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There Is Nobody in My Book!

How to Create Characters for Your Novels

By Beckster KraftPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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So, you have a book idea, but you can't seem to figure out characters? Then this is the place for you. Character creation is my specialty, and luckily there are multiple ways to figure this out. This should be the easiest part of the book, but sometimes you just can't figure it out. Hopefully, I'll be able to help you.

Now, there are a few different ways to start, and I am going to tell you a couple.

Find the name.

By now you should have a basic idea of a plot for your story, which means that you already have a feel for how your characters should act. This means that it should be easy to find a name for your character. Random name generators are perfect for this. Personally, I use the website called Seventh Sanctum.

It is great for all sorts of writing needs, especially names. Find a name that fits your story, and a lot of times the name can give you a feel for the character.

For example, for a story I am writing, I needed a botany assistant. I went to the Quick Character Namer generator and started going through the names. Throwing together a few names I found Rory Trent Gibson. Now, if his name was Trent Rory Gibson, he would be more of an egotistical scientist, with no care for anyone really, but that's not what I needed. So his name became Rory Trent Gibson, the quiet caring type, who is just there to make sure that the job gets done without any problems. He has a table set up in the lab with a jigsaw puzzle on it that he and the other scientists put together to get their mind off of a problem, which in turn helps them think more clearly for a solution. Names can give you a character usually based on movies you have seen, books you have read, or even people you know. A name is important.

Find your friends.

Friends are important in the creative process. I am constantly talking to my friends about my book ideas. It helps with plot development, character ideas, and anything else you might need. I have often been talking to someone, and thought "Oh, a character like that would be amazing!" Also, don't be afraid to deny ideas. It is your book, and you know what might fit. My friends and I once created an entire character who sold his soles to Santa to become rich, all because auto correct changed his plans. So, you never know what might happen to your world, but you will definitely get some interesting ideas.

Be a creepy person.

This is one of my favorite ways to create a character. I currently work in retail, and the people who come into my store can make for very interesting book characters. So, there is something called people watching. Go to a store, sit in a restaurant, walk around a park, or anything that lets you see people. Watch them, make notes, maybe even see someone interesting, and create their character base on appearance. This will help you with tiny details that can make your character amazing. Whether you end up writing a book with fictionalized versions of your friends, or you go to a store regularly and discover someone who likes to talk loudly to everyone in bad first year French. The possibilities here are endless. Plus you can always change a few tiny details to make things more interesting.

Characters are everywhere, it is all just a matter of where you decide to look.

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About the Creator

Beckster Kraft

I'm an author of Science Fiction mostly, but I am starting to get into Non-Fiction writing as well. I'm so glad to be doing what I love as a career.

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