Building a Character - Lynn Hubbard - Biggest 'Ah-Ha!' Moments in Writing

Creating a character is the most important part of writing. You were not thrust out into the world alone and neither are your characters. They need a comprehensive believable background. Even if you do not include it in the book, you need to at least think about it. 

Every character has a mother, father, siblings, a background, where they came from. How they interact with others, was it a happy childhood? All of these play a role in developing not only your character, but your book as well. And once you have developed how a character thinks and feels don’t change it. 

I had to create a bit part in Run into the Wind. It was an army Captain whose entire presence maybe covered eight pages. One of my readers was so intrigued by him, she requested I write a sequel based on his character; Which I still may, one day. 

Even the bad guys need some attention, I truly believe that we are not born evil, we become evil. And much of that has to do with circumstance, and everyone reacts differently to every situation. 

The story has to be real. My characters, sweat, bleed and piss. When I write, I envision my characters feelings and reactions to each situation I put them in. Each of my characters is a living breathing person. Life is hard sometimes, and in one of my books a characters dies unexpectedly. I cried when I wrote it, and my readers cry and curse me when they experience the loss. For someone to connect with even a B character so closely is a huge compliment. And each character left behind dealt with the death differently. As we all do. 

You are not just creating a character, you are imparting a bit of your soul into each one. No matter how small the part, that little boy sitting in the dirt playing with rocks as your lead character walks by, has his own story to tell. His shoulders maybe hunched from the beating he gets at home, and the street is a respite for him. 

You don’t just write, you create a world and invite the reader inside. Would you like to visit that world? Or live there?

 



Lynn Hubbard is a Historical Fiction author. She has been writing for over ten years and has five titles. Three of which are westerns. Lynn is fascinated by the Old West and her books portray when life was simpler. When, people worked hard, and sweated to make an honest living. And when justice wasn't always blind.



You can find out more Lynn here, or Books At Amazon, Books at Barnes & Noble, Books at Audible.