I used to think that creating a character for a book would be easy. After all, we all know a bunch of people. Just make a character like one of them. But the people we know are already true, full people (though I have to admit, I know a lot of people who could use a little more work). To take a concept, a thought of a person you want to play a part in your story involves developing every single facet of personality, appearance, habits, quirks. It can be daunting! Consider the difference between buying a house that needs to have the walls painted to starting from ground zero and building the whole house from scratch.
I use a couple of techniques to create characters. First, I generally think about the character for a while. It can be any length of time, from a week to a year. By the time I start, I have a good idea of who the character is going to be. Then I use a character sheet I found in a plotting book a long time ago. It helps me see the character as more than two dimensional. The character sheet forces me to think about physical characteristics like hair and eye color, tattoos, piercings, and such. I also fill in things like hometown, siblings, general background material, internal and external goals, what they want, and what they never want to do.
I love the character sheet! But I have found that even the sheet can 
be a little short of what it takes to make a character real. Kayelle Allen provides character interviews for authors who post on the Romance Lives Forever blog and I love them. Interviewing the character and really thinking about the answers make the hero or heroine come to life as a person. Such a great help!
What do you do to make your characters real? And as a reader, what do you notice most about characters?
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
Burning Bridges by Anne Krist: old letters put the lie to Sara’s life. Now, mending her past mistakes while crossing burning bridges will be the hardest thing she’s ever done.
My mother-in-law once told me that she never considered divorcing my father-in-law until they renovated their home. She also commented that she would never (ever, ever) go through another renovation, even if she had to live in a hovel without one. I thought she was exaggerating until we recently renovated our master bathroom.
next week. No return call. We called again, leaving messages. We texted. Finally, because we had been given the contractor’s name by the plumbing company, we called them and asked that if they had contact with him to please ask him to call us. The plumbing company called back and said that the guy had another job and couldn’t do ours. Fortunately, they gave us another name and he worked with us. There were some other quirks and blips in the installation process, but at long last, by the end of October we had our shower. And it’s beautiful and wonderful. Having it is akin to giving birth in that all the pain of getting it here and installed is forgotten now that it’s over. Maybe all renovations are like that…?
I have a confession to make. I am old enough to remember when most people received news through…what were those things? Oh yeah, Newspapers. Most also watched the evening news on television at six o’clock, but newspapers delivered national and local news in one place and in more depth. My parents used to read every page of the daily papers. I was more receptive to television. One thing is certain, where people get their news has changed dramatically over the years.
her iPhone and I thought she was crazy. Who could enjoy reading anything in depth on that little screen? Well, I’ve found out. I was one of those people who said I’d never use a smart phone for anything. Now I pick it up all the time for one thing or another—including keeping up with news practically as it happens!
Remember that song, Red Sails in the Sunset? Probably not unless you’re as old as dirt, like me. I always liked it, though. So romantic, watching a sailing ship in the sunset as it sets out on the ocean. The sails are billowing and catching the last rays of the sun. There is adventure there. There is a dream. There is the wide sea and endless stars during the night. But there is NOT me.
thanks to corona virus, no one can cruise right now. But even in the happiest of times, no way would you get me on a cruise ship. I’m happy for those who do enjoy the voyage. More power to you! I understand lots of people have already signed up for when ships set sail again. For me, I’ll happily wave goodbye from the shore!
Clairol used to have a commercial asking if blondes really have more fun. Of course the answer was yes, and supposedly, sales at Clairol proved the point. But an article on 
would guess it’s red. That’s because I’ve always loved red hair. My childhood hair color was pure blonde but by the time I entered my teens it was brown. Not a pretty brown with highlights of either auburn or gold, just…brown. Is it any wonder, then, that I always envied my cousin’s red hair that turned from a luscious strawberry blond to an even prettier bright red as she aged? My grandmother’s hair was a deep auburn, but she and Pamela are the only two in our family to boast red hair. Honestly, I’m not sure either of them appreciated the gift. Not more than I would have, surely. 😉
So my hair color now? Gray. And I won’t color it. I’ve earned each and every one of those gray hairs, and I’m proud of them! How about you? What color is your hair—in reality or in your dreams—and what does it say about you?
ecause of our nomadic lifestyle, hubby and I have had the luxury and privilege of living in both cities and the country. We spent 4 years in Richmond, Virginia—not huge, but still a decent sized city—and 12 years in a neighboring county with 13,000 people in the county. We lived just outside New York City and then moved to live in Appleton, Wisconsin, where 10 minutes would get you to the airport and about ten steps separated you from the baggage claim, loading gate, and car rental desk. We moved to the heart of San Francisco, across from City Hall and the ballet, and then moved to Greenwood, SC, where ten cars constituted a traffic jam. Our last move was from the urban Tidewater area (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Hampton and Newport News) to a tiny town in Idaho. I can honestly say I enjoyed each and every place we lived.
visited the Wharf weekly. The restaurants are deservedly legendary. In Richmond, too, we had season tickets to the theater. New York offered Radio City Music Hall and a city throbbing with energy, and Tidewater, where I’d lived for nine years growing up, was home in a way. None of those things were true in the small towns/country where we lived. In our Virginia county, we were 35 miles from the nearest city, and 50 miles into Richmond, so shopping had to be planned. As I said, the airport in Appleton was close but everything else was pretty limited. Still, the people were amazingly friendly, and the town was fun to explore. I loved living in rural South Carolina! Anytime was a good time for a ride in the country and all kinds of interesting things presented themselves for exploration.
This week’s blog question is whether there are any topics you won’t write about. Sure. I won’t write about politics, religion, or another person’s spouse. One of my earliest pieces of advice came from my dad who lived most of his adult life in close quarters with a bunch of other men on naval ships. He said those three things were topics no one should ever discuss. I assume because they were hot buttons that would cause fights. I’ll take that to mean I shouldn’t write about them, too. They’re nothing but trouble.
great romances in that genre. But I know my limitations and I would not be able to write a same sex romance that would be good enough for anyone to read. This is also a problem with stories that have strong animal characters. I love dogs and cats but I don’t have all that much experience with them, sadly. Would I be able to portray them as main assets in a book? I fear not.