Day Nine

Day nine: How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.

My characters are derived from every day things that happen. Some in my dreams, so that come to me when talking to others, so that come to me when I ponder different situations in life. They come from everywhere. One thing I like to tell people that ask me this question is that I do not force characters in to life. They come to me.

 

That’s a good leeway in to how I create them. My creative process when it comes to characters is that they come to me. Usually they start as a shadow of a person. Coming from a statement I want them to say, from a personality I encounter, anything. They start as that singular, shadowy fact and from that fact I put them into a situation (say waking up late for school) and see how they react. I let the characters that pop up in my head talk to me. We have silent conversation about how they would handle something. Panic, relief, whatever. My fingers lie on the keys of a keyboard or wrap around a pen and I just let it flow out. If I push too hard, they push back.

 

Past Entries:

Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight

Cara Mia Amore