Article Marketing

It’s close to the new year and you are finally going to start writing your first novel.
The key to an interesting first novel is to have a cast of fascinating and exciting characters. The best way to achieve this is by observing real people that you know, from family and friends to work colleagues. Although it’s possible to find all the character traits you need for your first novel in just one person, it’s much better to compose them from a variety of different subjects, giving you much more material to work with. Don’t let writing your first novel overwhelm you, stay calm and focused.

So, how do you create your characters, maintain their image, both the physical attributes and personality, then translate them into your first novel?

Try the following:

(1) – Make a list of your characters’ physical features such as…eye shape and various shades of colour, nose shape and style, chin size and overall face shape and profile. Everything about their hair, ie colour, what texture it is, is it thin, lank or thick and lustrous? Don’t skimp on these fine details; be thorough, they will pay you back tenfold at a later date.

(2) – Next you need to be making notes of personality traits. People you know well are ideal candidates as you know how their particular qualities make them respond to different situations, allowing you to make your characters more believable and realistic. Again, don’t skip fine detail. People can be shy, quick tempered, even a bit deceitful, warm and loving, naïve, compulsive liars, etc.

(3) – Take notice of speech patterns from your own parents to someone at your local pub. Watch out for unusual and/or regular catchphrases that tend to occur often and at certain times in specific situations or when something happens frequently.

(4) – Try and look for those special characteristics that sets someone apart from everyone else, the one thing that makes them different, so you can use them to help distinguish the characters in your first novel. It could be someone who has a nervous twitch, loads of freckles, is a compulsive nail-biter, stammers when not telling the whole truth or has a physical disability. This is creative writing so use your imagination.

(5) – By creating your lists in this way, you can now lay them out and study them properly. Think of the different characters you’ve just brought to life and match them up with the various personalities you have created if you feel they complement each other. Don’t forget the strengths and weaknesses of people. Giving your character too many strengths will find your readers unable to relate to him or her, but, by allowing them to have some weaknesses, you are giving them something to overcome while helping your character to stay real and more interesting in the readers’ eyes. Add some unique speech pattern if you feel it fits and make a note of how they will look and feel. Try to avoid characters who are just too good to be true (unless they’re hiding some deep, dark secret) as your readers will easily tire and get bored.

(6) – Now take the whole character profile you have just created and write it all down. If you haven’t already decided, jot down some possible names for your characters and, should you find yourself struggling with that, get your phone book out and browse through it for ideas. Do this with all the character profiles you have created and store them all for convenient and future reference so that, the next time you come unstuck for a story’s hero or villain, you will have your very own organised mini-library.

Are you close to Writing Your First Novel? To learn more about an excellent writing software aimed at giving would-be authors the incentive and know-how to succeed then please visit my site http://www.squidoo.com/writingyourfirstnovel

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/writing-articles/writing-your-first-novel-how-to-populate-it-with-interesting-characters-1635433.html