Well, it’s the beginning(ish) of February and I’m still slogging through the first draft of FoxBook (obviously not the real title... which I still need to pick out o_O). I underestimated my ability to procrastinate, as well as the general time demands of the holiday season. Also January. January was demanding.
I think the subject that’s irking me most today is character motivation. Why do some characters do what they want to do? Why does anyone, living or fictional, get anything done? If there’s something they weren’t meaning to do, or didn’t intend upon, where did it come from? How many times am I allowed to have someone say something they didn’t mean to, or do something they hadn’t planned on?
Right now, with FoxBook, one of my characters is The Bad Guy. But this character is pretending to be The Good Guy. So, how does he/she/it pretend to be one while furthering his/her/its goals as the other?
The only thing that’s helped me thus far has been character sketching. There are several resources online and in print that give outlines, from the most bare-bones to ones which require what kind of music your character likes and their jelly bean preferences, and so on. Thus far, let me tell you, this one little tool has been invaluable.
The one I’ve been using is fairly straightforward, although I’ve made it a bit snazzier by combining it with half of another character profile I found. Just want to add, these were passed on to me by Anne T. and Kat D.-- thank you, ladies!!
And so, if you like, I’ll give you an example.
If you don’t like, have fun looking at THIS.
Character Outline - Vic(toria) Allen
Visual
Basic physical appearance:
Vic is female, 18, 5’3”, with a wiry build. She barely has any curves on her. She has shaggy, pixie-cut red hair (think orange-red), freckles, green eyes. She’s almost fairy-looking, with small, barely pointed ears. Not enough to notice unless you’re looking for it. (Don’t worry, this isn’t really a plot point.)
Clothing and equipment:
She’s usually wearing some sort of snarky t-shirt (probably oversized), and guy’s carpenter jeans. She’s always got her ratty red Chucks. Otherwise she would never touch the color red. She’s about as gender-neutral as they come without actually going out of her way to be gender-queer (to learn more about gender-queer, go HERE).
Overall appearance:
She’s not terribly fastidious; she never wears makeup. In fact, she’s most likely to feel like showering every other day is an accomplishment, even though she’s not a “dirty” person-- she just has more important things to do than worry about what she looks like (according to her). She used to be incredibly girly, but after the arrest, she’s kind of given up on “looking good.”
Auditory
Voice/physical presence:
She sounds like Amanda Palmer from the Dresden Dolls. Lower female voice, but not un-feminine. She’s a definite smart-ass, and has an unhurried, even sort of cadence. The only time she really gets into the upper registers is if she’s extremely upset about something. The kind of voice that makes you think of a person that’s calm and collected--until their fuse runs out. (Unfortunately, she has a really short fuse...)
What they like to hear: (Do they have a theme song?)
Vic’s theme song would be… either “Guitar Hero” by Amanda Palmer or “O Children” by Nick Cave. Another good one would be “Black Sheep” by The Black Lips.
Touch
She’s a bit on the bony side. You’re more likely to get jabbed in the ribs than hugged by this one.
Smell
She isn’t a fruity gal, and opts more for spicy scents-- musk, clove, cinnamon, etc. She can’t stand 99% of perfumes and soaps aimed at women.
Taste
She’s more likely to be drinking coffee than any other character. Her favorite meal would be meatloaf and mashed potatoes, with spice cake for dessert, and iced tea to drink.
One-sentence summary of the character's storyline:
Vic is an angry girl who finds a knife, learns about magic, and learns to let others near enough her to care about them.
The character's motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?):
She just wants a fairly stable, event-free life.
The character's goal (what does he/she want concretely?):
She wants to patch things with her mom, and come to terms with her dad. She wants to learn about the dagger, and how this works into her life.
The character's conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal?):
She is angry, and lets it erupt in such a way that drives people away from her. She lashes out at her mom, and at Emily (who wants to get closer to her), and usually anyone else is held at bay with the sarcastic fence she’s built around herself.
The character's epiphany (what will he/she learn, how will he/she change?) :
This girl has got to learn some anger management, and she’s got to learn that this is how she can build relationships, and move beyond her past.
A one-paragraph summary of the character's storyline:
**OMITTED FOR REASONS OF SPOILER-HOOD** n_n But in general, this is where you would lay out the barest of bones of someone's story arc. Such as: "Vic finds dagger. Then she meets some people. Then some things happen. Then some other stuff happens. Then the thing that is the climax of the story happens. Then there's some denouement action happening. " Except, of course, you can get a little more detailed than that. You know what I mean. Or, well, if you don't, you can leave a comment. :D
So, as you can tell, this one little write-up can tell me ALL SORTS OF THINGS about my characters six months later when I'm in the middle of a scene and I can't remember where a beauty mark is, or which hand they use to write with, or what they might be listening to if you get into their car. And just so you know, this is NOT the aforementioned Secret Bad Guy.
I hope this (very late) update is as helpful to you as it is for me. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the questions section and I'll do my best to attack them. :D
