When you invent a character, it’s like meeting someone for the first time. All you have to go on are the superficialities. You get to see what they look like, the types of things they wear, which leads you to make certain assumptions about who they are based on physical characteristics and personal style.

But how many times have we formed superficial, initial impressions of someone, only to completely discard those assumptions when we get to know them better?

It’s the same when discovering a character. Writing about a fictitious character is like getting to know someone for the first time, and then deepening that relationship. But it’s also a process much like peeling an onion. With each layer something new is revealed. However, peeling back these layers is not as easy as finding an onion and setting to the task. In writing, the very act of constructing a character and having him go through the story arc is how we get to know him. Writing about a character helps me discover things about them I never knew. There are times when I have already conjured up a back story and the required details and quirks that will belong to the character. With these in mind, I begin the story, placing the character in a scene and having him interact with other characters or responding to an event. This is where the magic starts to unfold. Sometimes the traits and qualities I have assigned to the character don’t quite fit. They are out of character, incongruous. Other qualities must emerge in order for the character to take up his rightful place in the story.

And thus begins the process of creating story-worthy characters that aren’t like a cardboard cut out with no substance behind them, and hence no means with which to stand up on their own two feet.

What I do is try not to force the process. Like when getting to know a real person, I give myself and the character time to circle one another, to spend time in each other’s company without any pressure to become the best of friends, or necessarily even enjoy the time we have together. Like emerging Babushkas, all the different aspects of my character eventually surface. Moving through the story provides this opportunity for growth and change, as the character is continually faced with a variety of scenarios, interactions and tribulations, some of which are arduous and confronting.

At the end of the first draft, though the story still needs much editing and re-shaping, the characters are nonetheless almost fully formed in my mind. This provides the element of solidity the story needs to go through its transformation and virtual rebirth that is the first to second draft transition. There are things about a character that may not be revealed until the story has reached its natural end. With this knowledge in mind, the second draft can thus be tackled in a hindsight kind of way. Foreshadowing, laying clues, and setting in place a more solid storyline with which readers may more readily identify.