This week I bring you Character building. It seems I don't know my character well enough so all this week I'm going to dive in to what I think could give me the breakthrough needed to write!
My MC for The Traveler's is Eryn Parker, she is on the hunt to find her attacker to save others and hopefully herself, with the guidance of the team of Traveler's she must find her attacker. I've made a list of what she might do when turning into detective mode:
1. Imagine herself in his next location
2. Scope the place out
3. Research the footprints left behind. His would be red
4. Research victims he's attacked
5. Talk with the team of Traveler's
6. Drink tea
7. Research at the library
8. Talk to Blake & Brianna
9. Visit the garden
10. Pass messages to Hunter
Now as you can see many of these you won't understand, you aren't fully aware of my characters or my world, so visiting a garden and drinking tea wouldn't make any sense, but in the world she is destined to be in it means everything.
What would your characters do if they were faced with finding their attacker? Would they run, forget about it, or attack it straight on?
41 comments:
Ooh how interesting your character sounds. I already know (because my book is finished) that mine would stay and fight, even if he does get his butt kicked! ;-)
Good question! I would lean towards the 'active' steps, going to the scene - seeing the footprint or some other clue that would lead her to the next hot spot / clue.
Well, mine wouldn't wait for a guy to rescue her. If she can, she'll fight to save herself. :)
You character sounds cool, Jen.
I love this post. My MC would see him in a sea of faces whether she saw him in the attack or not, she's that intuitive.
Great post Jen!
Hum, I thnk a tragedy of massive porpotions is the only way out for m character...*insane laugh*
Ahem. Ok, I´m fine now. =)
Thanks for stopping by. Beautiful blog. Hope your hubby makes it. It's sooooo hard! ;)
My would probably stay and fight...I love that post, darling:) Kisses and wish you a happy Monday:)
Muah
Great post! I think she would fight and try to kick some butt but with encouragement from you know who.
My MC is a cop. I'm certain that if she were attacked, she'd go after the sucker with a vengeance.
Drinking tea sounds perfectly logical to me. I often drink tea to help me solve problems. Plus they are always having tea in all those British mystery stories. Okay, they are always having tea in pretty much all British stories.
It depends on the character. Some would fight. A few would run. One would retreat to a tactical location then fight. One would try to figure out why. One would be reckless and stomp after the attacker in whatever direction he thought the attacker went in. One would forget it happened, brush it aside and move on.
They all kind of do their own thing.
Your world sounds interesting. Now I want to know more about this one too.
Drink tea...lol. I don't know why, but when I read that, I laughed. I guess a dective needs good drink while mulling things over. I guess I'd never considered that. It made me giggle.
BTW, can I just say that your story is sounding more and more awesome each time I hear about it?
And my current wip characters would attack straight on...they are fearless!
~JD
Good question! My characters would track who it is and catch them! "Detective mode" is a good way to say it!
Awesome topic! I hope this gets you inspired to write, write, write. It's so cool!
My character would probablytry to hide, at least at the beginning :)
This sounds a great way to get into the mind of your MC. Sounds very intriguing! I do so love thinking what my MCs would do in any given situation. :)
Depends on which character and which story. Most of my heroine's are the fight type, so tey would rush in to try to save the day - that sorta thing. But I have a couple of reluctant heros that may do thngs a bit differently.
My mc would probably go about the process in a roundabout way, almost in a sneak attack, turning the tables on the attacker.
Good question. It's so important to understand our characters as real people. If we don't, then their actions aren't consistent, and the reader will have a believability issue.
I have a character who is attacked. She's a teen, and her father, who is in law enforcement, promises to find the man. She finds herself petrified of leaving the house, which isn't what she expects from herself. One of the ways I have her grow is to overcome her fear and be the type of person who attacks straight on.
What a great way to explore your character. The character I'm thinking of would hide, I believe. And then take time to figure out a plan, or maybe search for help.
