Talk to your characters

One of the best bits of writing advice I ever received was to find photographs of the characters populating my story. A quick search through Google Images will turn up all sorts of people; gnarly old guys perfect as wizards, evil young women epitomising your #1 antagonist, and any number of natural and supernatural looking characters ready to talk to you

When you’re building your character charts, pop in the picture and if you get stuck look at it and ask, “What would you do now, how would you do that, and what will be the outcome? And most importantly, ‘How do you feel about that?” Before long your characters will be your best friends and pop into your consciousness at all times of the day and night with ideas for your story.

Building your characters

Why do our characters do what they do? What drives them? When deciding on the characters for your story look deeper than just their physical appearance. Look to their sociology and psychology as well as their physiology. Who and what was responsible for their upbringing, their values, their morals, and who informed and moulded them as individuals?

One of the best websites I’ve found for looking into the characteristics of potential characters is www.pyschologytoday.com a site with lots of information about every aspect of what drives us to do what we do. A quick glance at topics such as “How Power Corrupts Leaders” and “The Bat of the Shadow: Batman’s Role” give great insight into human behaviour.

If your story has elements of good v evil, build your characters with a resonance that will have your readers believing in them and in you as a writer. Talk to your characters and their photos, you’ll find they have a lot to say.