Character Voices

     As I've been working on so many different projects recently, it has become a bit of a focus of mine to make sure that every character has his/her own voice. Now, obviously, individual character voices are always important and I don't want you thinking that I've neglected it in the past. My point is that with my recent experience I've been able to break down a little more cognitively the method I use when creating a character. This is by no means the only way to do this, just as there are many ways actors create characters they portray, so it is with writers.

     The first elements I determine for my characters are actually more about the world the character will inhabit:

1) Geography: Where the story takes place, where the character will be from, where they'll go, etc.
2) Era: Time period of the story and accompanying social norms
3) Age: How old the character is not only at the beginning of the story but throughout the entire plot and what the norm would be for a person in the world thus defined

     My reasons for doing this, I feel, are simple. This gives me a basic pallet to draw from as I build the more complex elements around the character. To illustrate this, I'll use Joan from the story IMMOLATION that I'm writing now.

     I knew I wanted the story to begin in suburban American Midwest so Joan could begin in fairly unexciting surroundings and then move into the wider world around her. I wanted the era to be modern times, perhaps a bit into the future so I could play with the worlds politics, technology and such while still maintaining a certain amount of normalcy for the reader. Joan, I determined, would start out around 17 or 18 years old; on the cusp of adulthood and all those changes that come with it. Then I would move her out of high school and into college, relationships, work and all the other normal things people deal with.

     Once the world is set I began adding the surface character details:

1) Patience: How far can she be pushed before she pushes back
2) Intro/Extrovert: How social is she
3) Self Esteem and Pride: Does she see herself as better than others, think well of herself, etc.
4) Gender: Fairly self explanatory

     I wanted Joan to always have an edge to her so I limited the amount of patience I gave her and added a fair bit of pride. In the beginning of IMMOLATION,  Joan even comes across as being a bit of a jerk. While she does tone down I don't let it fade completely. Joan is also a bit of an extrovert. If she were at a party and wanted to get to know someone, she'd go over and introduce herself. Her high self esteem also helps feed her socializing. I discussed how I decided that Joan would be female in my last post but essentially it was the combination of numerous outside influences.

     Now I add elements that may or may not come into the story but nonetheless help me in writing the character:

1) Family and Friends: What are the relationships, how do they get along, etc.
2) Habits: Daily routine, Nervous ticks, etc.
3) Psychology: Phobias, Depression, Insanity, etc.
4) Beliefs: Philosophy, Religion, etc.

     Joan never got along with her family, which comes out a little in the story and may be referenced later in the story as well. Joan, in the beginning views friends as people she can use to make her feel better. As Joan develops she'll go through a transformation where she will learn to appreciate people for who they are and not just what they can do for her. For habits, Joan counts steps, brushes her teeth in the same order every time and does everything left handed when she's in public even though she's right handed because she likes the attention being left handed brings. Joan's psychology begins fairly normal with a fear of spiders and medium sized rodents (rats, guinea pigs, etc.) but through the story she develops some more severe psychological problems brought about by having to live with her ability to burn. She becomes afraid of loving as intense emotions causes her to burn. She also forms some more serious psychological problems like depression, defeatism and, eventually, a belief that it is her purpose in life to destroy the world. While I try to keep my stories neutral as far as religion is concerned, Joan was raised with the basic tenets of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Joan herself begins with the standard smatterings of morality and concern for other people, but she also has a strong independent streak that lets her feel okay about pushing people down stairs when they annoy her.

     Once all of this is set, I determine what the character actually looks like. In Joan's case, I haven't put my description into the story yet. This is a habit that I've formed over the years, and not always a good one. Some stories that I've written flow just fine without ever giving a description of the main character, others do not and I'll just have to see how this one works. Either way, I almost never put in a description of the main character until the story is finished. For me it's the icing on the cake and can't be added until the end.

     As soon as a character is solidified in my mind, it becomes that much easier to isolate him/her and figure out how he/she would behave in any given circumstance.