Making characters distinctly different from each other is not always easy, especially when you are writing from the POV of several characters. I just finished a novel by one of my favorite authors and throughout the entire book I was very conscious of how each character “sounded” in my head.  Each character seemed to have the same type of smart-alecky, sarcastic self-talk, and also used the same swear words. Perhaps it was just me – I love smart-mouthed characters like Bruce Willis in the “Die Hard” movies.  Or maybe after writing a number of books with the same characters, the author herself can no longer “hear” distinct voices.

In any case, it was a reminder for me to pay attention to not only dialogue, but to my characters’ internal attitudes, their self-talk, when I’m writing from deep POV.  I think we tend to think of the spoken word when we write character dialogue, but I’m learning dialogue is much richer than that. Adding action tags, rather than “he said”, paints a more dramatic picture and conveys more about the character. The writer can show nervousness, for instance, by having a character twist a strand of their hair or drum their fingers on a table. (Yes, cliches, but they work!). The dialogue itself might appear mundane, but the actions belie the words.

There are various ways to create well-rounded characters. Two resources I’ve recently explored are 45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt and Character Pro.  I also have at least a half a dozen more books on how to create characters, but the honest truth is that I don’t follow any kind of formula when creating a character.  I’ve tried using a character chart (you know: name, height, eye color, favorite foods, etc.) but it feels too much like “fill in the blank” for me.  

What has worked best for me is a simple exercise developed by author-editor-agent Alice Orr. You can find the exercise in Orr’s book, No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.  A number of years ago, a dear friend of mine, Dorice Nelson, introduced me to the exercise, which she learned from Alice Orr before Alice put it in her book, and I’ve been using it ever since. It’s called “Writing Characters From the Inside Out.”  Essentially what you do is answer a series of questions as if you were the character. The trick is that you need to “become the character” and you have to answer from the gut of the character, not from your (the author’s) head. I liken it to an actor getting into character. 

I’ve used this exercise to create Rory, one of the main characters in the novel I’m going to work on in NaNoWriMo next month. Then I tried to fit Rory into the one of the master characters described by Schmidt.  All I got was confused. LOL.  Here I have this perfectly good female character and I’m not going to trash her because she doesn’t fit in somebody else’s box. 

Then I tried Character Pro , and I have to tell you that I was pleasantly surprised by the results. First of all, my character was validated in that she fits fairly well in one of the Enneagram types. And the software program also confirmed what I’d already determined to be her fatal flaw..and what she needed to do to grow in the novel.  Because I could experiment with other Enneagram types, I also came up with some new ideas for both my plot and other characters.  Using both Alice Orr’s method and Character Pro, I’m pretty confident that my characters will be well-rounded and believable.

Of course, a software program or a chart or specific personality types are only guidelines to assist in character development. The real key to creating great characters, in my opinion, boils down to determining why people do what they do and how to recognize what’s really underneath a person’s behavior. More on my take on this approach at a later time.

One of my favorite people in the writing community is best-selling author Vicki Hinze. She was kind enough to grant me an interview a few months ago for Novel Writer Magazine in which she discussed picking the “right” publisher. She’s also released a writing craft book, One Way To Write A Novel.

Vicki has been a consistent source of information and encouragement for me over the years. I’ve read through the articles in her writer’s library numerous times and each time I learn something new, something I couldn’t “get” the first or 33rd reading. (Yeah, sometimes I’m slow, but we all grow in our writing at a different pace, right?)

Now Vicki has a radio show and a new website for special projects. Her latest contribution to my writing education is about creating complex characters.