do this fast.
I just tell myself this characters birthday is March 21st 1992.
Done. I do this for each major character, and that includes villains (it
doesn’t have to be a mustache twirling bad guy – it could be the hero’s
mother-in-law.) All the main characters have a birthday. Day, month and year.
The most important thing with birthdays is you can not change it once
you chose it! No matter what.
Once you have a birthday, research
that astrological sign and you’ll see who your person is. Pick three to five
character traits, and use at least once in every scene that character is in. No
matter who’s POV you’re in. If the person is on the page, make sure they have
characteristics individual to them. If this is who you want, you’re golden. You
have all their characteristics under their sun sign, and you’re ready to write.
What is the astrological sign isn’t who you want your character to be? Snoopy
dance! But I love it when I
inadvertently end up with a person I didn’t want, and have no desire to
write. This is striking gold! (remember, no changing birthdays). If you have a
meek and mild astrological sign, when the character you want is a kick
butt, fire sign, then you need to go into their backstory and see what changed
them from meek, to fire. Give them life experiences, learning curves, lessons
in their past, things that have changed them (for better or worse). Make
them who you want them to be, but be sure to motivate those changes.
Once I have their name, date of birth,
and characteristics, I write their backstory. I want to know about their family
(even if that family never appears on the page) How they were raised, how they
grew up, who their patents are/were, how their parents treated them, their
birth order, their level of education- all these things go into who they are
the moment they first appear on the page. Be sure to add milestones in their
life, the good and the bad. Know what they love. What they hate. What is their
Kryptonite? What do they consider their strengths? What do they consider their
weaknesses? What makes them happy. How do they feel about money (or lack
thereof). Another thing I always know about a character before I start writing
is how they behave if they’re scared. What is their tendency? To run away? To
ask for help? To tackle even the scariest situation by themselves?
Knowing all of the above about your
characters before you write Chapter One gives you a solid base to build your
3-D characters on so that once you start writing, you don’t have to come up
with his brother’s name on the fly, or decided half way through the book it
would be cool if he’s an orphan.
If he’s a three dimensional person in
your head, he’ll saunter onto the page, thumbs in his back pockets, scar on his
hard head from falling off the jungle gym when he was seven, barely healed
heart after Roxanne jilted him at the alter when he was twenty-six, squinting
because he refuses to wear his glasses. He’ll look out of that page with so
much personality readers will hold their breath as they turn the page to see
what he’ll do next. 
