Bring Your Characters to Life, a Post From R. Clint Peters

An author needs only three things to write a best selling book:  A character, a crisis, and a place to have a battle.  Tom Clancy, in The Hunt For Red October, placed his battle in the Atlantic Ocean, and introduced the reader to Jack Ryan in the first of several novels.  Tom had a character, many conflicts, and his character travelled the world.

It’s easy to find a place for your crisis.  I use Google maps to get a general idea of a location, and then to prevent a reader telling me I had the house on the wrong side of the street, I created my own towns.  (Pendergast City, Idaho doesn’t exist on any map, but it’s been well planned in my head.)

Once you’ve established your crisis and location, it’s time to create characters.  I’ve written before about developing characters.  Here’s some ideas to help you create characters that come alive on your pages, courtesy of  Creative Writing Now (http://www.creative-writing-now.com)

– What’s the character’s occupation?

– What’s the character’s family like?

– Is the character in a relationship?  What’s his or her partner like?

– What is the character’s home like?  His or her neighborhood?

– Does your character have hobbies? What does he or she enjoy doing?

– What are your character’s greatest strengths?

– What are his or her greatest weaknesses?

– What is his/her deepest desire?

– What is his/her greatest fear?

– What is something this character desperately wants to change about himself or herself?

– What is something this character doesn’t know about himself or herself?

One of my favorite authors was John D. MacDonald, and my favorite character created by MacDonald was Travis McGee.  At some point in my life, I have  read every Travis McGee novel in existence.  Some of them, I have read many times.

Why?  Because MacDonald brought Travis McGee to life.  I lived on the Busted Flush in Slip F-18.  I had long conversations with Meyer.  I wanted to grow up  to be just like Travis.

The objective of every author is to create characters the reader becomes best friends with.  If you make your characters come alive, your reader will make friends and move in next door.

Remember, cut-off for the Author’s Club Newsletter is tonight at midnight.  Send your submissions to theauthorsclub@gmail.com.

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