NaNo Prep: How the Ancient Art of People-Watching Will Make You a Character Pro!

We’ve officially entered NaNo Prep season, and this week we’ve asked some participants for their thoughts about building strong characters. Today, participant Tessa Fang shares some tips on how to use real-life people as inspiration for realistic characters:

In these crucial months leading up to NaNoWriMo, I have found that it is extremely helpful to prepare your novel. That way, during the 30-day sprint to the finish there aren’t as many hurdles to jump over.

So what is my favorite way to prepare for NaNo? I would say through character creation. Believable and likable characters are one of the most important aspects of any story. I have found that a solid understanding of different characters can fuel a story on its own.

Failing to prepare your characters well could ultimately lead to complicated plot problems and a lot of extra writing. During the revision process leading up to publication, I often found myself re-writing scenes because of unnatural character behavior.

By far my favorite, yet slightly creepy, way to create believable characters is through observation. Watching people is the easiest way to come up with character ideas, simply because there’s no guessing involved. In the months before November I try to go to as many public places as possible; public parks, restaurants, and malls being my favorite. I often bring a pen and a notebook, or a laptop if convenient, and just sit around and watch––while looking busy. 

“On a people watching excursion, take note of any behavior, saying, or habit that is unique, odd, likable, or gross.”

Through these “people watching” experiences I’ve discovered small things and eccentricities that can make characters relatable. I noticed that some people have slight accents, or pick the skin along their finger nail, or say, “You know what I mean?” way too often. I took into account who said “yes”, who said “yeah”, and who just nodded their head. During conversations, some people sat up really straight while some slouched back very relaxed. All these small details are important in understanding your characters and making them come to life.

So how do you actually create a character? It’s not just copying a single person and imagining how they would act in a certain situation, although you could certainly do that. But I like to go with a technique I call “Character Creation Through Stranger Mixology.” This helps create believable, yet unique characters. 

This is how it works: on a people watching excursion, take note of any behavior, saying, or habit that is unique, odd, likable, or gross. It can be anything: the fact that someone wears a bow in their hair, or that they always have untied shoes, or that they go out of their way to avoid touching anyone in a crowd. 

After you’ve collected all your traits, mix them up! Craft the character however you want. Maybe you want to craft someone who is a quiet, odd, but lovable introvert. Look through your list and give the character traits that match the general description. Then rather than having a slightly generic character, they develop small intricacies that bring them to life.

Good luck to everyone participating in NaNoWriMo this year!

Tessa Fang is a 17 year old student at Winston Churchill High
School and CityDance Conservatory. She is especially passionate about math and
science; in particularly the connection between engineering, the arts, and
creativity. Throughout high school, Tessa has dedicated her time to exploring
these connections through creative writing, engineering, and design. Her latest
projects include the published novel, Incarceration; an interactive art exhibit, Silhouettes; and a website to build and print custom
journals, Younique Journals. To learn more, visit her website, tessafang.com

Top photo licensed under Creative Commons by Chase Elliott Clark on Flickr.