How to Find Characters for Your Story

Writing can be a daunting task, regardless if you are a novice or an experienced writer. But finding your characters can be even more daunting when you don't have a story in mind. However, finding your characters can be challenging when you have a story in mind as well. It's a vicious cycle, really. But there are ways for you to learn about your characters without losing your will to write.

First, try to imagine what your character may look like. Developing a character's physical features can help you imagine your character as you write them. Knowing what they look like makes them a bit more realistic, a little easier to write. It can be quite difficult to tell a story of a character when you don't even know what they look like. Having physical attributes to determine your character allows you a little more room. Suddenly, the scenes that you imagine have tangible characters and can seem more like you are writing about a memory, rather than a random scene in your book.

Second, build up the history of your character. You don't have difficult writing and describing people you have known for a period of time, and building up the history and background of your character gives you more insight into their personality and behaviors. It allows you to think of them as actual people, instead of characters roaming around in your story. The more you know about your characters, the better you will be able to write them.

Thirdly, take ample notes. In fact, you can create a character analysis sheet, or scan the internet for one. Writer's Digest is always a good source for information like that. A character analysis sheet can help keep your characters straight and keep you organized as a writer. If your stories are convoluted, much like my own, then a bit of organization is key to a successful story line. On this sheet, you can list the physical attributes, the behaviors, the history, the name, and any other pertinent information on the character. Then when you are in the midst of a killer musing on your story, all the information you need is right there at your fingertips. This will keep you from having to lose your place in the story because you have to flip through pages to make sure you are consistent.

Along this notion, I find drawing a graph of sorts helpful in keeping the story line straight. Listing the main characters, I draw the lines between characters in a weird family tree sort of graph, then label the lines in between with the information that connects the characters. This will keep you from having to thumb back through pages to jog your memory on the characters, their history and the plot.

These are just a few of the techniques I use to help form my characters. While it might sound strange, I tend to allow the characters to "speak" to me and allow them to tell me the story. I think of it as I am a medium in which their voices can be heard. Most writers will tell you that their characters speak to them and guide them through the process. For the most part, it is completely true. Some authors don't speak to their characters. It simply depends on the writer. But for those whose characters talk to them, they are acutely aware that the characters have the upper hand and have no problem telling you when you are wrong.

But when it comes to finding you characters, it is easier to allow them to mature in your mind before starting the story. It may even be beneficial in the long run. The more time you spend thinking and formulating your characters before writing a word means you will have more realistic characters in more realistic settings.