IT'S ALIVE!

Character Creation

It may be a cliche, but for this author, creating characters feels like giving birth, breathing life into what begins as an inspiring glimpse of a person. I feel a responsibility to these characters, to make them unique and fully formed. This is achieved by creating bios of the main character’s entire lives, from birth, sometimes even before. In the four novels I have written, the main characters have been largely based on myself, with significant tweaks, so only my closest chums can tell that the character is essentially the author. Write what you know; I know me.

I have discovered, to my delight, that as the process of writing a book moves along, characters find there own voices and begin to speak. They create their own dialogue, particular to who they are. They seem to know how they should speak and act in various situations. The characters become collaborators. Emotionally, this is fulfilling, as it makes me feel less alone during the process of writing.

For the secondary characters, bios are also created, but not as fully and detailed as for the main characters. Often, I meld the personalities and quirks of a few people I know well into one character. I strive to assemble a cast of characters who are fresh, varied and memorable.

I carefully choose colorful, meaningful names for the main characters; Coleman Rosebottom, Jupiter McRay, Felix Fabler, Joshua Peterskin. Hopefully, they will join the ranks of interestingly-named characters in literature; Humbert Humbert (Lolita), Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany’s), Rabbit Angstrom (Rabbit, Run), Boo Radley (To Kill a Mocking Bird)

Can you think of any others?

For further exploration, feel free to check out my website at jeffpohn.com