Building character(s)… June 13
I’ve never had much of a problem coming up with story ideas. To be honest, I dream about them. (Although, it is still one of my greatest fears that one day the story ideas will dry up like the speculated river beds on Mars.) So why is it so hard for me to build credible characters? Ones that I could believe are real enough to be interesting? Why does the idea of creating a new life, albeit a fictional one, scare me to the point of apathy. (A lot of my feeling of apathy (oxymoronish, I know) towards writing, comes from my inability to create characters I would care about much less an outside audience.) It is something I need to work on.
So, what other elements are important in creating believable characters that a reader can care about. Their past is obvious. What they do for a job is another. What they do for fun. How they treat others. How they treat themselves. What else?
Perhaps, I need to do an exercise in character development. (Take-home work from me coming soon.)