As a reader, when I pick up a book, the first thing I look
for is at least one character in the cast that I can relate to. They don't have
to be like me, but I do want to have some point of reference that I understand.
It can even be something basic, like a woman who puts her family first, and the
conflict involves the outside world telling her that other things are more
important. Or it may be a person who shares the same interests as me.
As an author, I like to dig deep and get to know the people
in my stories. I often do extensive character interviews to find out what
happened in their past to motivate them to do the things they do in the story.
This is generally where I find my conflict that creates the foundation for everything
else. Doing this helps me write the proposal that my agent uses to sell the
book to a publisher. Occasionally, the people in the story do something
unexpected as I write, so I may even change things a bit, but I do my best to
keep them (mostly) on track, or I risk going off on a self-indulgent tangent.
Even though I've lost most of my southern accent, I'm still
a southern girl deep down. I love grits, fried okra, and hot buttered biscuits,
and I think with a southern accent.
In Missing Dixie, the first book in my
Uptown Belles series with Charisma House, I've taken an Alabama girl out of a small town in the
South and planted her in New York City. I think that alone offers a healthy
dose of conflict. I've added a powerful reason for her to stay away from her
hometown for a while and a born-and-raised-in-New-York man as the hero to add
more ways to expose the heroine's vulnerabilities and nuances.
I enjoy reading other books set in the South, but I also
like getting to know people from places I've never visited. The key is to find
some common ground so I can feel what the characters feel and care enough to go
on this 300-or-so-page journey with them. Although I prefer a female main character who loves the Lord, I'm willing to give a guy a chance if he loves his cat. And for me to pick up that author's next book, I need to see character growth with the main person in the story learning something that matters to me.
What character traits do you look for in stories?
6 comments:
I like characters who are strong, learn from their mistakes, and who aren't afraid to be different. Given my propensity to be opinionated, I also like reading about heroines with the same trait ;-)
I love grits, too! My favorite are the yellow kind, since I'm from the north.
I like different characters too! I think Christian fiction is evolving and allowing even more diversity than ever - a very good thing in my book.
Yellow grits, huh? Mine are yellow after I put butter on them, but I have a feeling that's not what you're talking about. :-)
Keep the grits. I may be from the South (Texas) but I don't like grits.
However, I do like female characters who have grit. :) It's also good when the heroine has to rescue the hero in certain situations. Not all the time, but some time.
Martha, I agree! I love strong female characters! And it's so true to life to have heroines who rescue the hero!
I love grits! Men who like cats and all animals for that matter. I enjoy reading about and writing about characters who are loyal. Loyal to others and possibly to a cause they deem worthy.
Jillian, I remember reading a book with a guy lovingly stroking his cat and thinking that he was pretty wonderful. However, when he turned out to be the villain, my first thought was, "How can that be? He loved his cat!" I guess the author was trying to show that he was multidimensional. He didn't like people.
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