Making Characters Real

I am so pleased to introduce today's guest blogger, who is herself a real character. Suzanne McLeod is the author of the Spellcrackers.com series set in a contemporary London about dangerous faeries, seductive vampires, bureaucratic goblins, magic, mayhem and murder!

I met Suzanne when I interviewed her for the OWW newsletter and I became an instant fan. She has graciously agreed to guest blog today and talk about how she develops the characterization in her novels.

I give you...Suzanne McLeod

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Making Characters Real

Hi, my name’s Suzanne, I’m an author, I’m five four tall, I weigh a hundred and cough pounds, I’m of undivulged age with long brown hair, dark brown eyes and I’m currently wearing black jeans, a grey t-shirt and a mint green sweater. And I’d like to thank Maria for inviting me to guest blog about how I create my characters.

Strange as it might seem from my introduction, appearance is literally the last thing I think about when it comes to characters, because after all if you met me in real life, what does hair colour, eye colour or even the colour of my clothes tell you about me and the type of person I am?

Not much, other than I dress for comfort and have very little fashion sense. :o)

But what if I crush your fingers when we shake hands, what if my palm is damp and sweaty with nerves, what if I babble over-enthusiastically about how wonderful it is to meet you, what if I leer at your cleavage instead of making eye-contact, or maybe I give you a perfunctory look and then disdainfully dismiss you to talk to the person behind you. Now you’re getting a much better [or worse *g*] impression of me.

And impressions are good; they help you form an opinion about what I’m like and you automatically react to them. Maybe you’re sympathetic because I’m anxious, or you think I’m like some cute puppy you want to pat, or that I’m such a jerk you decide I’m the last person you want to spend five minutes making stilted small talk with.

But while our brief meeting might give you a momentary snapshot of me, it doesn’t tell you the reasons behind my behaviour. And of course in real life you’re never going to know that my sweaty palms are because a pack of pixies have turned up unannounced and are about to decimate the buffet I’ve so painstakingly prepared, or that I’ve ignored you so that the demon possessing me doesn’t decide to strike you dead on the spot!

Neither catastrophe is one I want to happen *g*.

And that’s where I start creating characters.

I find out what they want.

‘Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.’
- Kurt Vonnegut

But while finding out what a character wants – whether it’s how to save the buffet so there’s something left for the guests, or even how to save the guests themselves – is an essential part of making characters real and believable, even more important is discovering *why* characters want what they want.

Until I know why, I can’t add the right nuances to the characters’ actions.

So *why* exactly do I ignore you and stop the demon from killing you?

Is it because I’m appalled at the prospect of snuffing out your life? Or do I have a more practical concern like how much mess it will make and will I ever get the blood out of the carpet? Or could it be I’m looking to satisfy the demon’s demands with just The Right Victim. Or maybe I know that if I let the demon have its way, we will all be sucked straight into a fiery hell dimension and life as we know it will end forever . . .

What do you think?

Yep, you’ve got it in one *g* I’m looking for just The Right Victim: that disdainful look I gave you says it all!

Of course, not everything characters want is of world ending proportions.

When Genny Taylor, the main character in my Spellcrackers.com series, has to deal with recalcitrant magic what she wants is liquorice torpedoes.

‘Standing on the hot pavement, staring at the clear blue of the sky, I let the heat of the day burn away the air-conditioned chill of the restaurant. The magic fizzed and churned restlessly inside me. I dug into my bag and pulled out three liquorice torpedoes, stuffed them into my mouth and crunched down hard, shuddering as the sugar hit my system. The magic ate the sugar up and I willed it into a sleepy calm.’

- extract from chapter two of The Sweet Scent of Blood

The reasons why Genny wants liquorice torpedoes are simple: the sugar helps her to control the magic, the sweets are a practical option to carry round since they don’t melt like chocolate and the liquorice centre mutes her cravings for vampire venom*.

So once I know why my characters want what they want, I find it easy enough to work out everything about them from what they eat, what they decide to wear, how they speak and react to other characters, where they live, who they decide to kill and even if they’re going to be brave enough to save the world or evil enough to raise the demons of hell.

Of course after figuring all that out . . . then comes the hard part; the actual writing.

Thanks again to Maria for having me. To celebrate the release of the print copy of Maria’s book – Touch of Fire – and the paperback of my own book – The Sweet Scent of Blood – at the end of April, leave a comment telling us which is your favourite candy [and why it is, if you want to] before noon, Sunday (cst) to be entered into a drawing to win a signed copy of The Sweet Scent of Blood.

Read chapters one and two here.

*Vampire ‘venom’ – a combination of hormones and proteins injected through biting which boosts production of red blood cells and also addicts the victim, turning them into an ideal blood-slave – one with lots of hot thick blood on tap, and who is dying (literally, on occasion) to have a vamp sink fangs into them.

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Okay, folks. Tell us your favorite candy before noon, Sunday, 4-19 and you may win a signed copy of The Sweet Scent of Blood! This is an awesome book, so post away. Suzanne is definitely an author to watch.

Suzanne's Website
Suzanne's Blog
Suzanne on Twitter