Do you Really Know the Characters in your Novel? by Connie Vines

Before a writer starts the first draft of a novel, the writer has the plot-points drafted.  The setting, profession, manner of dress and speech have been established.  The writer knows what the character looks like. 

The writer knows the characters, right?

Maybe.  Or maybe not.

Yes, there are character questionnaires, we’ve all seen them and groaned.  Two- hundred plus questions, who has time for that?

Do:

• Approach it as a brainstorming exercise
• Understand that your in-depth knowledge of the character will bleed into your writing, even if the vast majority of this information is never written in your manuscript

Don't:

• Use it to start building a character - you should already have the broad brushstrokes of your character, including what drives them and their biggest flaw
• Use all of the information in your novel - most of the answers should be internalized, not spelled out

Basic Character Questions

1. First name?
2. Surname?
   
3. Middle names?
4. Nicknames?

Physical / Appearance

1. Height?
2. Weight?
3. Build?

The seven questions listed above are standard. 

I work my characterization backwards.

1.       .1 What is my main character’s profession?

2 This will determine a great deal of his/her physical, mental abilities, and personality traits.

For example:  branches of the military have requirements, moving up in rank require additional skills.

·         A rodeo clowns’ skill set is different from a bronc-rider, or a bull-rider.

·         Where as a spy and an under-cover cop may share some of the same skill set, but the focus and the personality/ training would be more selective.

·         A professional blogger and home-cook vs a food-critic who’s travel-the-world and only dines at 5-star restaurants.

2.       How do they wear their clothes?

3.       What are their feet like? (type of shoes, state of shoes, socks, feet, pristine, dirty, worn, etc)

4.       Race / Ethnicity?

5.       Mannerisms?

6.       Are they in good health?  An athlete will have had injuries.

7.       Do they have any secrets? 

8.       What haunts them?

Personality (this is something that pops into my head during the writing of the 1^st draft)

1. Catchphrase?
2. Bad habits?
3. What makes them laugh out loud?
4. How do they display affection?
5. How do they want to be seen by others? (this can be a secret)
6. How do they see themselves?
7. Strongest character trait?
8. Weakest character trait?
9. How do they react to praise?
10. How do they react to criticism? (this can be a trigger for a villain)
11. What is their greatest fear?
12. What will they stand up for? Willing to die for?
13. Who do they quote? (The Commissioner in the TV show, Blue Bloods quotes Teddy Roosevelt.)

Friends and Family

1. Is their family big or small? Who does it consist of?
   
2. What is their perception of family?
3. Do they have siblings? Older or younger?
4. Describe their best friend.
5. Do they have any pets?
6. Who are their natural allies?
7. Who are their surprising allies?

Past and Future

1. What was your character like as a baby? As a child? (This is something the hero/heroine can wonder about or even ask.)
2. Did they grow up rich or poor?
3. Did they grow up nurtured or neglected?
4. What smells remind them of their childhood?
5. Has anyone ever saved their life?
6. Strongest childhood memory?

Conflict

1. How do they respond to a threat?
2. Are they most likely to fight with their fists or their tongue?
3. What is your character’s kryptonite?
4. How do they perceive strangers?
5. What is their choice of weapon? (the home-cook could serve a crispy and dry mac and cheese casserole.)
6. Where do they go when they’re angry?
7. Who are their enemies and why?

Possessions

1. What is in their fridge:
2. What is in their purse or wallet?
3. What is in their pockets?
4. What is their most treasured possession?

Values

1. What do they think is the worst thing that can be done to a person?
2. Did they keep or break their last promise?

Miscellaneous

1. What would they do if they won the lottery?
2. What fairy-tale do they hate? Why?
3. Do they believe in happy endings?
4. What would they ask a fortune teller?
5. If they could have a superpower, what would they choose?

My questionnaire is just a little over 50 questions.  However, the important answers pop into my mind when I’m writing the first draft.  Others are answered when I’m working on a revision.

And as every writer knows, at some point during the writing process, the characters take-over and a great deal of careful plotting gets tossed out the window.

Along with the links to my novels, I’ve included a recipe for a potato-side dish (remember the reference to the food-blogger/home cook?

Lynx                 Brede             Tanayia 

Here Today Zombie Tomorrow

This is a hot casserole for dinner, lunch, or breakfast.  I often make it for a potluck, church social, or divide it into individual containers and freeze and reheat for future meals.

8 ingredient/Gluten Free  

9 X 14-inch casserole dish (bottom coated with oil/butter).

350-degree preheated oven

Potato Casserole

1 small onion, diced

1 bag 30 oz. frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

1 can cream of chicken soup

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

Dash of garlic powder (optional

1 stick of butter, melted

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese (1/2 of the cheese in the mixture)

1 cup sour cream

·         In a large bowl add ingredients one-by-one, folding each into the mixture with a large spoon or spatula.

