Monday, November 30, 2009

Tricks to Get to Know Your Characters

November's over already? How did all of you NaNo-ers do? I hope everyone had a terrific month! So what's on the plate for December? Do you cut back on your writing goals due to the busyness of the season? Or do you find the pace invigorating?

(All together now...awww!!)



Recently, I've learned some cool tricks to get to know your characters. Since I've spent the last two weeks pre-writing, I tried a few of them out.

Tracy Madison (author of A Taste of Magic, A Stroke of Magic, and coming soon, A Breath of Magic) gave me the tip to write a letter to yourself from your main character. (Does this make sense? Basically, it would be Dear Jill, Blah blah blah... Sincerely, Main Character.) I did this and really got a sense of what drives my characters and how they see themselves. Very illuminating.

A book I'm reading by Alicia Rasley called The Story Within recommends free writing in your main character's point of view. This would be very helpful when you're in the middle of the book and you're not certain what the character will do next. It would also be beneficial in the pre-writing stage to better flesh out your characters.

Head over to Northern Writer to read about Paul Greci's Riff Writing. I loved the concept and will definitely be trying it soon.

The next idea has been written about on several blogs, so I can't give credit to the originator. Interview your characters. I haven't tried this yet, but I'm storing it away for future use.

Do you have a cool trick to get to know your characters? I want to hear about it!

Join me on Wednesday when we'll kick off our December topic: One-Minute Vacations!

33 comments:

  1. Good morning:) I read about Paul's method to Rif write and thought it was cool-- I plan to use it when I am stuck.
    SOme great ideas:)

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  2. Oooo! I'm very excited for this month's adventure! Especially 1 minute vacations!

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  3. I don't have any cool tricks, but I wish I did. I need them right now. LOL

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  4. That's an adorable picture!

    The only sure way that I get to know my characters is through the rough draft. No matter how much pre-writing I do, my characters come out different during that first full fleshing out. Often their names even change to better suit their personalities!

    I'll have to try the letter writing and see if that works. Great idea :)

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  5. I like. I like. I'm going to try to interview and the letter writing.

    It might be cheese, but I sometimes close my eyes (especially when I'm bombarded w/ distractions) and pretend I'm the character...actor stuff.
    ~ Wendy

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  6. Oh my gosh--that puppy is adorable. And our blog concepts for this week are kind of similiar--so fun!

    Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Jill! I'll definitely check out these links!

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  7. I've tried all of these tricks, and I do them over and over again. I find at different places in the story, I get a different result. Can't wait for the One-Minute Vacation posts!

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  8. Awww! When can I expect that puppy on my doorstep?

    All this is very helpful, especially since I've just crested the middle of my rough draft and have a little feeling of loss and misdirection. Thank you!

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  9. I love the ideas regarding "getting to know" your main character. I plan to "interview" my characters. :)

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  10. Awesome ideas! For me, being quiet usually does the trick. If I quiet myself, it gives them the opportunity to flow through me and say and do what would be natural to them.

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  11. I love all these ideas! Thank you, Jill. I tend to write complete back stories on all my characters, which take so much time. I will definitely try these!

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  12. One-minute vacations? Now, that sounds interesting!!

    I tend to learn about my characters as I write. I do interview them a little too, to get to know their backstory.

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  13. Oh my gosh, that puppy is so cute! I am just seeing so many cute puppy pics today :)

    I like those tips. I also remember one T. Anne posted on her blog not too long about about inviting her MC over to her house. She said she'd do the dishes or have a cup of tea or something and observe what her main character would do. I really thought that would be a great way to get to know what kind of person your character is. Introvert, extrovert, helpful, annoying :) or whatever.

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  14. Oh, I like the letter idea. Interviewing my characters is weird for me, so I might try that instead.

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  15. Thanks for the great tip! When I was working on my last novel, I suddenly found that I understood my characters MUCH better three years into working on the story. I was amazed by what a different that made, so I try harder than ever now to get to know them.

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  16. Thanks, Jill.

    Sometimes when I go running I have conversations in my head with my characters. I think it helps me to get to know them better.

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  17. Those are all great tips, Jill! I'm not really sure how I get to know my characters--I guess after reading enough biographies and filling out my character worksheets, I finally get to a point where I know everything about them and feel like I can start writing! Hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

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  18. Love the write a letter to you idea. Clever! :O)

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  19. Love all of these ideas! Definitely going to try a few of them!

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  20. Good afternoon! I knew I'd find out even more cool tricks in the comments, and you guys didn't disappoint! Thanks for sharing your secret strategies!

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  21. Sonia, I would like to have a character driven story like in A Confederacy of Dunces. There's no plot yet the reader gets so caught up in the character Ignatious O'riley they never notice. Thanks for the tips.

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  22. Thanks for the tips Jill! Can't wait for the one-minute vacations... hmmm... intriguing!

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  23. I think I've tried everything, except brutal force. It's coming up next on ly list!

    Sometimes they with hold some much I want to scream, but then I forgive them when they surprise me with info at the most critical time.

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  24. Great tips! I've got a new voice rattling around in my head right now, so this is good timing.

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  25. Great tips!

    I usually talk it over with someone... usually my hubby. We have long conversations analyzing my characters head... what motivates them, why they do what they do, what they look like, their likes and dislikes... Anyone listening to us would think we are HORRIBLE gossips!

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  26. Great tips. Thanks Jill. After all if characters don't first live for us they will never live for our readers.

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  27. Love the idea of the letter and the interview! I was just tackling this recently and found it was very helpful to decide what my character's dress style was - seems superficial, but even if someone says they don't care what they wear, it is a clue to something inside them. Also I do their Desert Island Discs.

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  28. And MORE great tips! Thanks everyone for stopping by and sharing your character strategies.

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  29. I get to know my characters by writing the first draft of their story! I wish I was more efficient at times, but hey...

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  30. I love the idea of riff writing and character interviews. I usually get to know my characters during quiet time. I think about the situations I'm going to give them and I think about how they should react--not very scientific eh?

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  31. I've tried the interviewing technique...particularly to help me get un-stuck about what a character wants to do next, or why a character wants to do what he/she is doing. It's helped, but I don't think one method is enough so thanks for sharing tips on other "tricks." Patrice

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  32. I'm sure you can gain a lot of information using those techniques, especially the letter from your character one. Good advice.

    That dog is way too cute!

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  33. Love the puppy pic! Can't wait to catch up with your One-Minute Vacations on Wednesday!!

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