Usually, the first glimmer of an idea that I get for a character has me falling in love with him/her. But I generally don't start adoring him/her until after I've had him/her suffer a couple of life's hard knocks. Then, it's like the real mettle of the MC emerges, the real character that has been buried under the calm of an easy life until that moment.
My character doesn't start proving himself/herself until I throw an element of suspense into the story, and see how he/she responds to it. Once I see how my MC takes stress, I can add a little more drama and see how he/she overcomes that.
Total adoration doesn't happen until the plot twists, and an unexpected blow sends the MC right off his/her head. I love to see how anger, stress, love, gladness, madness, and hate affect my MC's character, and it's such a joy when a voice whispers in my head, okay, now write this scene you didn't realise needed to be written. I love it when that voice materialized.
Usually, by the end of my novel, I have this MC on a shelf, my mental shelf of favoured characters. This MC will be one I'll go to and re-read over and over and over again.
How 'bout you? How do you fall in love with your character?
I usually get "crushes" first. But then as I see my MC struggle and do the best they can given the situation, I love them despite their many flaws. Really it's the flaws that get me. It makes them real and worthy of love. Or maybe it's just that they need to be loved?
ReplyDeleteI tend to love my MCs right from the start - however, I am much fonder of them once I have thoroughly tortured them in some way.
ReplyDeleteDo you s'pose that's why most writers I've met seem so very nice - they've spent all their sadistic energies on their characters? Writing in Flow
I generally find that I get a bit of a soft spot in my heart for my MC's too, Kelly. Maybe it IS the flaws. I know that the more they have to conquer themselves, the more I like them.
ReplyDeleteBeverly, I never thought of that! It makes sense, though. No wonder we're such a nice bunch! Only our characters suffer. :)
I've made characters suffer (not the main characters in this case) who I felt a frequent need to apologize to for putting them through that.
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