Who Is This Character I Created?

A writer I follow, @tkjamesauthor, posed the following intriguing question in a recent tweet: 

What is something that your main character hates?

So, that turned into my morning; thinking, pondering, delving into what exactly it might be that my main character hates. 

Though-provoking character study questions such as these fascinate me. Not only are they fun, they can be incredibly revealing. Creating a character is so much more than slapping a name down on a piece of paper. It's a responsibility. I think we all realize, as writers, that the more consistency, dimension and depth a character has, the more interesting they are going to be to the reader. But what specifically does that mean? Considering how long it took me to answer what sounded on the surface like a simple question regarding a character I've created and spent time with for ten years of my life, it has struck me that, just like actual people, no matter how well you know, or think you know a character, you can always know and learn more about them. 

The more you know your character, the better and more accurately you can predict their choices and reactions, which means the faster you'll be able to develop a plot, create conflict and generally do all the magical things that move your story forward. 

What I really like about the character exploration work is that it can be done anywhere. Eventually you need to get everything out out on the page and there's no getting around it, I'm a big advocate of the benefits of 'writing while not writing'. When I do this, I feel I look forward to and better leverage the windows of time I do have to curl up with my laptop and get the story on the page. 

Share a car ride or a long walk with your character. Take them out for coffee, have them accompany you on errands, hang with them in waiting rooms. They'll be more apt to show up for you when you need them in your writing sessions. For those of us who are writing our novels in our spare time, we need all the time management tips we can get.  

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I went with calumny as something my main character hates. 

More on why in my next post. 

In the meantime, a picture is worth 1000 words. (I'm only a writer because I can't draw.)

 

The Calumny of Apelles, Sandro Botticelli, 1495, Uffizi Gallery, Florence