WRITING RUMINATIONS: Character Building

How do you come up with your characters? Sometimes, people ask me this.

Can I cop-out for a minute? Characters just "come" to me. They step into my mind fully-formed, and grow as I transfer them to the page and send them on their adventures. But I don't usually do a lot of "work" in the character building department.

Ok, maybe I do end up doing a lot of work... but it just doesn't feel like work, and I can't make myself really believe that it is.

You see, unlike world-building, which I labor over for hours, days, weeks, and discuss endlessly with my husband... characters just "are."

Maybe it's because their development can happen far more naturally over the course of their story, but I can't really explain my character building process, because it pretty much always happens without me thinking about it. What I do have to think about is WHY a character is important to the story.

For example: I knew that Grayden had a best friend named Wynn. I knew they were both going to the Academy. I knew what Wynn looked like, his favorite food, his interests, and the fact that he's a bit of a mischief-maker... what I didn't know was WHY he was important, or WHY it was necessary that he go to the Academy with Grayden. As I got deeper into the story, it soon became apparent why Wynn was included, but I did not know before I started writing. I don't like to get those details ironed out before I start writing. These things just sort of work themselves out eventually, and I enjoy the excitement of discovery.

I do try to keep a list of the characters in a separate document with details like eye and hair color so that I don't get mixed up as I go along.

Other than that, the characters just sort of spring to life. They often come with their own opinions of how the story should go, and I am happy to let them run off on their own if they have an idea that hasn't yet occurred to me. Their ideas are, after all, often the best ones I have!

Are you an author, dear reader? How do you come up with your characters?

What are some of your favorite characters you've read?