Character Inspiration

Oftentimes, writers are asked: “What inspires the development of your characters?” For me, it’s usually the characters who come to me first in the book writing process.  Sometimes, I loosely base the characters off of myself.  For example, Emma in Voice of Innocence certainly has qualities that scream “me.” Those of you who know me best will see nuances of myself in her.  In my second book, there is also a character who is a brunette, goal-oriented, rational thinker.  As writers often note, we write what we know. I think my favorite characters, though, are inspired by qualities I wish I had. In the second novel I’m working on, I absolutely love my character Violet. She is zany, carefree, and just goes for her dreams. She owns a coffee shop which she established right out of college. She’s exudes quirkiness and creativity. I love that in her. None of my characters are identical matches to any real life people. What’s the fun in that? The characters just come to me . . .strangely, it’s usually the name first. Then, I just start brainstorming the backstory.  I don’t sit down with a goal in mind for a character. Usually, once the name comes to me, I just start thinking up who they are, what they like, what makes them tick. It’s a very chaotic process, actually, that eventually drives me to start typing. I will admit, though, there is one character who is completely based on real life:  Henry.  Good old Henry appears in both Voice of Innocence and my second novel.  I guess it’s just kind of my thing, which stems largely from my obsession with all 140 pounds of him. Just like real life, the Henry of my novel loves cheese curls and watching television.  Not many people would be okay with having a character in a novel based completely off of them, but I assure you that Henry doesn’t mind.  He loves being center of attention and is probably hoping to get a book signing of his own from his appearance in the book :)

Voice of Innocence will be released at the end of this month! Watch my page for more details and the links for my book.