How I Create my Heroes and Heroines.

One of the questions that I (and probably every other novelist) get is "How do you come up with your characters?"  The answer varies.  Some authors cop to having voices in their head, and they are just taking dictation.  Some authors draw on what they see around them, one people they read about or see on TV, or those they actually know.  (I may or may not have a T-shirt that says "Careful, or I'll put you in my novel.")  For me, it's a little bit of both.

The most important characters in a romance novel are unquestionably the hero and heroine.  The main pair.  Their relationship is the driving force of the entire story.  Oh, there might be a highwayman on the loose, or a crazy road trip across Europe that takes them from one point to another, but that's not what the audience is sticking around for.  Romance novels are about the romance, and anyone who says differently is selling something.  Hence, the finer drawn the hero/heroine, the more engrossing the story.

For me, I always start with one.  One of the pair will always be clearer in my mind than the other.  And, more often than not, for me, it's the heroine.  Some work from the outside in – I tend to do the opposite.  So I start with her personality – not her physicality.  I don't care yet what her hair color is, or if she is tall or short, or curvy or reed thin.  I care most about that one central trait that is going to define everything else she does.

For example:  This is a line from Revealed, about the heroine, Phillippa Benning:

It was uncommon for someone so young to rule the Ton (she was just one and twenty), but when it came to Mrs. Phillippa Benning, it was unquestionable. Her favor could make or break a novel's success, a modiste's reputation, a hostess's event, a young debutante's popularity, or a young buck's heart.

And she knew it.

The minute I wrote those last four words, I knew I had her.  I knew exactly who she was going to be, how she was going to act, and how everything around her reacted to her.  I thought about women who acted like that – that sat on top of the world without false modesty.  And the person who came to my mind most sharply was Paris Hilton.

Now, I may not know Ms. Hilton personally, but I'm very familiar with the persona she presents to the world.  When I thought of her, Phillippa began to physically.  She would be willowy, blond, and never, ever vulnerable.  (And she had a Pomeranian.)

Of course I wanted to create someone who would be deeper than what we see on the surface – but shading out Phillippa came from writing the story more than anything else.  Once I got to know her, she started talking to me, and I began just taking dictation.

Now, I said I always start with one.  Well, what about the other?  In creating the other character (in general for me, the hero) I can use the heroine as a starting off point.  You see, for the heroine to experience the personal growth necessary to fall in love, they must be challenged.  So, while Phillippa Benning was created as snobby, rich, and wrapped up in being the Queen Bee of the ton, the hero Marcus Worth, ended up being none of those things.  He was kind, poor, and his entire life was devoted to far more serious pursuits than wearing the best dress and knowing the latest gossip.  Put Marcus and Phillippa in the same room together (or the same sarcophagus) and there is instant conflict.

(Caveat:  that's not to say that there are not beautifully written romances about two people that are very similar who come together in love. But I guarantee you that if you look closely, there is something fundamental about one or both of them that has to change for them to be happy.)

Now, that's not to say that Marcus existed solely to bring Phillippa around.  Quite the opposite in fact.  He has his own agenda, his own barriers to overcome.  But at least for me, the one who exists first in my mind is the one who ends up undergoing the most change.  And the one would comes along in response to that character is a major catalyst for that change.

I'd love to hear from other authors, about how their characters come to them – do they spring to mind fully formed (like JK Rowling has often said she came up with Harry Potter), or does it take some time, getting to know them?

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Until later, sweets – Happy Reading!