Finding the motivation of our characters, the ‘why are they behaving this way,’ takes lots of investigating. Why does a ghost live in this old house? Why does Olivia stay when most people leave?
As I’ve edited The Enchanted Locket my teenage ghost character, Emma, has revealed an interesting family and past. They lived in the early nineteen hundreds, so their worldview was very different than ours. For instance, when Olivia looks at a cell phone, she knows what it is and what it does. In 1915, cell phones were not invented yet, so when Emma sees this cell phone, she thinks it’s a result of ‘strong magic’ and if she had her body she’d be afraid.
In order to understand a character’s motivation, it helps to create an in-depth character profile. Questions like ‘personal history,’ ‘early childhood years,’ ‘relationships with parents,’ and ‘education,’ allow us to know our characters and write from their perspective.
It’s fun to write as two different people with different emotions life perspectives. How deep do you dig for your story?
As I’ve edited The Enchanted Locket my teenage ghost character, Emma, has revealed an interesting family and past. They lived in the early nineteen hundreds, so their worldview was very different than ours. For instance, when Olivia looks at a cell phone, she knows what it is and what it does. In 1915, cell phones were not invented yet, so when Emma sees this cell phone, she thinks it’s a result of ‘strong magic’ and if she had her body she’d be afraid.
In order to understand a character’s motivation, it helps to create an in-depth character profile. Questions like ‘personal history,’ ‘early childhood years,’ ‘relationships with parents,’ and ‘education,’ allow us to know our characters and write from their perspective.
It’s fun to write as two different people with different emotions life perspectives. How deep do you dig for your story?
