The Year of Prime and WHO'D BUY THAT?

2011 is a prime number, and it also is the sum of 11 consecutive prime numbers (11 being prime itself): 157+163+167+173+179+181+191+193+197+199+211 
So what?Well, May 3, 2011 (5th month -- prime, 3rd day -- prime, 2011th year AD -- prime) my next novel,  COMPULSION, will be released. Much of COMPULSION deals with prime numbers and my main character's need to find the primes in his life ...
That said, to celebrate the prime numbers of the year, I'm going to only blog a prime number of times per month on prime dates, just because ... And my first month of blogs of the year (January) will be entirely dedicated to writing. Writing tips. Writing ideas. How I write. Basically, the craft of writing. There might be an occasional slip from the theme if I find something worth sharing. Otherwise, January is the month of writing!
So today, I want to talk about characters, and some tips on how to create some interesting characters that I'd definitely want to read about. One of the coolest sources for off-beat, quirky, and sometimes just plain kitsch characters is your friendly neighborhood SKY MALL catalog. Browse the pages and ask the simple question: Who'd buy that? (And, no, I have not invented ANY of these items because I'm simply not this creative.)




So after answering, "Who'd buy the Sumo Wrestler Coffee Table?", answer, "Why?" Yes. We're all asking, "Why?" But it's your job to answer it. And finally ask, "For whom?" One table. Three questions. Not only do you have yourself a pretty complex character, you might even have a little back story, developing story arc to go with it.What if it's a first generation Japanese-American boy who's embarrassed about his parents' foreign ways, so as a huge joke, he buys the table for his dad for Christmas, making sure his friends are in on it?OR ... what if it's a young girl who, that though she's from Kentucky and was born in 1995, she believes she's been reincarnated because in her previous life, she was a famous Geisha, born in 1830, and had married the most powerful and important Sumo wrestler in Kyoto? When she finds the table at an flea market, she's sure it's the face and body of her past-life husband and goes on a search to find the model.Same table. Two very different stories. 

Another great character source: The classified ads. Read the ads. Who placed the ad? Why? And you don't necessarily need to go to an exotic or strange place for ads. I took these from THE NEVADA APPEAL -- the local paper in Carson City, Nevada.
Coke machine, 10 cent vendo 1950s, stored in home, runs, very good cond, with 4 cases of empty bottles. Harley Davidson Ceramic Beer Stein.
MOVING - ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD MUST GO NOW! EVERYTHING NEGOTIABLE! New Sectional Oak Wall Unit Oak Gun Case Full Pedestal Bed w/Drawers LOTS of Misc. MORE  
The most essential part of creating characters is the detail. Everything they own, every conversation they have, every minute detail of their bedrooms, habits, what they wear, who they admire, how they talk, is a window into who your character is and a way to create tension, reveal something about a character, move the plot forward, or even HIDE something about a character. Sifting through classifieds and funny catalogs is a great way to create more depth, humor and maybe find a key piece that's may be missing to make your character memorable.
A few unforgettable characters or character items in lit:
Rudy from The Book Thief and his obsession with Jesse Owens. (I really love that kid. Really, truly.)The leg lamp from A Christmas Story ... (Yeah. It's a movie. But the movie wouldn't be the SAME without that horrible, tacky leg lamp.)Violet Durn from Feed and her broken feedCameron from Going Bovine and his obsession with Tremolo the Portuguese recorder playerWhen you think about your characters, think details. Because that's where their essence will be revealed.

Happy writing!