During write-night I came to a realization that I can not just create/enhance the characters as I go along. This is frustrating for me because despite the many books on writing that stresses the importance of character profiling - I always thought the story itself would lead the way and create the characters.
For clarification I am not referring to "Reality Fades" - in that story I have the characters down because I have been creating them since I was a child. So no, I haven't "stuck to one story" either like I said I would - maybe a little A.D.D. but anyway, I'm referring to "Future End" (temp title of a sci-fi). The first scene is interesting enough with just two characters, but the second scene jumps to a group of seven who are all big players in the story -and from there I am stuck.
I have an outline for the story so I know where it is going but I can't seem to get past that first chapter. I have a page with their names and connections but after that I don't really know them. This I realize is why I cannot complete the scene. More so, they are all using the same "voice" so now I know, I really know before I go further with this particular story, I need to create the stories of my characters.
This I will do by not jumping straight to the scene of where they have gathered. Instead I will pull them in a few at the time on the way to the gathering. This way I am only throwing out a couple new names at a time. But first I will do what I have been putting off - character profiling.
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I know my characters so well it's as if they are friends I have known my entire life. My problem is coming up with compelling events that happen to them. Does that make any sense?
Yes, I think so. I mean, I know with my secondary characters I can picture their personality and how they would react to situations but I have yet to give them a history. It seems like it should be easy - pick a random birth place, pick a random familiy situation, pick a random life event or too and then work with it... but I trip over wanting everything to be just so and second guessing myself. Guess I just need to do it. For this particular story I will pick the twins... Melissa and Michael, lets see if I can create their story and write about it in my next blog! Good luck with yours! :)
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