Andreea Dobrescu | Dreamstime.com
Well well well, I am just enjoying my morning/afternoon right now thinking about refreshing tea and dreaming of a book. No, not another person’s book, but my own. My story is coming along nicely and of course I have not decided whether this particular YA novel should be self published or traditionally published by an established publishing house.
What I do know is that I discovered(maybe someone already has) that once you do a draft of your characters first, including all their likes, dislikes, peeves, personality and looks, you pretty much have a story. For example: A guy with a slight limp, an old worn cap, a cigarette hanging off the edge of his lips and with a locket enclosed in his fist-has a story to tell. We can say that perhaps he is homeless, we can say he is sick or desperate or just a bum trying to sell an expensive locket to get change for alcohol.
Here’s a basic look at a character. all I’m demonstrating is physical characterisitcs and peeves:
Height: 6’1
Hair: brown
Eyes: Dark Brown
Weight: 160
Age: 18
Physique: Lanky arms, slim waist line-surfer body.
Favorite Foods: Hot, sizzling fries with gobs of ketchup
Favorite Bands/Music: Jars of Clay, Nickelback, Black Eyed Peas, J-Pop
Favorite Shows: Watches nothing but Japanese Animations and the news.
Movies: Action/Martial Arts
Favorite Subject: Math/ Least Fav: Literature
Quirks and Peeves:
*Doesn’t like to read much, unless its a graphic novel.
* Hates loud girls. His mother is a loud, boistrous woman(Hmm, this is good plot soil)
*Hated that his mom still has pictures of him in figure skates and tights when he was 9.
(Apologies for WordPress’s formatting)
Now that was a bit much, but should it be longer? More deep? If not, how would you change it? What are some situations we can put this lanky otaku boy in? Not just his home, but perhaps this person is deceased, or has strange powers, in love with a girl opposite of his personality, or perhaps he has an underlying issue which will need to be resolved using novel format, or is he just right for a short fiction?
Endless possiblities abound.
By the way, this isn’t one of my characters but you can borrow it if you want 
Edit as of July 17, 2011@11:46pm: Creating characters will create the story, however ,it is still good to have an idea where you are going with the story. More will be explained in later posts either as a blog post. Thanks!
