Who are you? Who, Who! Who, Who!

When someone is reading a novel, by the middle of the story they should not be asking any of the characters, "Who are you?"  By this time they should know who your characters are.  But at times, we writers make the mistake of not knowing enough about them ourselves.  This is why I most often rely on character descriptions.

Some writers use elaborate forms that give every detail one could imagine about their character.  I tried it, but found that for me, a simple page or two works best.  This document can be changed or added to during the writing process, but the main points will always remain the same.  Eye color, hair color and body type pretty much don't change, unless the person takes to changing hair color or eating too man dounuts, and if that is the case it should be mentioned before it is done.  A surprise change will confuse your readers.

I also like to give a history for my characters and find that this rarely changes.  As the character reflects on a memory or refers to the past the history is a big help.  This may be added to if something is revealed while you are writing.

I like to also use a time line.  One of the most difficult things I have found is trying to keep events from the past from getting mixed up.  This is also helpful if you want to reflect on a memory from the past and mention how old your characters were.  You certainly don't want them to be six and seven for one memory and twenty and twenty-five for another.   By the way, when did that young couple separate?  Three years ago, and the woman his a one year old baby from their union.  This will make the reader wonder if they writer forgot to mention some hanky-panky in the intervening years.

I have also found that these character descriptions help for less important characters, too.  In my novel, Into the Fire, I had some characters that started to stand out, and they grew and became the main characters in the second novel in my Everyday Heroes Series, Rescued Hearts.  In fact, I have more characters I hope to use in future novels for the series.  My hope is to have For the Love of Amy  published by the fall of 2013.

Last, I have even gone so far as to clip a picture of someone who represents a character in my novel.  This helps me keep a visible reminder of what they look like as I write. 

Being a writer is no different than a teacher with a lesson plan.  Having one helps serve as a guide.  As the story or class progresses there are times when something might not fit, but it is easier to adjust the guide than to rewrite a novel that was written with the "I'll wing it," attitude.  Trust me, if you have too many loose ends that don't tie up by the end of the novel, your readers will notice.

I hope this has helped any novice writers out there who are looking for a few tips on writing.  Just remember, the most important things is you have to do it, not just think about it.

I look forward to hearing from some of you soon.  Have a great start to a wonderful new year of writing.

You will find my novels at this link.