Let's talk characters

February 09, 2020

Characters are the crux of a story.

Sure, the world in which our characters live is, sometimes, a character within itself but the people, werefolk, fae...whatever your poison...are the central focus.

Take my series, In the Shadows of Angels, for example. The grand ancient castle that has adorned the Aingealag Estate since the 10th century is a living, breathing pile of stone and mortar who hides away the many secrets of the Benedict Family. Aingealag Castle whispers to the heroines to help them along their way, at times to lead the hapless heroines into unforeseen danger.

In my latest release, Rory Benedict, Laird of Benedict often muttered that Aingealag Castle will devour the girl whole. According to several Lairds, Aingealag Castle did not bide high spirits or joy.

But, we need characters to keep the story moving.

The ghosts that inhabit the castle.
The animals that roam the courtyards.
The house staff.
Family members.

The Laird.
The potential Lady.

And the villains.

These characters all have specific traits - not only personality traits but the traits readers expect of particular characters. There are times these expected traits can be subverted, but be careful because readers may boycott a book simply because a character doesn't live up to expectation.

My current work in progress, Nicholas: In the Shadows of Angels Book 4, I have attempted to subvert the usual Gothic characterisation by giving the contemporary female the strong lead to accompany a less worldly historical hero. I'm not sure if I succeeded - I guess the reviews will let me know. When I consulted my favourite 'go to' characterization book, I found the perfect characters to describe my newest couple.

Nicholas - Warrior
Everlee - Crusader

And it's been a lot of fun writing the two of them.

At the beginning of every rough draft, I consult my character traits books for ideas on how to make my characters different, how to make them meld, what their internal and external conflicts could be.

I have four 'go to' characterization references - one of which is my favourite. My favourite 'go to' characterization book is Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes and from this book I print the descriptions and put them on my wall to remind me in which direction my character personalities and conflicts should be going.