Yes, you have to establish a character that seems consistent before an inconsistency makes sense, let alone has an impact on the reader. Though I think even something out-of-character needs seeding from the beginning - like the crucial clue in a detective story, carefully placed in Ch 1 in a way that means the reader overlooks it until the detective points it out with a flourish in the final scene.

When the worm turns, say, at one level you want the reader amazed, but you also want them to know suddenly that it's consistent with the deepest level of their character. When they turn violent, say, it's inconsistent with the outer, visible levels of quiet good behaviour. But at the same moement we also realise that the good behaviour was the product of repression, say, not innate gentleness. I think that's where the language in which you describe the quiet good behaviour from the beginning, the reader picks up the repression almost without knowing it, a feeling that the quietness isn't all there is to him/her.

Emma

<Added>

Hmmmm. Pronoun trouble in that second para. Ah well, I think it's comprehensible...

Here is the list Jill Dawson used on the course she gave at Cambridge Wordfest earlier this year.

What's the first thing your character puts on in the morning?
If your character swears, what words do they use?
Can your character dive?
Can your character do that thing with their tongue? (Roll it up)
If your character were climbing the stairs and you were in another room, what sound would you hear?
Does your character wear a piece of jewellery that is significant?
What food does your character crave?


I'm sure there are more, but I can't remember them!

The one about diving can often be inspirational. I was stuck with a character in progress at the time of this course. Very quickly I answered, 'Yes, she can dive, but she hasn't since she was a girl.' I had a flash of inspiration that my character would dive again (not literally) but that at some point in the story she would do something daring and get a great feeling of exhileration from it. It unlocked her nature from that point.

I was stuck with a character in progress at the time of this course. Very quickly I answered, 'Yes, she can dive, but she hasn't since she was a girl.'

Jem, that's brilliant, and a classic example of one of those things you didn't know you knew, as it were.

And interesting that it then carried you further. One of the things I've noticed as I got more experienced as a writer is that I'm better a recognising a new element/direction/idea and having the confidence to go with it, even if it seems to run counter to what I'd planned.

Emma

I do love this site. I had never thought of working with my characters in this way, but what a good idea. Reading how other authors, who obviously have so much more experience than I, deal with the problems they have is also a great boost to my confidence. It is wonderful to know I'm not alone. I already feel as if I am improving after just about a month here.
Having recently started a second novel, (I'm on chapter 4) and and also struggling with the first rewrite of my original story the questions are just what I need. It is sort of like the Q&A they have in Saturday's Guardian magazine each week isn't it? I love reading those, so it should be fun to actually answer some of the queries for my own characters.
I knew I had a lot to learn when I joined WW and I wasn't wrong! Visiting here every day is such a great way to be taught.
Keep the information coming.
Take care
Tracy

I don't think I could work with portraying characters in the ways that have been suggested here. I know that we all have 'our way' of writing and if, through asking and answering a number of questions, suits you then OK.

I try to form in my mind what 'type' of person my characters are and go along with this as the plot develops.

So much of any written character is not conveyed to the reader by what the character says and does, or even thinks, but by the reactions of others. This is mirrored in real life... how 'others' see us.

I try to get into the head of the character, to say what I think he/she ought to say, to act and react like the characters I am creating; I find this is a continual and developing process, sometimes bringing surprises even to me! I like to 'live' my characters, see things from their points of view and share with them all the varied emotions, likes, dislikes, dark thoughts, selfish actions and all their fears, hates and loves.

Len

What sort of shoes is your character wearing?

I know it's a silly question, but shoes tell you so much about a person and I can never answer it.

I tend to use questions for peripheral characters I don't feel I 'know' yet, but not bother for the main ones because I know them already.

I agree with Len to some extent here. I think a character is defined by action. Do we really care - or is it in any way relevant - what Willy Loman's favourite ice-cream is?

However, I do see the point of many of the questions as a way to get started or overcome a block, but I think if they aren't directly relevant to the plot, it may just be a diverting waste of time.

Harry

If it's not an exercise that works for you, fair enough. I'd be the very last person to tell anyone how they should be writing because there is no 'correct way' to generate ideas. But for those of us who use this method, I'd say what knowing the detail does is make you more confident: your character comes into better focus.

There was a whole family tree worked out for my first published novel, and one side of it I just never used. But I knew about it, and it made the story more alive for me, and helped define one character's attitude towards his ex wife and daughter.

Probably I won't directly use 75% of the info I uncover by this method, but the stuff that does rise to the surface helps crystallise for me not just character but also plot strands, which is why I like to start with it. An attitude to a small detail can betray a wealth of personal history, eg conflict with parents, a childhood incident that's made an impression, a secret shame. It's a kind of revving up of ideas. It's absolutely not procrastination.

That is a very good point, Lammi. The character's motivations must be defined, at least in the writer's mind, so that their actions ring true. Trying to twist their actions to suit the plot rather than the character, can be annoying.
Reminds me of movies where the woman whacks the baddie over the head and runs away, only to have him pick himself up and run after her - why the hell doesn't she just go over and finish him off? Doh!


- NaomiM

I agree with Lammi that the answers you come up with don't necessarily have to be used. It's like any other research you do, I guess. It just makes the writer feel more secure and lots of it will never see the page. I think I use a mix of ways to 'get' a character and very often they only really come alive when I've started to write them.

I'd be the very last person to tell anyone how they should be writing because there is no 'correct way' to generate ideas.

I quite agree, which is why I enjoy threads like this.

Reminds me of movies where the woman whacks the baddie over the head and runs away, only to have him pick himself up and run after her - why the hell doesn't she just go over and finish him off? Doh!

But is that a badly drawn character or an improbable plot?

I suppose if we already know her to be indecisive or someone who doesn't think clearly under presuure it might make perfect sense. But if we don't, then the writer has two choices: go back and insert that information, or have her finish off the baddie. But either decision will result in a change in action and a change in plot. The new decison will effect the character's next actions and hence the plot - the baddie dies and everyone cheers, or the protagonist gets chased around a little longer, which leads to x, y and z happening.

The third choice would be to scrap it completely

Is suppose it's a question of which, ultimately, informs which? Or do they become so intertwined they inform each other?

Harry

Well, this is it, Harry: if you start with an in-depth examination of your characters before you've written the first word of your novel, then plot and novel will almost certainly intertwine. But even before the character questions, the first germ of my novels is 'What kind of a person would do such and such', so the main character arrives together with the bare bones of the plot, and I know before I start mining that they have a tendency to infidelity, or they have trouble forming close friendships, or they're deeply religious etc etc.

I should add, I've moved my position on this technique, because I used to see a plot and start to write, and the characters would somehow appear slotted in. But when I look back, the two novels where I used this approach had a lot of 'cooking time'. I never did character studies for anyone in TBMH, but I'd thought about them off and on for four years. These days I'm writing a novel a year and the process has to be more focussed.

Just remembered another Jill Dawson question. Does your character believe in God?

I like to have a good understanding of the character's formative relationships, in particular, those with each of their parents/carers and their school friends. No surprise, I guess, given that I'm a child psychologist.

Don't know if anyone mentioned this yet but Poppy and Emma will know this - hotseating. It's a method actors use where they get in character and sit on a chair and lots of people around ask questions which they have to answer in character - but quickly.

This can be a useful tool - might be interesting to try for writing too. Means you wouldn't rationalise answers so much but had to really try and think like the character.