It begins with the Characters

My stories always begin with the characters. Maybe it sounds strange, but plot doesn’t come into play until later at least for me.

It usually happens something like this.

1. I’m driving somewhere or I’m outside walking.
2. I hear a song that sparks something in me. I get a chill down my spine from the lyrics or even from just the voice. It moves me.
3. Sometimes it makes me think of myself or my own story or of other people I know. Sometimes I just think, “Wow, this song would be perfect for this sort of movie…” Or sometimes, it makes me imagine completely new characters and the beginnings of a story start to form in my head.
4. If it’s a good idea, I won’t be able to stop thinking about it. I’ll think about it the next time I’m driving or walking. I’ll think about who the characters are, what they want, what their flaws are, and eventually it will start to turn into a story.
5. That’s when I sit down to write. I usually start by creating a simple character sketch in a google document and it usually includes the following:
   • Physical characteristics
   • Personality Traits
   • Likes/Dislikes
   • Fears
   • Values
   • Motivations/Goals/Desires
   • Personal History & Family

In my first book, which is currently in it’s fifth draft and I’m currently taking a break from editing, my main protagonist’s name is Lacy Dunham. Her basic character sketch looked like this:

Lacey Dunham

Physical Characteristics:

• Dark, almost black hair
• Hazel eyes
• Pretty
• Upturned nose, dusting of freckles across that come out in the sun
• Full lips
• Average height – 5’5”, curvy figure
  • The curves appear the summer that she moves to Silver Spring

Personality Traits:

• Fairly quiet & reserved
• Lack of self confidence
• Dreamer
• Romantic
• Keeps people at a distance
• Rule follower
• Loyal 
• Homebody
• Beats to her own drum but also somewhat wants to blend in/fit in

Likes/Dislikes:

• Likes:
  • Reading
  • To be alone
  • Journaling/Writing
  • Outdoors
  • Animals
  • California
• Dislikes:
  • Partying/Parties
  • Small talk and shallowness/shallow people
  • The cold
  • Sports

Fears

• Losing people she loves
• Repeating family cycles of addiction
• Being abandoned
• Being hurt by people she loves
• Letting people get close to her
• Disappointing her mother

Values

• Intelligence
• Integrity
• Sobriety
• Loyalty
• Love

Motivations/Goals/Desires

• She’s enamored with California – the bigness of it, the ocean, the beauty of it, the sunshine of it
• She wants to move to California and write
• She wants a great love – to be fully known and fully loved
• She wants to keep her head down and get through high school and make something of herself
• She wants her dad to heal and come back 
• She wants her mother’s approval

Personal History & Family

• Birthdate: May 2, 2009
• Charles & Dianna Dunham – Her parents
  • Her parents got married right out of high school due to the unplanned pregnancy of her older brother, Joseph Dunham.
  • Charles is an addict and winds up leaving the family
• Older brother Joseph Dunham
  • 2 years older than Lacey
• Her Grandparents
  • Charles’ side:
    • Elizabeth & Robert Dunham
  • Dianna’s side:
    • August and Mae Hooper

I add and change things and do more in depth character “study” as I go. When I’m writing, I feel like getting to know my characters inside and out is the key to making the story meaningful.