Characters Alive

I consider myself a visual writer. I 'see' my characters, my scenes, my setting. One way I help myself 'see' my characters is by developing a dossier for each main character.

First, I find a picture or pictures of my character. One of the best places to find pictures is in magazines. Any sort will do but for pictures of people People, or movie magazines are good. I've printed pictures of a hero from fan sites on the internet. I've put together more than one picture to create a composite that best depicts how I envision my character.

As much as possible I try to find more than one picture showing the person in different poses. Sometimes I see the perfect pose or expression for my character but the rest of the face or body is wrong. So I cut off the wrong parts.

On the first page, next to the best picture of my character, I write a skeleton description-occupation, age, hair and eye color, and the one most dominant trait that defines her/him: she's a Pollyanna, he's cynical. This helps me keep the basics straight and the trait identifier helps me make sure the motivation and reactions are in keeping with the core characteristic.

I have a section called 'some of my favorite things'. As I'm paging through the magazines, I think he/she would really like that outfit. This would be one of her favorite meals. This is her favorite color. He would drive this vehicle. He would live in this house. He would decorate his rooms like this. This book/toy/painting would be in her house. Sounds like a waste of time? Just a way to avoid really writing? Some days it is, but believe me, it helps get a handle on individuality. Want to give your character more depth? Than create more specific details for him. Does he wear a hat? What kind? Can you find a picture of it? Does he like to barbecue? Is she a gourmet cook or a hot dog and macaroni kind of cook? Finding pictures of all these aspects of his/her life will help them come alive.

Someplace in my dossier, I will probably have a character chart. You can find lots of these on author sites. Choose one that you like. Some are heavy on the externals, some lean more toward motivation. Both are necessary to have a well-rounded character.

I might include a time line showing when all the important events of my character's life took place-birth, first day of school, the day her father died, the day her ex dumped her, the day her baby was born, etc. This helps me uncover backstory but also prevents me from such disasters as a fifteen-month pregnancy. Or having her mother die on one page with the heroine twelve and another with the heroine fifteen. Whoops.

Among the things I develop is a journal entry written by my character. To get me started I use prompts such as:
My name is ____ and I've always thought...
My name is____ and today started out to be like any other in my life.
My name is ___ and I remember when my life changed.

Anything to get the character talking. I always write this in first person and try and let my character do the talking.

I develop backstory either through the journal entry, the time line, or simply writing the entire backstory on a document and including it in the collection of papers I am accumulating.

I might include a family tree and character sketches of significant family members if this is important to the story (or if I'm avoiding tackling plot problems).

Setting is important so I include a section for that-a map or picture of the small town where she lives, a picture of the house and some of the rooms. Knowing what furniture is in each room and what colors are used is not only important in providing specific details as you write, they also provide clues to your character's tastes and reveal another aspect.

Developing a GMC chart for both internal and external conflict such as Deb Dixon outlines in her book is a handy thing to have in the dossier (and even more valuable to actually figure it out.)

I sometimes create little duo-tang folders for each character. I might even add something to the cover to dress it up (and avoid tackling those bothersome plot problems). Often I simply have a section for each character in a three-ring binder identified for each story. Add a little tab and it's easy to flip back and forth.

You might see the obvious benefits of creating such a file for each character but I discovered unexpected benefits. By flipping through my dossier, I find it's easy to get back into each character even a year later when it's time to do the complete or revisions for the editor. When I'm writing the story, I often look at my character's pictures and that makes it easier to picture them moving and speaking, and visualize individual expressions for them. And it helps keep me from repeating the same character in my books.

One note of caution: I don't use all these for each character or for each story. Sometimes a story requires a great deal of work to set it up. Sometimes the characters are complicated and reluctant to come to me. In that case my dossier might be twenty or thirty pages. Sometimes the story is so straightforward and the characters so alive in my mind the dossier is only four pages long. This is a tool I use, not a rule. Feel free to add it to your own tool belt.