30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 9

9. How do you get ideas for your characters?

Describe the process of creating them.

Oh gosh...um...I'm not sure how I first get the idea for them. Some just pop up like Alaine De Rocher (Cursiverse/State Line Road), some are based on archetypal norms like Ketlan and Melantha (Destiny), some are inspired by a scenario or plot like Becky Flynn (State Line Road), some are inspired by a simple idea or concept in a book like Amelia and Amalthea Johnson (Color Me Crazy). A lot of characters are also inspired by the people I know or the actors who have played them, such as Queen Catherine played by Michelle MacLeod (Destiny), Minerva and Peri played by Morgan Thomas and Brittany Ann Whalen (Gift Bearer), Atropos played by Syndi Eller (Cursiverse), General Leffridge played by Annamarie MacLeod (Pandora's Box), and most important of all - Erion/Milly, Molly, and May played by Jen Weber, Kate Weber, and Rachel Anderson (Destiverse).

The first thing I do when I create a character is find a name, then I make a physical description including height, weight, hair color, eye color, etc. After that I deal with the all important style of dress and costume choices. At this point I'll go find a character creation website like dollwizard.com or meez.com and design the character there. Then I give the character a profession and try to find the voice by writing some dialouge or a mini-monolouge. Sometimes I'll give the character a little quirk of some kind to make him or her memorable such as a nervous habit, a specific gesture, a really big grin, or a fondness for spoons. If I'm really trying to round out the character and get to know him or her in depth I will use my own version of a character creation sheet that I was introduced to in an acting class. The shortest form includes simple questions like favorite hobbies, favorite color, favorite food, etc. The longest form I have (the REALLY indepth one) is 6 pages and over 100 questions and includes everything from first word to finanical status to darkest desire. That's if I want to know everything about the character.

And since I love to create characters here's a couple of samples! The first is an example of my basic character descripts for the Gift Bearer novels. The second is a drawing of all the main heroes from the SFF TV shows.