How Well Do You Know Your Characters?
A writer develops characters and then lives with them for a while. In some cases, months or even years. You’d think we’d get to know our characters well. And then someone asks a question that throws you for a complete loop.
Let me explain. I’ve been working on A Reason For Dying since the end of 2004 - 3+ years. The characters in the novel seem like acquaintances, well in some cases, family. Over the course of time, you get to know these fictitious folks. You know what they look like, what they act like, what they like to eat, etc. As a writer, you absolutely need to know everything about your characters. After all, you are controlling their world, making their decisions, setting the course of their actions. They need to be, well, their own person. They need to be consistent. Otherwise they won’t come alive on paper.
When I first started writing, I never would have believed that I would be hearing my characters in my head and in my dreams. But it happens. Just like a mother seems to know what her newborn child wants, an author should know what their characters want and what they will do in any given circumstance and how they will react. I took the advice of other authors and prepared backgrounds on my major characters. I know plenty about my protagonist Laura Daniels that isn’t revealed in the 1st novel and stuff that’s likely never to be written about, ever. But it’s the stuff that defines her character and make her act like Laura Daniels and not Wilfred Bereswill.
Some of my characters are so well defined, my wife, who is invaluable to me as a critique reader, knows when they do something out of place and let’s me know it. So all is well and good, until somebody asked me about Laura Daniels…
What is the arc of her “hero’s journey” story — what internal demons is she facing as she confronts these external terrorists?
Who’s on her side, and who’s going to take her by surprise?
What are her greatest strengths and weaknesses?
What does she personally stand to lose?
And what’s at stake in the larger picture — what does the world stand to lose if she doesn’t succeed?
These are questions I was asked when I got help on writing the back cover copy. These are questions an experienced writer asks if they need to know about your characters. I was able to respond to these questions, but I had to really think about them first, which surprised me.
So, how well do you know your characters?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Yes, things are heating up. The release of my first novel, A Reason For Dying is getting closer to being a reality. Suddenly, what always seemed an eon away is right on top of me. I don’t have a particular date yet, but after talking with my publisher the other day, it seems we’re less than 60 days away from the launch.
After 1 1/2 years of writing and rewriting and queries and rejections and more rejections, came a year of waiting and witing after signing a contract. The past couple of months have been very busy. The things they don’t tell you about being an author. There’s getting blurbs, pulling together review contacts, setting up the web site, author photos, back jacket copy, preparing discussions to talk about during signings, and on and on.
Not to mention the promotion and marketing activities.
Some of the most important writing an author should do is the text that will appear on the book jacket that entices readers to buy your book. Being too close to a complicated, 100,000 word thriller, I had a bit of trouble writing a tagline and the couple of paragraphs that appear on the back cover. I finally found someone who specialized in the task and here’s what we came up with:
Tagline:
“Shortly after the terrorist cell behind the post-9/11 anthrax attacks is ordered to strike again, a mysterious virus sweeps the Western U.S. Suspicions of terrorist links are rising as fast as the death toll.”
Back Jacket:
“Agent Laura Daniels’ career soared when the FBI assigned her to the anthrax letter case after 9/11. But failing to crack the case landed her in the Seattle Field Office, where she feared her life would be relegated to the routine.
While investigating the theft of low-level radiation devices, Daniels is led to the site of Interex Corporation’s controversial oil and gas exploration well just outside Yellowstone National Park, where crucial fossil records lie buried. Arriving at the site, what she encounters is unthinkable — not only have large radiation sources gone missing, but an unidentified virus is killing members of the drilling crew, and shows no signs of stopping.
Now Daniels’ career rides on getting the answers she needs. But as the virus continues its deadly rampage, she discovers the stakes are far higher than she anticipated. And the answer she gets is the last thing on Earth she’d expect.”
My thanks to Mary Erickson for her help.
And here is what one best-selling suspense author had to say:
“A Reason For Dying is an intelligent, heart-thumping thriller that will keep you reading and guessing and reading some more. Bereswill is an author who knows how to engage and hold the reader. His many talents are evident in this strong mix of suspense and action.” — John Lutz, NY Times & USA Today Best Selling Author of Suspense.
After 1 1/2 years of writing and rewriting and queries and rejections and more rejections, came a year of waiting and witing after signing a contract. The past couple of months have been very busy. The things they don’t tell you about being an author. There’s getting blurbs, pulling together review contacts, setting up the web site, author photos, back jacket copy, preparing discussions to talk about during signings, and on and on.
Not to mention the promotion and marketing activities.
Some of the most important writing an author should do is the text that will appear on the book jacket that entices readers to buy your book. Being too close to a complicated, 100,000 word thriller, I had a bit of trouble writing a tagline and the couple of paragraphs that appear on the back cover. I finally found someone who specialized in the task and here’s what we came up with:
Tagline:
“Shortly after the terrorist cell behind the post-9/11 anthrax attacks is ordered to strike again, a mysterious virus sweeps the Western U.S. Suspicions of terrorist links are rising as fast as the death toll.”
Back Jacket:
“Agent Laura Daniels’ career soared when the FBI assigned her to the anthrax letter case after 9/11. But failing to crack the case landed her in the Seattle Field Office, where she feared her life would be relegated to the routine.
While investigating the theft of low-level radiation devices, Daniels is led to the site of Interex Corporation’s controversial oil and gas exploration well just outside Yellowstone National Park, where crucial fossil records lie buried. Arriving at the site, what she encounters is unthinkable — not only have large radiation sources gone missing, but an unidentified virus is killing members of the drilling crew, and shows no signs of stopping.
Now Daniels’ career rides on getting the answers she needs. But as the virus continues its deadly rampage, she discovers the stakes are far higher than she anticipated. And the answer she gets is the last thing on Earth she’d expect.”
My thanks to Mary Erickson for her help.
And here is what one best-selling suspense author had to say:
“A Reason For Dying is an intelligent, heart-thumping thriller that will keep you reading and guessing and reading some more. Bereswill is an author who knows how to engage and hold the reader. His many talents are evident in this strong mix of suspense and action.” — John Lutz, NY Times & USA Today Best Selling Author of Suspense.
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