Character on the Couch

And now . . . something new on the blog. (Drum roll and trumpets please.)

Characters. We're always talking about them. Booklist reviewed Do They Wear High Heels in Heaven and said, "Readers will recognize Orloff's trademark snappy dialogue and lovable characters . . ." I didn't realize I had a "trademark" but if I were going to have one, I would think that's what I would want.

My characters. Now, I wish I could tell you where they come from. Yesterday's post raised some interesting thoughts. Maybe they all come from me. Bits and pieces. I do know though, that finding a new voice for every book, finding new characters (lovable or unlovable) is a challenge. I can't tell you how many first chapters I have on my computer for unwritten books, as I "tried on" voices for size.

Kathy . . . a regular reader on the blog . . . and I have been discussing just how you get that voice, how you "connect" to your characters. And I offered to stick her work in progress, and her character, on our proverbial Couch. Analyze. Ask questions. Dissect.

So here's Kathy's "pitch":

Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance

During the Salem Witch Trials, a group of paranormally gifted women, to prevent their possible discovery, persecution, and destruction, encased a primary demon within an East Tennessee mountain. Aubrey Covington strives to prevent the release of the demon and the annihilation of the cornerstone of mankind.

Got it?

All right. Now for the character:

Aubrey is an intuitive healer. Her mere touch can give supreme pleasure or administer exquisite pain. At the risk of forfeiting her own, she is capable of granting life or ministering death. She has used all aspects of her abilities, even the forbidden giftings, and for doing so, the price she pays is steep. Her ancestors ingrained within her the responsibility of overseeing the imprisoned demon, but nothing could have prepared her for an encounter with a phantom warrior who is determined to destroy the demonic entity Aubrey must ensure remains trapped within the mountain.

So Kathy's going to drop by here today. She is struggling, fellow writers and readers. Not plot so much . . . but character. To relate to Aubrey, to write her.

So this may not be your character, but how do you approach this? What questions do you ask?

Oddly enough, my process is bizarre enough (or perhaps not, you tell me), that when a character springs to mind, they pretty much arrive with a full back story, life, friends. Spontaenously, or so it seems. The only thing I have to fill in is "voice." The specifics of how they talk, walk, tell their tale. Sometimes, like Booklist said, I go for "snappy"--and sometimes I know I have to pull back my natural tendency to write a little snarky. It doesn't fit the voice I'm aiming for.

My other "piece" is I worked as an editor. TRUST ME when I say other than acting, writers have the highest degree of propensity for insanity. So that job is part-editor/part-psychologist. Sometimes you babysit an author. And sometimes, like today, you babysit their characters. You have to pull out the details, the voice. As an editor, I would ask Kathy . . . .

What was Aubrey's childhood like?
Did she always know she had this gift?
Did it isolate her? Could she have any friends (or did her family isolate her intentionally)? Did she have to hide her gift?
How did the answers to those questions wound her?

So there you go. What questions do YOU have for our friend Kathy? AND . . . what questions do you ask when you're striving to get to know your characters? Note that I didn't ask what has become . . . almost routine on writing blogs. What's her motivation? When you're struggling with character, I think Jungian analysis is better. Motivation is too "big picture." It's too easy to summarize it in a throw-away sentence. I think, when you struggle with character, you have to start with intimacy . . . with the details.

But maybe I'm wrong.

Discuss. Ask questions. HI KATHY! Welcome to the blog.

And I'll run this feature from time to time, so if you want to be the next character "victim" on the Couch, email me at erica@ericaorloff.com.