Friday, July 24, 2020

Developing Your Characters



I love some of the topics that we get for our monthly group blog get together's. And this is another interesting and thought provoking on. How do you develop a character who is different in personality from all the other characters you have developed, or from yourself?

First, because I’m plot driven, I come up with a plot, or the beginning of a plot. We know it will change as I write but it’s where I start. Then I come up with the characters that fit or will develop the plot.  Usually it’s the heroine, or the hero. Then I need to match them and develop characteristics that can and will cause conflict.  Then there’s the villain.  

So now I have a rough idea of the characters and the plot, I start to do my research. What are the goals for my h/h and what characteristics do they need to have to reach their goals? What obstructions are there, and how do they need to personally develop to overcome the obstructions, either alone or together.  This would be where I would develop differences in personality that might be different from any other of my characters and definitely different from me..


In my Hawkins’ ranch series, Kye, whose story is the third book, Targeted, is a Blackfoot Native American. To develop his character, I researched the Blackfoot tribe, took a class on Native Americans and their characteristics, and used that to develop his character which is different from me and from any of my other characters. 

In my latest book, Death Southern Style Perrine is a psychic, Julie Ann has some psychic abilities and Ava is a Voodoo Priestess.  Once again, these characters are all different from myself and my other characters. Again, I did research on psychic abilities, and I had a friend who was a psychic, and I read up on the voodoo religion.

I look forward to seeing how other authors develop their different characters. Check them out.

Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com


10 comments:

  1. It's been interesting finding out how other authors start the process of writing a novel, Beverley. I like how you develop your characters via their goals and the obstructions that might lie in the way of achieving them.
    It's been another interesting topic!

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    1. Thanks, Helena. And it is an interesting topic to see how everyone works differently.

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  2. Your observation that the goals and conflicts in the story need to have characters to fit those so understanding what the goal is in the first place is important, but then creating the personality that goes with it is equally important. Hints from a plotter I can use...

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    1. As one plotter to another, glad if I shared something you might be able to use, Skye.

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  3. Interesting post! And I agree with both Helena's and Skye's observations. Every story needs conflict so developing that situation is a great way to start a story.

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  4. Yes, one of the joys of being a writer is all the research, the things we learn about a wide range of topics. But then, now that you have researched being a psychic, you knew in advance I'd say that, right?
    :)
    Bob

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  5. LOL!!!
    Thanks, Bob. Researching does not a psychic make - but I'm practicing.

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  6. I think as writers, the most important thing is to get the reader to care about the characters. If they don't, they won't keep reading. The more you can flesh out and make each character unique and well-rounded, the more chance the reader will want to accompany your characters on their journey. Interesting how much research you do.

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