Man Trouble

[naomi_jay]

Yes, I am having man trouble. And not the kind I usually have, where the Ninja tries to make me watch Clint Eastwood films and I have to think up lame excuses why I can't. I'm having serious man trouble, namely with the male lead in Wild.

For the first time I found myself really struggling with a scene this week and I figured out it's all his fault. I don't know anything about him beyond his name and the fact that he's a werewolf, which is no good to either me or Lizzie. She doesn't believe in werewolves and I knew he was one anyway. I really need to get inside his head and get to know him better - he's a key character to the story so he can't just remain this one-dimensional creep who lurks in bars telling people they're werewolves.

The question is ... How? How do you get characters to open up to you? I'm not of the school of thought that my characters literally "become real OMG!" but I do think you have to get to know them the way you do real people. And right now, this guy is acting like a real twat.

Comments

[yume-kokoro.livejournal.com]

Become real? Maybe in my mind - Like sitting here beside me? No! That's creepy!

I suggest approaching it like meditation. Do a visualization - of what he looks like, body language - etc. It's amazing the difference that basic exercises like these can make. Keep doing that - pretty soon, the thoughts flow easily.

Try it! You'll like it!

[sanguinepen.livejournal.com]

Usually I can't get mine to shut up, but I've found that writing snippets for them really helps to round them out. Try doing a few questions from writers_five, that always helps me.

[chaostheory.livejournal.com]

Pick 5 random Body and Soul prompts and write about him.

I always find short stories work well with characterisation.

[leatherzebra.livejournal.com]

In my experience if you sit down and ask them "why" it solves a lot. Why they do that thing, why they are in the story, why they are a werewolf... why.

[david-bridger.livejournal.com]

Here's a character proforma I use from time to time (lifted and adapted from several forgotten sources):

1. name

2. gender

3. age

4. physical appearance

5. how does this character feel about the way he or she looks?

6. describe the character’s childhood in terms of
• relationship with parents
• relationship with siblings
• relationship with other key people in his or her youth
• lifestyle while growing up
• education
• childhood activities (hobbies, interests)
• locations(s) where he or she grew up

7. describe the character’s education during and after high school, as well as any short term military service, gap year activities, voluntary service, etc.

8. describe the character’s current relationship with
• parents
• siblings
• other key people in his or her youth

9. describe the character’s romantic life (married? involved?) and any relevant background (previous marriage, affairs, etc)

10. describe the character’s sex life and moral beliefs

11. does the character have children? If so, describe his or her relationship with them. If not, describe his or her attitude towards children.

12. what is the character’s religious background and current religious belief?

13. what is the character’s occupation?

14. describe the character’s relationship with his or her boss and colleagues

15. how does the character feel about his or her boss?

16. what are the character’s hobbies and other non-work activities?

17. describe the character’s philosophy of life

18. describe the character’s political views

19. sum up the main aspects of the character’s personality, including whether he or she is optimistic or pessimistic, introvert or extrovert, etc.

20. what is this character proud of?

21. what is this character ashamed of?

22. describe the character’s state of health (physical, mental, and emotional)

23. how intelligent is the character?

24. summarise this character’s relationship with other major characters in the story

25. what is this character’s goal in the story?

26. why does he or she want to achieve this goal?

27. who or what is trying to stop this character from reaching the goal? Why?

28. what strengths of this character will help him or her in the effort to reach the goal?

29. how articulate is the character?

30. does the character have an accent or dialect?

31. does the character use slang or professional jargon? How?

[stacia-kane.livejournal.com]

I don't think you need to know everything about them before you start writing--there's lots of stuff I don't know about my characters yet. They open up to me in bits just like the readers.

I agree with Michele. Asking "why" is a good idea, or do what Goth Huntress said and write a snippet--something like them just sitting around at home or going out for a drink, the kind of thing you would never put in a story but that actually will tell you a lot about the character. Once you see how a man lives, you get a good idea how he'll react to things. Is he cleasn or messy? Rich or poor? What food's in his cupboards? Does he cook? Watch sports? Make the bed? Read books or magazines? That kind of thing always helps me.

[madlee276.livejournal.com]

This is pretty much the rock I hit weeks ago and haven't really been able to get past yet. Usually, I put my characters in a random, pressured situation that has nothing to do with the story, and see how he reacts, thinks, speaks and behaves. I can find out a lot, that way. Writing character worksheets and CVs and stuff like that doesn't work for me personally.

When I think of an idea.........

[dracschick.livejournal.com]

I can then 'visualize' what my characters would do. And I can also hear them talk in my mind. Yeah, I think I'm nuts:)