I am very pleased to welcome author Judith Barrow to One Book Shy today. She is winding up a blog tour today celebrating her latest novel Living in the Shadows with an article on the intricacies of character creation and a giveaway. I'd like to thank Judith and Amy at Historical Fiction Virtual Tours for including One Book Shy on the tour. Take it away Judith....
Creating Characters
by Judith Barrow
I
always think that one of the most challenging aspects of being a
writer is creating characters. Yet it’s a chance to step back from
yourself and assume a completely different persona. Or several
personas … without people backing slowly away from you.
Characters that readers truly believe in and
become attached to are those that are exciting and alive on the page.
On the one hand, with protagonists, they should elicit empathy,
compassion, sympathy. Many of my readers have reported that my
protagonists, Mary, has lived in their minds long after they have
closed the books. A most satisfying thing for any author to hear
about one of their characters.
On the other hand, with an antagonist, they must
provoke dislike, irritation, even hatred. I hope I achieved the
latter with George Shuttleworth, who first appears as a secondary
character in the first of the trilogy, Pattern of Shadow, but gains a
more sinister presence in the sequel, Changing Patterns and even more
so in Living in the Shadows
As I’ve said, it’s not easy to shape
characters and make them realistic. But it’s possible. And the only
way is to start from scratch.
To get into a character’s mind, to imagine
their appearance, live in their world, I build character sheets.
I ask myself how old are they? What do I want them
to look like? Their build: body shape; stocky, muscular, thin,
big-boned; tall or short? Colour of hair, skin, eyes? Where do they
live: city, countryside, village, seaside? What kind of home have
they got? Do they live alone or with family; what is the make-up of
that family? What is their work, job, career? What papers/books do
they read? What hobbies do they have? (And don’t forget, even the
most hated character in your book should be multi-faceted. Even
George Shuttleworth in my trilogy! He keeps and breeds canaries; such
tiny birds need gentle handling – ironic when his violence can
cause such havoc. But isn’t such diversity true human nature?)
And then there are the clothes; clothes are a
godsend to make imagery for the reader. What do the characters wear?
How do they look? How do they feel? In Living in the Shadows,
Victoria Howarth’s hippie clothes are the norm for the Manchester
of the Sixties, a far cry from the clothes she wore back home in the
sleepy village of Llamroth. But even there her twin, Richard, has
progressed to dressing as a Mod – something that gets him into
trouble when he comes across a gang of Rockers in the town of
Ashford, Lancashire where the rest of Mary’s family live.
Clothes place characters in their setting, their
era. They give a whole sense of place and time.
That’s all the simple stuff. But there are other
tricks to use that draw out their personalities. Think about your
characters; get into their heads. Are they dreamers or pragmatic? Are
they arrogant, confident, assertive, reticent, shy, placid, fiery,
quiet, loud? And any other adjective you can think of. What are their
secret (or not so secret) ambitions? What would they do to achieve
them; how far would they go? Do the other characters like or dislike
them and why? Do they care? Do they like themselves? How are they
with their family, with strangers, with children, with animals? Once
you’re on a roll the list is endless.
Then there’s the dialogue. How do your
characters speak? Are they well-spoken, clear and precise or do they
mumble? What does that say about them?
One of my characters in the trilogy, Jean, sister in law and friend
to Mary, speaks in short phrases, often repeating them – either for
effect or because she doesn’t want anyone to interrupt her. In
Pattern of Shadows I have a character, Tom, Mary’s brother, who has
a stammer. It’s small things that will differentiate the characters
so that the reader knows exactly who is speaking.
And do the any of the characters have an accent;
regional or from a different country? How about dialect (be careful
here – better to hint at dialect with the odd ‘tip of the hat’
towards that or your dialogue will become difficult to read and you
could lose your reader). Or, always interesting, I think, have they
worked to hide that dialect? As Jean does sometimes ( a bit of a
snob, she tries to portray herself as beter than ‘working class’)
The question of dialect comes up twofold in Living
in the Shadows and it was a fine line to tread. I needed to make sure
that the characters fitted into their setting. So the characters that
live in Ashford sometimes have the syntax of their conversation
altered and have accents and phrases to show they are local to
Lancashire.And the same goes for the characters who live in
Pembrokeshire in Wales.
But when they are ‘outsiders’, as Peter Schormann, a German Pow
and doctor, and later, a resident in Llamroth, is, than that needs to
be seen as well.
I’ve only given a taster here of how I create
my characters. But I hope it’s given food for thought. And I’m
fully aware that other authors have many other ways of bringing their
characters to life. These are just some of mine. I hope they help.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Judith Barrow has lived in Pembrokeshire for thirty years. She is the author of three novels, and has published poetry and short fiction, winning several poetry competitions, as well as writing three children's books and a play performed at the Dylan Thomas Centre. Judith grow up in the Pennines, has degrees in literature and creative writing and makes regular appearances at literary festivals.
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GIVEAWAY
ends TONIGHT!
The author and publisher are generously offering a copy of Living in the Shadows to one lucky One Book Shy reader. The copy can be either ebook format or print. The great news is that this one is open to all, including our INTERNATIONAL friends. The contest will end at midnight (PST) on Sunday, 9/28/15. The winner will be announced here as well as contacted via email. Fill out the form below to get started:
If you don't want to wait for the winner to be announced, you can find a copy of Living in the Shadows at any of the following fine literary retailers:
~~~~~ Disclaimer: All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own. I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links. I may receive books in order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one. Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.