Hee! Mine would meet their attacker head on and kick the crap out of them. That's how she rolls. :)
Good for you diving into your character! I'm constantly questioning mine. For your question though it depends on which character. One would sneak up on the attacker and snap the neck before they knew what was happening. One would enjoy the torture. One would freeze and most likely become the victim one more time to be "saved" by secondary character, and one other would actually be the attacker in the first place (split personality or something like that) so they would fight themselves? if they figured it out...I think. Toughey. Can't wait to see what else yo come up with for your character!
Great question! I think my characters probably wouldn't attack head on but would put on a 'I don't suspect anything' act upfront but be staking things out behind the scenes and contimplating the attacker's next move...
Great post and perfect timing. I'm scoping out my characters a bit more as well.
Vanessa is going to run from her attackers. She will start with a moment of strength to fight back, but quickly realize she's outnumbered and run.
These sorts of exercises are so great. One of the hardest things to do is to get into another person's head, I think, so getting to know an MC will really help to get that dialogue and their actions right. I think my MCs would attack if confronted with an attacker. :) Excellent question!
Sounds like a brave MC. Mine attack. Headlessly really. Many times to their detriment. Foolish characters. ;)
Fun topic!
So many good character building exercises, so little time.. :) It sounds awesome. Of course I would hope that my character would go after an attacker, but it really depends on which character we are talking about.
I love character building exercises.
I would hope my character runs, but kicks some ass first. ;)
Jen,
Haha! I was confused by your comment on my blog cause I put up a new one after the award one so I thought it was an older comment so I was scratchin my head. BUT now I understand what you were asking. So if the character is in a sense, transparent-ish, then I have to take a quote from my favorite show Supernatural when they are out of their bodies and can't grab or hit anything. Once one of them can he says "I just full on Swayze'd that mother!" SO I would be inclined to agree that they pull out some Ghost Swayze action and punch the attacker. Or they find Whoopi Goldberg and have her do it!
Great question!
Oh, she'd attack it heads on! In fact, she'd probably scare the attacker and make him/ her run away screaming!
I forgot to mention, I did tag you if you'd like to be IT, over at my place!
A couple of my characters would want to run, but they wouldn't be able to live with themselves if they didn't fight the attacker head-on. I'm the same way, even if I'd end up killed. xD
Hi Jennifer
Wow - this is a great blog. Love your set up.
Good post today. Knowing your characters well is vital... Story by Robert McKee talks about this quite a bit. Awesome book if you can get your hands on it. The guy is a story genius :)
Thanks for your feedback on my blog earlier today. Really helpful.
It's nice to make a new connection :)
I would hope my mc would to a karatee chop to the head. That would be cool. =)
First of all I fully understand the drink tea thing. Life in my realm revolves around drinking tea. You drink tea when you are stressed. You drink tea when you are sad. You drink tea when you are upset. You drink tea first thing in the morning. Well you get the picture! I totally understand the tea thing.
Wow--so detailed and intriguing! That's such a great strategy to get to know your character. I'll have to steal your method :)
That's a very intriguing list, and I think this is a great idea to flesh out your characters, especially when they're in certain situations/modes.
Me and Eryn would be friends. I would totally drink tea too. :) Hmmm... as for my MC. Her tendency would be to ignore, but in the end she'd attack.
My characters and their situations aren't physical, but my MC has her antagonists. I would say she plans things out and then goes in for the kill.
My current MC would run in the beginning of the story (she's a runner, but that's not why) but by the end should would have changed into a "stand and fight" kinda girl. :)
Great way to think about your characters!
My character would attack it straight on. I guess that means I know my character pretty well for it to come to me like that. Yay!
But I like that you've made a list of things. That's a great idea to help figure out what they'd do in a certain situation.
Nice!
My MC is only eight. He prefers not to be carried away by robot guards with freeze rays, so he works to avoid that. Ha ha. :-)
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