·         Pour n the melted butter and then add the cheese and sour cream.

·         Toss into casserole dish, moving the mixture so it is evenly distributed and touches the all sides of the dish.

Add the reminding cheese on top of the casserole.  Since my family loves cheese, I was much more generous with the cheese topping.

 Stop by my website: www.novelsbyconnievines.com

My weblog:https://mizging.blogspot.com/ 

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram, too!

Happy Reading, 

Connie Vines

Getting Emotional in Writing

Yesterday I had a friend (who is also a fan!) tell me how much she loved my books except for one thing - they're too short! An avid reader, she went on to say how she got so caught up in my characters and the story that she couldn't put the book down and was disappointed when it ended.

Way back in a high school psychology class, I had to write a paper on the central nervous system versus the peripheral nervous system and used writing as an example of how to describe each. I use my brain, a part of the central nervous system, to create the work. When I re-read and edit, I use my peripheral nervous system since my hands sweat, my heart beats faster, and my body twitches in response to what I have read. This allows me to build a scene as though I am the character I've written and make the story more real to my readers.

As a writer, I also get caught up in the emotions of my scenes and characters. My palms would sweat when I wrote about Lucy and her ex-husband's relationship in The Mystery Lady as well about Katie's life with Maddox in The Bookstore Lady:

She’d never awakened in a motel room alone and naked before. Someone had always taken her home. Usually Maddox. She pushed that thought out of her head and splashed water on her face. In the mirror, her skin seemed almost green in the bad lighting. Someone had beaten her, probably Maddox, judging from the bruise on her cheek and the cut on her lower lip. Probably from the diamond he wore on his pinky.

Beside the toilet, bright blue fabric speckled with purple spots along the hem hung over the shower rod. Her favorite dress. The one she wore yesterday. At least she thought it was yesterday. She fingered the spots and fought off a wave of dizziness.

Blood stains. Whose blood?

 

In The Mystery Lady, Lucy becomes paranoid when she spots a car parked on her street for several days then strange men in her neighbourhood. Her concern for the well-being of she and her children actually left me a bit on edge and I found myself peering out the window a few times as well!

 Roger always said she’d make a good writer because she was such a drama queen, but maybe she was a drama queen because she was a writer. In truth, her mood was more about Roger and her deep down reluctance to let her kids go with him for the week. Normally, she’d probably have a hard time staying mad at someone like Clancy.

“Look, sweetheart.” He chuckled. “You go back to whatever it is you do all day and have fun with your kids. I’ll pad my tools with bubble wrap so you can relax.”

 “You are such a jerk.” She snapped.

“That’s quite an observation considering you just met me. Maybe you should give me a chance to actually be a jerk before you accuse me of such a heinous crime.” He toyed with a wrench.

Fondled? Stroked? Darn her writer’s brain. What was wrong with her? Lucy blew out a frustrated breath then rolled her eyes and stomped away. “Men.”

 

One of my favourite characters in the Wild Blue Mysteries series is Leo Blue. I find it easy to put myself in his place to see what he sees and think what he thinks. Leo looks at life a little differently than most, which makes him a lot of fun to write and  great foil for Danny since he will say and do pretty much whatever he wants.

The scenes with Leo and Christina in The Bakery Lady were some of my favourite (and steamiest!) to write. I allowed my emotions to run wild and tried to take inventory as I wrote to capture the moment as realistically as I could. In fact, one of the best ways for me to develop a scene, is to write a rough draft then go back and "feel" the emotions and "live" the scene in my head. Here's one example:

Leo clenched his hands at his sides to keep from reaching out to push back the damp hairs off her neck for a better view of the butterfly. “You’re right, she is cute. And funny.”

She spun around and knocked a steel bowl full of cookie cutters off the counter. The bowl clanged on the painted concrete floor and rolled toward the oven while the cookie cutters clattered to the white tile floor. Her freckled elfin face was dusted with flour, some of which rose off her lips as she huffed. When she glared at Clancy, her eyes reminded Leo of the slate gray-green Himalayan Mountains at sunset. Her red lips shone like the juicy flesh of a watermelon. He’d forgotten how much he liked watermelon.

 

 I find that the more I write, the more emotional my writing becomes as I become more connected to my characters and learn more about them. Currently, I am working on a new book in the series, The Painted Lady, which should be ready for release in 2017.

 All three of my Wild Blue Mysteries are available through Amazon & Books We Love as well as at Coles/Chapters/Indigo in Canada by special order!