I'm right now starting a new book in a new series.
And I love my heroine. She's a blacksmith. She worked with her father and brother, both blacksmiths, but wasn't in charge.
She's grieving.
And she lives in a small frontier town with one and only one blacksmith. The town needs her.
And she witnessed her family's murders in a stage coach robbery, was left for dead, survived, can't remember a thing and is targeted for death.
All that. Grief. Weird manly career. And targeted for death...and I don't feel like I've made her a three dimensional character yet, somehow.
It's annoying.
So I'm asking myself WHAT makes a character seem real. Yeah, that's right, after 68 books, I'm trying to figure it out.
I know this: To make someone likeable, make someone like them.
That's like Character Development 101.
But she has people who like her.
And give her a quirk.
Um, a pretty young woman being the town blacksmith isn't quirky?
Give her a conflict to prevent her falling in love. Maybe I haven't done that yet. Maybe being in mourning isn't enough.
As I type, as I unfold the story, as I unload action and danger on my heroine, how do I make her come alive.
Or maybe I already did it make her come alive? I just don't know.
It's common for me to just start writing and to finally get to the bottom of a character through that. But I'm getting close to twenty thousand words. It's TIME Mary. C'mon.
Oh, her mother died when she was a child, guiding her to spend time with her father and have no real interest in womanly things.
Oh, we're in Wyoming in 1870, so women have the right to vote, make her enamored of the suffraget movement to, possibly, a degree the hero finds off-putting.
Why oh why doesn't this woman come to life for me?
What do you do, in your writing to make a character alive? To make her three-dimensional? I'd love to talk about that in the comments. Maybe it'll wake something up in me.
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I think you're feeling flat because she's a little flat like you said. I mean sure, stuff has happened to her... but what has she done to create herself and her image as the town sees her? As others see her? And that's a LOT OF GRIEF.... Like pouring hot porridge on the baby grief.
ReplyDeleteSo Mom died and she didn't have a lot of womanly intervention...
But she has hormones.
Thoughts she never thought she'd have.
Instincts that come with those hormones so when that hero steps into the picture, and those feelings begin a war with her "I can do it my way as well as any man" how annoying, right? SO ANNOYING!
And she can find bits of her feminine childhood in an old blanket chest, buried at the bottom. Little smocks and dresses. Something to give her that notion of what could have been and what could be.
And you know me, there's always a STRAY BABY or toddler to make even the toughest woman spring to life. Even if they abhor babies and toddlers, their meany-pants hearts just get tugged and they can barely resist it.
This gal is under a real dark cloud.... grief and anger and frustration that she can't remember because maybe that would help find the killers.
And you might want a Melanie-type person to befriend her, help her with feminization.... Or just to talk to. (Gone With the Wind's Melanie, and yes, I still can't stand Scarlet O'Hara, just in case anyone wonders.... what a snide, egotistical little witch.)
Not that I have any strong feelings on the subject, LOL!
All great, Ruthy. Thank you
DeleteClearly I had no pumpkins to sell, LOL! I HAD FIVE MINUTES TO ANSWER!
DeleteThis new series sounds intriguing!
ReplyDeleteI found that the Story Equation helps shape my characters the best. I've tried other methods (interviewing using psychological interviews, free writing, etc). But nothing clicked until I started using SEQ. More than just giving me a well developed character, it gives a tailor-made black moment- so no saggy middle (if I've done it correctly).
SEQ, I'll check it out. Thanks, Lee-Ann
DeleteMy characters come to life for me when I find RESONANCE. That's where I strike that chord in the character's heart that resonates with the same chord in my own heart. It's never just a situation, but a feeling, an attitude, a fear, a hurt . . . that internal argument you've been having with yourself since childhood.
ReplyDeleteOkay, she's not very girly. How does she FEEL about that? Does she hold it against her dad that he never made the effort to find a way to give her what she needed to be feminine? Does she resent the town for needing her to remain in this manly profession? Or is she militant in insisting she doesn't need to be feminine, shouldn't have to be? Or has growing up with the guys left her feeling insecure and inadequate around her more feminine friends? Or does she not have any feminine friends because her pride would rather she die than embarrass herself in front of her peers through her ignorance of womanly things? I believe it's that internal conflict that breathes life into a character. Because that's where the reader's heart will feel that RESONANCE, too. We can't really know what it's like to live in a frontier town, although it will be fun to walk into the pages of your story with you and get a glimpse. Most of us know nothing about being a blacksmith, although I'm sure we'll know more after we read your book. But many of us, especially we introverted bookish types, know how humiliating it is to be the tomboy climbing the tree in our muddy britches when the object of our daydreams comes along and finds us hopelessly stuck. Especially if he happens to be in the company of the Belle of the ball, who hardly tries to hide the condescending smirk on her face. That's where I connect with characters as a reader, so that's what I try to create as a writer. What hole in your own heart makes you understand this heroine and want to write her story?
The more I talk to people, the more I realize that there are as many different ways to do things as there are people to do them. This is what works for me.
All great questions, Terry. Thank you!
DeleteMary, does your character want to change to be more feminine, such as when she meets the hero. If he comes into her blacksmith shop, she might suddenly feel very conflicted. I liked Terri Lynn's suggestion above that she meet him when he is with some beautiful woman. That would present all kinds of conflict. But I'm sure you will do something wonderful with her. I look forward to reading this someday and seeing how it turned out. Please put me in the drawing!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sandy. Yes, make her want to change at least a little.
