WHOOO...are you? (How Characters Come to Life)

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by Enisa Haines

I love immersing myself in stories where I'm plunged straight into the midst of action from the first page, where I meet characters that yank at my emotions and, as events unfold, I experience what they experience and feel what they feel.

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Stories like Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. I lived that story as if it was real. When Claire Randall was hurtled back in time to 1743 Scotland, I tumbled with her. When raiding border clans clashed, I fought alongside Jamie Fraser. As Claire fell more and more in love with Jamie, their love story enthralled me.

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Sometimes I'll pick up a book but it doesn't captivate me. I'm drawn by the plot and the setting but the characters fail to pull at my emotions. I don't care about them, about what they say or do. Instead, I'm disappointed and in frustration I stop reading.

That's a reader reaction no author wants.

So how do you hold a reader's interest?

Know your characters. Visualise their external appearances and uncover who they are deep inside. Ascertain what they think, how they think, how they react in different situations. Discover their childhood backgrounds and how they relate to others. Identify their likes and dislikes, their habits and mannerisms, strengths and weaknesses, fears and secrets and goals.

Learn everything about them and then they'll be real. You will identify with them and care for them. And as you write about them, fleshing them out in your stories, they'll pull the readers in and grab at their emotions.



How do we learn about our characters?

Fill out character charts, listing basic details such as appearance, background, education, career, personality and desires.

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Interview your characters, asking a series of in-depth questions that will bring them to life.

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Get inside the minds of your characters. Put yourself completely into them, feeling what they feel, thinking what they think, seeing what they see. By being a character, getting deep into their point of view, you will show them to readers and they will experience everything the character experiences.

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Characters are the living heart of a story. Know them well, inside and out, and you'll pull readers into your stories, making them feel the emotions the characters feel, making them never want to put the books down.

That's the reader reaction authors want.

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How do you get to know your characters? Do you have a favourite technique?


Love to love: discovering all the different types of characters.

Love to laugh: when a character behaves in a way I don't expect.

Love to learn: what makes people who they are.

World Building: Bringing your Fictional World to Life!

with Enisa Haines

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It's often said that stories are about characters and the conflicts they face. For example: Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy, each immersed in an emotional tug of war between their preconceived ideas of each other and the feelings they struggle against, in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Or Eve and Roarke, both fighting distrust and the emotional chaos attraction brings, in J.D. Robb's In Death series.

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Why are these characters so fascinating, and unforgettable? It's the world they live in. Who the characters are, what shaped them and what happens to them all depend on their imaginary world. For Mr Darcy and Elizabeth it's the customs, constraints and influences of Regency England. A technology-advanced, gritty New York City in 2058 is the backdrop for Eve and Roarke. Worlds that come alive in the reader's mind, worlds that are credible.

What makes them feel so real that readers are intrigued and willing to suspend disbelief and engage in the stories? World building, a term associated with fantasy, paranormal and dystopian tales and known in other genres as creating a sense of space, is the key.

How do we build a world?

• Start with a setting and time period. Visit or research the place if it exists today. If you're writing historical, discover everything you can about location and era. Use your imagination to create a planet/universe/alternate reality if you're writing fantasy/paranormal or dystopian.
• Add the main characters and the surrounding community. Learn how they function, what they value.
• Know past events that influence what happens in the present.
• Add conflict that results in chaos.
• Discover how the environment impacts on the characters and their conflict.

Spend some time on these details, add them together and you'll have a deep and complex world, one that has its own identity, its own unique sounds and smells and sights. You don't have to reveal everything about your world. Your characters and what they are experiencing are what's most important. Keep them in focus and show the details as a backdrop or implied. A backdrop such as the stage where rock star David Ferris performs with his band in Kylie Scott's Lick. Or the Highlands of 18th Century Scotland where former combat nurse Claire Randall is hurled through time into the lead-up to the Jacobite Rebellion in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander.

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World building is your guide to your world. It's the essence of your story. It gives it the supporting framework and, most important of all, it make your story real to readers.

Is world building an enjoyable process for you or do you find it a chore?


Love to Love - inspirational quotes. A great boost for my writing muse.

Love to Laugh - sometimes reality is as amazing as imagination.

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Love to Learn - about the fantastic worlds authors imagine. I'm in awe of George R.R.
                                       Martin's Game of Thrones. 

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