Your Characters
This article is about knowing who your characters are it will document the mistakes that writers often make and show the best ways to avoid this. In the thriller, just as in the historical romance or science fiction, characters are what bring your story to life and hold the readers attention.
Know Who They Are
It is sad when writers don't know their characters well enough to accurately remember their name. Even editors don't pick up on every mistake and I have read books where a character starts out as Jean and by page twenty has metamorphized into Jenny. You should know your characters well enough not to make this mistake. Characters should be as real as your friends, get to know them, get to know their habits, their social and educational background and their likes and dislikes - be sure that you know the color of their hair and eyes if you want the reader to believe in your character you first have to demonstrate that you believe in them.
Why You Need to Know Who They Are
You need to know who your characters are if you intend to write a believable story. You need to know how your character will react in a given situation, what drives them, what antagonizes them, what they love and what they hate. If you write a scene and don't know your characters it is very rare that the scene will work. If you do know who your characters are it will soon become apparent that certain things will not work because it will have them acting out of character. Sometimes your characters will surprise you, you may think that with what you know about them they will act a certain way; but when you write the scene in that manner it is awkward, or you get stuck. If this happens you should stop writing and start talking to your character, ask them what is wrong, how would they react in that situation. This may seem crazy at first but most well known writers will tell you that they have used this method in their writing because they know that the character is resisting the role that you want to put them in. Try this next time you get stuck and you will soon see the scene become more alive.
That's all very well I hear you say but don't I need a story first? While some people might disagree with me I would have to say no. You might have an idea for a story but unless you have a central character that you know really well and a character or villain who opposes that character you can't write the story. Before you can write a novel you need to write a history or back story for your character because what a person experiences in life is what influences their actions and motivations in the future.
Character Charts
Use a chart for each of your main characters listing name, age, hair and eye color, manner of dress, personal quirks and any other thing that will be distinctive to that character. Keep this to one page, you will have written more than this on your character but the character charts help to jog your memory when you are writing. Chances are that before you are halfway through a book you won't need the charts because you will know the central characters so well. In the beginning however, a character chart pinned on your wall or in a notebook next to your computer will help to prevent the mistakes mentioned at the start of this article. The work that you put into a character chart will help your story to run more smoothly and will alleviate some of the editing needed at a later date i.e. you won't be calling your character Jenny when her name is Jean, her eyes will remain blue and her hair a dirty blond. Your story will work better because you know your characters,
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