Author Amy L. Gale
AUTHOR AMY L. GALE
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Books
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Reviews and Spotlights
  • The Gale Groupies
  • One Link Page

Keeping Up

What's going on, new awesome things, and all the fun stuff

!Blissful Tragedy

My Character's Personalities

3/12/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture

 How’d you come up with that guy? Is he inspired from someone you
know? Your husband? An old flame? I’ve been asked these questions way too many
times. Of course it’s natural to be curious about how an author develops the
characteristics and personalities of their literary characters. The answer is
yes, I’m not sure, possibly, no, and maybe.


 When I develop characters for a novel I start out by creating my
hero. What makes me weak in the knees? Is it the hunky hero from my favorite
television show or the bad boy I never quite got my hands on? The powerful
intellectual entrepreneur or the rugged athlete? I imagine how I’d like our
first meeting to go. Would he be confident and debonair, a lost soul who needs
to be saved, or irresistible with an edgy flair? Once I get the basics nailed
down, I add layers of personality traits. This is where I evaluate the things I
love as well as the things I’m not so fond of in a person. I tend to mesh the
personalities of those close to me as well as those I haven’t seen in years to
form my perfect male hero. Now that the hard part is done, it’s time to create
the rest of the characters.

 What’s a hero without a heroine? My heroines have a tendency to
be independent, even if they don’t realize it yet. My mother raised me to be a
strong self-sufficient woman who can achieve anything she wishes. I like to
portray that characteristic into my heroine’s personality. Of course, no man (or
woman) is an island. We all need that special someone to make our life complete,
who turns our world upside down. Since life would be much too easy if we all
meet our soul mate, fall in love, and live happily ever after, my hero and
heroine need to fight for each other. They’re either from two different worlds
which can’t logically mesh together, or there is some force trying to keep them
apart. 

Many things hurt or hinder a love affair and other people
interfering can do both. Now it’s time to create the secondary characters. Both
the hero and heroine need friends and family and I find myself creating
characters that loosely resemble mine. What would my mother think if I brought
this guy home? Would my best friend approve? Is his friend going to make a play
for his girl? 

Once I generate my cast of characters, I choose names to fit
their look and personality. For a character’s first name, I search online for
the most popular names the year they were born and match the name to their
demographic. Then, I turn to the good old white pages of the phone book for last
names. Voila, my characters are born. There are no limits to the possibilities
and endless combinations of personas. Truth be told, you’ll find a little bit of
me in each of my characters.



0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    AMAZON
    BARNES AND NOBLE 
     FACEBOOK    
     TWITTER     
     TUMBLR     
     PINTEREST

     GOODREADS

    Picture

    Author

    Animal lover, Author and Pharmacist 

    Archives

    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.