Getting to know the characters

I'm dealing with a few new characters I had to invent for the sake of progressing the plot. They're a little thin right now, but I'll flesh them out later.

Usually, I start with a real person I know. A friend, an old professor, someone I met once at a convention and never spoke to again . . . all fair game. That's just for physical looks though. If every character were based on how I envision people looking, they'd be too pretty. Real people aren't perfect.

Then I'll tailor them to fit the role the character is fulfilling. For example, the character of Huliol in Book #2 is meant to look a bit like my high school's valedictorian. She's quiet, thoughtful, nice - a marked contrast to the volatile and temperamental Vazeria. But she's also naive, a romantic, and an optimist.

What drives her? What is her goal in life? Where did she come from? All these things will tell themselves to me as I'm writing her parts in the story - eventually. They may take a while to unfold. She is a secondary character, after all.

I don't think I really get to know her until the first draft of this book is done. Then as I'm revising, I'll change her dialogue around until I have her voice firmly in place.

It's the way with all the characters in my stories. I have to get to know them as I write them. If I try to do the D&D "build a character" route, it will force them into stereotypes. And that's the last thing I want.