My two teen MCs (and my other two secondary teen MCs) I love for very different reasons. My girl MC/supporting protag is my girly, Julie Andrewsesque alter-ego to my tomboyish style. My teen MCs, if they were guys I’d date, I’d be very attracted to and hard to choose from. One holds a very confident voice/air about him in the manner of the late Frank Sinatra’s, he’s an a**hole with a heart–but a deep sadness penetrates and threatens to drown him in it if he lets it. My other teen MC is an aloof version of the late Jimmy Stewart but is too scared to let his emo side up for air, as he’s unclear exactly how to handle it. More than hating vulnerability, it’s more to understand its complexities than to fight them–and he’s scared to see these possibilities. The former could pass for a kid version of John Oates; the latter, an older (maybe? version of the kid who was the kid William Wallace in “Braveheart.” One has brass cojones, the other has intelligence and logic that runs circles around most guys, and neither are jerks about their strengths.

Ah, like McNamara/Troy, which to choose, which to choose? I don’t: I love them both!

~Missye

I’m currently polishing my novel and loving being back with the characters. I don’t have a lot of time to write, but I make time every morning, and I miss not being with the characters throughout the day. They’re constantly talking to me and telling me new things about themselves, most of which won’t be in the novel but it’s what makes the characters so real to me.

Between finishing my first draft and starting my first revision, and then again between that revision and my polish, I didn’t look at the novel for about three weeks to a month each time and it was hard. The characters still talked to me, and it was very difficult to ignore them — necessary, I think, but difficult.

Thanks for the post and for showing that great trailer.

So far it would appear that I have three strong lead female characters and a few secondary ones here and there. To be perfectly honest, I don’t often think about the writing process – I think of something in my head, edit it, and then put it down on paper. What I write in the first draft is usually strong enough to stick it through a few revision for grammar and clarification.

Going back to being in control of my story – I don’t usually write out something unless I know where it’s going and where it will end up. There are moments where I might surprise myself – but I think that is from seeing everything in front of me and making a new connection that I couldn’t see in my mind.

(I have yet to read about Gatsby – but I have a deep love for Moriarty).

I always get to know characters by tossing them into first-draft (or even pre-draft) situations and seeing and hearing how they act, what they do, the choices they make, etc. I find if I try to discern all the character stuff before the story is written, though, it stops me cold. I often don’t know my characters completely until after their story is told in first draft. Then, as they have revealed more of themselves in the telling, I can go back in revisions and put in important details accordingly. Anything else, for me, is backwards.

JB

During fits of insanity, okay always, I find myself asking, “How would *** react to this? What would she say?”

And then I laugh, and occasionally answer her.

I know I’m not the only author who was “haunted” by characters who wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote their story.

Sure, this is nuts to people who don’t write, but if a character isn’t real to an author, how can the character be real to the reader?

I base almost all of my characters on co-workers, family and friends, as I imagine most people do. The thing is, that’s just the base. Something great happens when you start writing fiction with real personalities as a mental framework: the characters start acting and talking on their own. I’ve been caught off guard a few times, actually laughed out loud or cringed at things my characters do. It’s what keeps me writing.

Having been a long time fan of Hunter S. Thompson (and anyone who worked with him as well), I believe all writers must face and endure a daily love/hate relationship with their characters. You will learn to love everything you write about them one day and hate each sentence the next. You edit and revise passionately and then question the motivation for doing so. I have matured enough to understand that it is not so much what I love to write, but writing the words my audience will love the read.

Thank you for such a wonderful web site and the advice you so unselfishly offer.

M. D. Fields

One of my characters is a criminal, although I don’t think she thinks of herself as a criminal. She is based on a few real criminals, one of whom I knew personally but who had many secrets, and I researched and found horrific things I didn’t know she and these other people had done. I spent hours, weeks, reading depositions, poring over letters, inspecting legal documents, and reading memoirs of those who have had to live with their many sins. As this background unfolded to me, I had to marry it with the public face of the unassuming girl I had known personally. Then the character came to life in me, and she is still emerging. I find myself thinking about her as I go about my business, revisiting things she’s done and grieving her actions, and seeing depths of her that I hadn’t understood before I wrote her down. I found YouTubes of the girl I knew after she was really walking on the dark side. Her eyes, her mannerisms, made cold chills run down my spine. As I write this, I know I haven’t mined that for all it has to offer.

Thank you for a great post.