Characters

So my favorite part of writing is characters. Basically they are writers' imaginary friends. And if you're a published author you technically get paid to have them. I am probably going to do multiple parts on characters because there is so much to discuss when it comes to them. 

But where do we start?

Usually I come up with an idea for a character by starting with their personality. I then write a scene with them and they come to life from there. But if you want your characters to be deeper. If you want your readers to feel bad even for your villain you have to give them something that they love. It doesn't have to be a person or object. It can be a feeling. Maybe they love to live, and throughout the story they will fight for that right. 

Something else that is important for your characters to have is a secret. A character having a secret is an easy way to make them almost instantaneously deeper. 

What is the secret?

Why is it so important for them not to reveal it?

Is it there secret, or are they keeping it for someone else? If they are, why? What does this person mean to them? Are they blackmailing them?

See what I mean?

Characters are not why we start a story, but why we finish it. 

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The Beginning

Where does a story start? It starts long before the opening line, before the Once Upon a Time. A story doesn't necessarily start with an idea for a plot. The idea could come from an idea for a character. Maybe it's the antagonist. Or maybe it will come from an experience you had.

Never underestimate prompts. The idea for my story Expiration Date, which I wrote specifically for Wattpad, came from a prompt on Pinterest. I never could have imagined what this story would turn into, after reading only a one or two sentence prompt.

Maybe an object that you own will inspire you. Believe it or not, a blue necklace I own was the idea for another one of my novels.

Pay attention to everything, you never know when or where your next idea may come.

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