Do you ever feel like you’ll never figure out who your main characters are?
When I first started writing, I struggled with this. You don’t want cookie-cutter characters, but characters who are rich, full, deep, and have flaws. Over the years, I’ve learned to create the over-arching big picture and decide what tropes I’m going to use. In Lethal Pursuit, my hero was a federal agent and happens to be the best friend of the heroine’s older brother. The heroine is a military widow, and mother who is struggling both spiritually and financially. Next, I threw in roadblocks: her brother, who is a felon, is back in town; she’s been accused of passing counterfeit money; and finally, the one person she’s supposed to trust, kidnaps her children. Whew! It’s a lot but gives me a baseline to work with.
To delve into their characters, I interview them separately. I ask them what their names are, the meaning of their name, and what they do for a living. What is their greatest joy? What happened in their past (The Dark Moment story) that shaped their character and how they see the world? Sometimes my characters don’t want to talk, which can be extremely frustrating!
Next, I take a personality test and the Five Love Languages test as the character. After I gather all this information, it’s easier to craft a story, and discover how the character might react in different situations. The best advice I can give you is this, do your research.
There is so much more I could say about characterization. Readers want to experience the highs and the lows that your characters experience. Developing a multi-faceted character can be challenging but necessary to crafting a story that will last.