DeleteI've been through the character arc sheets and the character interview sheets and all of the exercises at One Stop for Writers. 10 years of working on this novel and my characters are still flat. No help, I know. But somehow you've helped me not be grumpy with myself for not figuring it out yet. If you have trouble with your stories, there's hope for me. I'd love to be entered into the drawing.
ReplyDeleteOkay, that made me laugh. Glad I could help.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteI was hoping you were going to tell me how to do character development :)
ReplyDeleteSorry, Mary strikes again!!!
DeleteI havent figured that out yet. Creating characters is hard for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to spent a few days doing EVERYTHING That's been suggested here and hope my heroine comes alive.
DeleteFind a picture of her online, then start free-writing a letter from her to you? Pattern her after someone you know in real life, so she feels real while you write her? In your daydreams, put her in three totally different situations...fancy dinner party where she's dressed up but a complete fish out of water, on the prairie in the midst of a thunderstorm...is she terrified or relishing it? Have her hold a baby for the first time. How she reacts under these different stress levels might reveal more of her character to you.
ReplyDeleteWow, Erica. I've never done this kind of thing. Maybe YOU should write a blog about character development!!!
DeleteMary, just like any other person, I have to spend time with my characters to get to know them. And ask "Why?" a whole lot. ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is so true, Mindy, but usually I spend that time while writing and the character emerges. She hasn't and I'm disgruntled.
DeleteI love that such an accomplished author still struggles at times! I'm having that exact issue with one of my WIPs as well--with both the MCs. Still, I love wresting with it. So many wonderful authors, more experienced than me, have made amazing comments here and I feel unqualified...but what helps me dive deeper into character development is to keep asking myself "how does he/she FEEL?"
ReplyDeletePutting emotion on the page is huge. She's grieving her father and brother who died in the stage coach robbery...but Have I really shown that enough???
DeleteGenerally I also come up with the character traits as I write, they become more real to me the farther along in the story I get, the more I discover about them, the more oddball habits they pick up and the more they seem real. However, I wrote a Snow White retelling and my heroine Elisabeth was always a hard shell to crack. She was too serious and assertive, but on the flip side internally unsure of herself and I just could no figure out how to make her work. I struggled with her for the longest time, until finally I watched a TV show and I made the connection. My heroine was just like the heroine on that TV show (who was actually a character I started off not liking) but as the show developed I started understanding why she did what she did and came to really like her as a character. And that helped me finally figure Elisabeth out.
ReplyDeleteSo my tip is look for other characters like yours, or combine multiple characters all who have similar traits, study them. Figure out what they do, why they do what they do, and what makes you like them. In return that will help you figure out what makes your own heroine tick and what makes you like her. Hope this is helpful!
Nicki, thank you. Great advice. So simple and solid and wise. YAY!
DeleteI understand your struggle. So often, I face the same problem. That's why I spend far too long brainstorming the story before I start to write.
ReplyDeleteIf I can't get a handle on my heroine, I look at the wound in her past. IMHO, we all have them. Some have healed. Some are still open and raw. Does you gal remember the offhanded comment her father made to her brother about how a girl could never be a competent blacksmith? Or how the heroine should stay in the kitchen and leave the real work to the menfolk. She's been trying to prove herself ever since...and then her dad and brother die and she never got the affirmation she needed from either of them. So she continues to try to prove herself, when in essense her heart isn't really in being a blacksmith. She sees that pretty gal with the hero and longs for someone, someday to look at her the way the hero looks at the belle of the town. Of course, that makes her mad because she's worked her whole life to be a good blacksmith. So she's totally confused about her feelings, about what's important in her life and about her sudden interest in the hero who seems all too enamored with the pretty gal in the fancy dresses.
Now back to my heroine. She's not a blacksmith, but she has a very deep wound from her past that has to heal before she can first love herself and then open her heart to the hero.
I like this, Debby. They did always keep her at simple jobs. Always the apprentice even as she mastered all the blacksmith skills.
DeleteI haven't checked our Seekerville for ages. Now I see I have really missed you guys. You are probably way ahead of me on this but to me characters who seem real have favorite things. Foods colors seasons and animals that they love seem to make them less flat.
ReplyDeleteThis is good. Yes, that's a great idea. Have I developed her life in the ways of loving chocolate or having a dog or a beloved song. This helps. Thank you.
DeleteMary, I love this story beginning--a blacksmith!! So original! I don't have any helpful advice to give you on character development. It's one of the many reasons I'm a reader, not a writer. LOL I've enjoyed reading the comments and suggestions from the writers here, though. I have faith that you'll figure it all out! I love your stories!! Good luck, my friend! I'd love to be in the drawing.
ReplyDeleteWinnie Thomas
Okay, I'm loving this girl. But maybe all that independence and keeping up with the guys is just a front - a coping mechanism.
ReplyDeleteMaybe deep down, in the secret places of her heart, she cherishes a fondness for softer, more feminine things...but that longing doesn't match the realities of her life. So does she take in a foundling child? I'm envisioning a little, very feminine (all pink colors and bows) girl about five or six years old. Someone old enough to make her cut through the exterior toughness she's worn for years and makes her question her path in life.
And of course the hero challenges that toughness, too - because he just dotes on that little girl the way the heroine's father never doted on her.
Just stream of consciousness thinking here. What fun to create new characters!
Until it isn't - - best wishes on your wrestling match with this one!
Maybe think about her personality, what makes her special. Maybe she is stubborn because she was raised by her dad so that makes her stand out but she also has a kind heart. Also I am already interested in this character and I can't wait to read what you are writing.
ReplyDelete