Is it hard to write & convey emotions for different characters?
Good question, thank you for asking!
My niece got me a sweater that says, “I’m a WRITER, anything you do or say may be used in a story.” I laughed when I read it because it’s true.
When developing the characters for ‘The Bet’, I endeavored to make them as real as possible. Therefore, I 100% drew inspiration from people I knew/know. I used what I believed would be their responses to the situations the characters found themselves in to bring this narrative to life. Oh, and my minor in Psychology and brief study of behaviors may have contributed to the ease of character development as well (wink).
For the male characters, I asked for help. I sought out the opinion and guidance of men that I felt had the mental and emotional fortitude I wanted the guys to have and questioned, “What would you do if this happened?” Most of the time I was spot on with what I thought their responses would be. However, there were a few times where I missed the mark or could have pushed the envelope a bit further. In these situations, I had them explain their stance so I could better relay the emotion necessary for the authenticity of the scene.
Certain parts of the book may seem more genuine than others because they are real life occurrences. While Genesis is NOT me, some of her experiences are my own. In those instances, her reactions are straight from my memory. Other situations may have been real, but Gen’s response was how I may have wished I reacted. The rest of that stuff was completely made up and the response was intended to be controversial (I loved the discussions some of the moments generated with the beta readers).
Also, 90% of the characters in the book seem like they would be cool in real life. As in I wouldn’t mind hanging with them for real. Since I’m able to relate to them on a personal level, it was fairly easy generating dialog that assisted in bringing them to life.
With that being said, the reverse is also true. Having to write characters that you don’t/can't relate to in any way is HARD! This is what I’m experiencing now while writing ‘The Choice’ oooh’chile when I tell you these characters are messy… my goodness… they are something ELSE!
Don’t worry about it though, you’ll get a chance to read all about them and their drama in the summer when ‘The Choice’ is released.
Until then… Happy Reading!
Janai
My niece got me a sweater that says, “I’m a WRITER, anything you do or say may be used in a story.” I laughed when I read it because it’s true.
When developing the characters for ‘The Bet’, I endeavored to make them as real as possible. Therefore, I 100% drew inspiration from people I knew/know. I used what I believed would be their responses to the situations the characters found themselves in to bring this narrative to life. Oh, and my minor in Psychology and brief study of behaviors may have contributed to the ease of character development as well (wink).
For the male characters, I asked for help. I sought out the opinion and guidance of men that I felt had the mental and emotional fortitude I wanted the guys to have and questioned, “What would you do if this happened?” Most of the time I was spot on with what I thought their responses would be. However, there were a few times where I missed the mark or could have pushed the envelope a bit further. In these situations, I had them explain their stance so I could better relay the emotion necessary for the authenticity of the scene.
Certain parts of the book may seem more genuine than others because they are real life occurrences. While Genesis is NOT me, some of her experiences are my own. In those instances, her reactions are straight from my memory. Other situations may have been real, but Gen’s response was how I may have wished I reacted. The rest of that stuff was completely made up and the response was intended to be controversial (I loved the discussions some of the moments generated with the beta readers).
Also, 90% of the characters in the book seem like they would be cool in real life. As in I wouldn’t mind hanging with them for real. Since I’m able to relate to them on a personal level, it was fairly easy generating dialog that assisted in bringing them to life.
With that being said, the reverse is also true. Having to write characters that you don’t/can't relate to in any way is HARD! This is what I’m experiencing now while writing ‘The Choice’ oooh’chile when I tell you these characters are messy… my goodness… they are something ELSE!
Don’t worry about it though, you’ll get a chance to read all about them and their drama in the summer when ‘The Choice’ is released.
Until then… Happy Reading!
Janai
No comments have been added yet.
