As I have started my ninth book I am now looking back at the characters I have written and trying to have my new characters sound fresh, and not recycled. I have found this difficult. Though the hero and heroine in my new book “Red” are completely different from any other characters I have written before, I find myself using the same words to describe them, their feelings and their actions.
This has been both frustrating and enlightening to me. And has caused me to look outside my box of favorites to try and find new things about each that will enhance their depth as well as their relationship.
I recently found several tools that I am using to try and incorporate these new depths.
Mariner, who has made one of my favorite softwares called Contour, has recently come out with a new software called Persona. Persona is a great software in that it is not as complex as Dramatica Pro, yet still allows me to create character sheets where I can keep notes on everyone.
Persona gives great examples of the type of hero and heroine as well as villain character type that you choose. It then takes the character types you have chosen and shows you how they work together and the obstacles that they have to overcome with each other.
I also found an article on Scriptmag. com called Development: Missing – Compelling Characters.
The article is great. And though it aims at scripts it can be used for all genres of writing. Some of the best points are:
Don’t ask why your characters are such great heroes, ask why they are so screwed up. Dig in to them. What are their philosophy/attitudes, decisions/actions, and emotional life/emotional responses.
Honestly, without compelling characters that drive the story, no one cares. Especially in romance. I have found that in a romance it is all about the character. Of course the plot and twists are fun, but it is the romance between two people that sucks you in.
You have to be able to identify with the characters. We want to be the heroine that falls for the amazing brooding hero. And without that, you have no story.
I have read books that I don’t care whether or not they get together. And I have read stories where I hated the heroine so much that I absolutely did not want the amazing hero to end up with her.
But even in the books where I hate the heroine, the compelling nature of one or both main characters keeps me reading to see how it ends.
If you would like to read the article you can find it here:
http://www.scriptmag.com/features/developmentmissing-compelling-characters?et_mid=609437&rid=233053613
Whether or not my characters become the favorites of millions, is yet to be seen. At this point I am striving to write characters that have enough depth, that people want to keep reading about what happens to them, even if they hate them.