If no one's caught on yet, I am a major geek for my fictional characters. Creating, developing, and then messing with them is my favorite part of writing. But a warning, here. If you don't want to know just how much of an obsessive freak I am, go back now.
I talk about my characters as if they're real people. They take on a life of their own. Certain details become so clear that it's less of an idea and more like a revelation. J.K Rowling, in a taped discussion with Daniel Radcliffe, said that she had a entire tragic backstory for Professor McGonagall. Even though it never played a part in the story, it still influenced her character. Finding out those hidden things can make all the difference for a character to come across as genuine.
When I'm developing a character, the first thing I turn to is music. I can have the gist down - appearance, disposition, backstory - but until I have a song or two that speaks to the character's motivation, they're not what Hava and I jokingly call "real boys". Building a playlist is hugely important. I'll pick music because of backstory, plot points, how they relate to other characters, or even their own music taste, and listen to how it flows together. Then play it constantly when writing.
The other fun part of new character smell is finding a real-life doppelganger. Hava and I have characters and plots in common. When one of us is writing a scene, it's good to have an accurate physical reference for the other's character. It fascinates me to see an expression a character wears on a real person's face, too.
Examples? Sure.
I started Hit Me Like You Mean It, the project I ended up working on for most of NaNoWriMo, almost two years ago. I'd thought I knew the characters like the back of my hand. During NaNo, I ended up adding another character, then Hava and I altered the dynamic between a protagonist and one of her characters that's in a handful of scenes. It changed a lot.
Before, I could never find comparisons for either of the protagonists, to my frustration. But a recent search yielded far better results.
Ethan, antique bookseller, cellist, and freak boxer:
The funny thing is, beside this movie still, this actor looks nothing like Ethan. But the glasses, the hair, and the annoyed glare over whiskey are spot-on. Ethan doesn't have facial hair and would never be seen in public with his shirt undone like that, though.
Ethan has a complicated playlist. It's a mix of classical cello, pop songs, and angry rock. Chevelle's The Red aptly covers backstory and a major aspect of his personality at once. He's also not a likable character. I'm the only who could ever sympathize with him, because I have to know where he's coming from. Trapt's Waiting reminds me that there is a point where he learns his lesson and manages to grow from it.
Jack, repressed-telekinetic and secretly sentimental gangster:
Jack is not nearly this pretty. Add about five years, two dozen fistfights, and a kicked heroin habit to his face, and a crow feather tattoo to his neck. But the jaw, the hair, and the shape of the eyes are correct.
Jack is a hard-core rock fan. Breaking Benjamin's entire discography could be on his playlist, but The Diary of Jane was the first song that stood out. His entire tragic backstory is neatly contained in Goo Goo Dolls' Black Balloon.
Evita, Colombian bombshell and con extraordinaire:
Evita is this pretty. She has darker skin and the same feather tattoo as Jack.
I had the plot hammered out when she came out of nowhere, neatly filling a few holes and causing others. Turns out, she's very important to Jack, enough that it altered his personality and some plot details.
O. Lover by Jason Mraz was one of the first songs to go on her playlist. She's just that kind of girl. Whenever I want to cringe for her, I listen to Come Round Soon, by Sara Bareilles. (She's not as impervious as she'd like to be.)
Hava's character Terrance plays a role, too, and she found a deadringer:
Deadringer when he's human, anyway. Vampire Terrance is paler and his dreadlocks are dark red.
Terrance is Jack and Evita's boss. He and Jack have an antagonistic friendship, but they have to watch each other's backs. Literally, they can't help it. Add in Terrance and Evita's complicated thing, and it turns into buckets of dialoguing fun for Hava and me.
(The comparisons are, in order, Ananda Everingham, Alex Pettyfer, Danna Garcia, and Jason Momoa.)
Of course, none of these characters operate in a vacuum, and there's music for that, too. Jack and Ethan are antithetical, best illustrated by the song that fueled their creation to begin with, Nural's Stop Me When You've Had Enough. Really, the album Entitlement is to blame here.
Jack and Evita... Well, the best I can come up with is Next 2 You, by Buckcherry. Unfulfilled chemistry, anyone?
There is no song to describe the bro-tastic hilarity of Terrance and Jack. But! They both have Weezer's Hash Pipe on their playlists.
I can't speak for Terrance here, but Fire Bomb by Rihanna is on regular rotation in Evita's head whenever they're around each other.
Ethan and Terrance have no discernible relationship, to their mutual relief.
Ethan and Evita don't have much to do with each other until after the main plot is finished, but when they do, it's amusing as hell: Bad Influence, by P!nk.
The real kicker to this post is that I could go on. And on, and on. Without ever talking about Milo, Mal, Tia, Grace, Emily, Riley, Jordon... or any of Hava's characters. Pure madness up in my head, yo.
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