In Writer's Digest I once read that the way you know if your characters are truly alive is when they take over the story and do their own thing. At the time I thought the person who had written this had gone wacko, until it happened to me. While some may argue that I myself have lost my marbles, I have spoken to other authors who have experienced the same phenomena. No matter how much they want their story to go in one direction, it's not up to them. It's up to their characters.
You want your characters and world to come to LIFE! How do you do this? It's quite simple really. Get to know them. Ask these questions, and then answer them.
- What is your name?
- What is your quest?
- What is your favorite color?
- What do you look like? Hair color, eye color, body build, height, etc.
- What sort of clothes do you like to wear?
- How old are you?
- How many brothers and sisters do you have?
- What is your personality? Are you laid back, or a hot head?
- Do you have any weird quirks, such as a nervous tick?
- What do you do for a living?
- What are your interests/hobbies?
Pretend like you've just met your character at a social gathering and you are considering going marriage. You'd like to know everything about them. What is their darkest secret? Character flaws can be very interesting as well, to both you and the reader. Flaws make a character seem more human, and therefore more believable. Even if your character isn't human, a weakness is still important. No one is perfect, even elves and unicorns! Play up your character's flaws!
Ask similar questions for your world. How old is it? What does it look like? One or two moons? Or three or four? Keep an open mind. Because you are writing a fantasy novel, you don't have to follow the laws of this universe. For instance, my world of Drunair, is a flat planet, complete with an ends of the earth and everything.
When building a fantasy character or world, one of the most difficult challenges I face is seemingly the most simple of things. A name. If you name your fantasy character Mark, Josh, or Chris (no offense husband! His name is Chris) you're not really speaking fantasy to your readers anymore. With one common name, you've just brought your reader out of the beautiful fantasy world you've worked so hard to create, and back into our own world. Now that they're back on planet earth they remember "Oh yeah, I have bills to pay. Better go do that." Then they yawn and set down the book. NOOO!
Go to google and type in fantasy name generator. Or just fantasy names. Or Celtic names. Keep your ears and eyes open for interesting names. When you go to the grocery store find out the name of the cashier. They wear a name tag, and sometimes you can find some very unique names. Watch movie credits. And when you hear that awesome name but don't know what to do with it, keep a notebook or computer document of just names that you'd like to use. Then when you suddenly need a name you can pull up your list instead of having to stop your progress of writing.
As I said earlier, getting to know your characters and world brings them to life. So draw them! I'm certain that unless you have a physical handicap, everyone can at least draw stick figures. Draw them as detailed as you can, and then color them. If you do have a handicap, draw them in your head. Visualize them as clearly as if they were standing in front of you. Draw a map of your world and name as many places as you can. Find out the population of your world.
Be unique! Not every place on earth snows each winter and is sunny each summer. Drunair is somewhat of a sub-tropical climate. Again, you do not have to follow the laws of this universe. Make up a new climate if you want! But remember not to step over the line between fantasy and sci-fi... unless you want to.
Excellent advice. I'm doing what you suggested, I think it'll really help my characters. I agree, characters need flaws too. It makes them more interesting.
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