You Gotta Love ‘Em
When I was given the opportunity to write this post, I recalled an episode in the late 2000s when I was writing Shrike, my first novel. I had completed the first chapter, and I was letting a few friends peek at it to get some feedback.
A woman with whom I had attended a writing workshop, and whose opinion I valued told me, “You sure do love your characters!”
I don’t recall what I said to her at that time. Years later, in my novel Over Home, my male main character Matt Persson came up with the best response: “If I don’t, who will?”
Yes sir, Matthew David. An author must love his/her/their characters.
For your story to be memorable, your characters must be. Your reader must be moved, touched, reached, inspired, crushed, and/or repulsed by the players appearing in your narrative.
Chances are, you either have your story in your head or outlined somehow. Could your characters be based on people you know, people you’ve met, people you’ve heard of, people you like, love, or hate? The ease by which you can portray and describe your characters is directly proportional to the things you have experienced with them. Is, or can, your character be based on a spouse, a significant other, or even an ex? To the extent that you were intimate with them, you can describe them quite well: their appearance, their walk, how they dress, their scent, etc. Does that character become involved somehow with another? You can draw on how you felt when you met them and allow the latter character to feel the same thing(s): attraction, intrigue, disgust, lust; it’s your call. Again, our aim is to make them memorable.
More often than not, the characters are there before the story; however, there are times when the story mandates that you tailor the characters after it. For example, in my novel Shrike, heroine Taryn Spire is a former college volleyball player who works out to maintain her athletic build. She is fairly attractive, but she is not as striking as her voluptuous best friend Miranda, and occasionally Taryn feels inadequate. As a result, her mantra becomes, ‘Someday I will be beautiful too,’ and those words play a huge role later in the book. I don’t know anyone quite like Taryn or Miranda, but I used internet image searches to find pictures to help me describe them for my reader. Then, my imagination took the character building from there.
How do we name our characters? Once more, draw on your personal experience. Do you have pleasant feelings for your protagonist? Give them a name that you’ve always loved, the given name of the one on whom you are basing your character, or a variation thereof. For instance, when I started writing Over Home, the middle name of the woman who inspired the story was Lucinda, so I changed it to Lucindy. When I was a teen, I babysat for a family and their youngest child was named Matthew, and he was my favorite. As an adult, a good buddy of mine was named Matthew David, so that became my male MC.
How about the antagonist? Use a name you don’t like, and draw on that dislike to build your bad guy/gal. For example, never have I met a fellow named Jay that wasn’t a jerk. So, if I wanted to introduce a character that would be an absolute piece of work, I could choose Jay, and use my built-up animosity to create someone my reader might despise, but remember.
I have a handy formula for creating last names. I think of the real last name of the person on whom I am basing a character. Take each syllable, and see if there is a synonym for it or for a word that sounds like it. Once more, I reference Shrike. I based one of the antagonists on a woman I knew with the last name Hill. A synonym for Hill is Mount, which I changed to Mounce for my story. In Over Home, the real Lucindy’s maiden name was Mann. A man is a human. Therefore, in the story, her maiden name is Hume.
Full disclosure: I did not use the above formula for the main characters in Shrike. It just so happened that I loved the names Taryn Spire and Miranda Oliveira. I chose Miranda since she is the woman mentioned in the John Stewart song “Midnight Wind,” and it would be after midnight when Taryn’s alter ego goes on her mission. Plus, I hear “Midnight Wind” as part of the Shrike soundtrack, if ever it becomes a film.
Are you proud of your ethnicity and/or race? Is there a family name or a word in your ancestors’ native tongue that would make a memorable name? By all means, share it. As for me, I choose for all my male MCs to have a decidedly Swedish surname.
Unless you are creating a fantasy world inhabited by perfect creatures, don’t allow your affection for your protagonists to make them lily-white. All humans have flaws, be they tiny or huge. My paternal grandmother was the sweetest lady on the planet; however, she had a temper when we misbehaved. The flaw(s) in your character just may be one with which your reader can sympathize, thus making that character all the more real to your reader.
Make your stories memorable by making your characters memorable. Whether they be sweet, sour, or anything in between, remember: ya gotta love ‘em!
