In The Magic Of Writing We Trust :) - Tumblr Posts

Personae

@the-wip-project Day 11

How do you create your characters? Do you make a profile of them? Do you know your character before you start writing the story?

I've tried several tools, from the basic bullet list of characteristics on the first loose paper I could lay my hand on, to an intricate mind map of the story cast with pictures, places, dates, etc.

Since a lot of the creative process goes through an insanely vast amount of daydreaming time, my characters are quite happy with budding and growing in my imagination. Their features existing already, only some details become more precise over time. But overall, I like to respect canon in that regard.

But it's the writing that really gives them the consistency I'd like their personalities to have. And this is when the magic happens because I'd be at a loss to say with precision what they're like before I actually start writing. As the letters, words and sentences flow on the blank document, their profiles take shape; the traits which are meant to be set, revealing de facto those that are going to follow the arc of development and evolve along with the plot.