The Importance of Character
If my husband had his will in my writing, I’d have a wall of plotting all over my office. It’s too bad for him that I’m the writer and he’s not. I’m not saying that I don’t plot and don’t think ahead in my story when I’m writing, but my style is more character-driven. The first story I wrote, The Weaver is about a college freshman named Laney Holden. A lot of Laney’s characteristics and reactions come from me. She’s an introvert, loves history, and is passionate about both her writing and her characters (well, maybe she’s a little more passionate about her characters than I am – you’ll understand when you read the book). It is also important to give characters flaws. Laney often lets others take advantage of her and is so introverted she’s almost scared to interact with others at times.
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My WIP is The Ender, the last book in the trilogy. I’m continuing to let my characters drive the story which has led to some pretty amazing plot lines. I’m very excited to share this trilogy with my readers.
I wrote Ruby Slips and Poker Chips from the point of view of Dottie Gale, a head strong teacher who isn’t going to take crap from anyone, including her new principal. I gave Dottie an extroverted personality because I wanted her to be different from me, since I already poured my heart and soul into Laney. The one thing I gave Dottie that I have is her sarcastic wit (I keep most of mine on the inside). While having to keep to the plot lines of the Wizard of Oz, Ruby Slips is it’s own story. Dottie’s mouth often gets her in trouble because she doesn’t always keep her thoughts to herself. She also doesn’t know a good thing when she has it.
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In Cabin 5, my short story in the recently published Dark Visions Anthology, I wanted Brittney Cahill to be a terrible person. I’m not much of a horror writer, but I always assumed that most people who have bad things happen to them in horror flicks are pretty rotten. Brittney is judgmental, a whiner, and thinks she’s better than most. As for her flaws . . .
I had a few points in this story that I wanted to hit, but when I first wrote it, I thought it was going one way, but it took a sharp turn in a different direction (originally, Cabin 5 was going to be haunted). I think having human perpetrators is much more disturbing, and that’s where the characters led me.
If your a writer, do your characters lead your stories, or do you have an elaborate plot planned out? What type of characters do you identify with?
