Before I begin today’s post, I’d like to thank my colleagues at TKZ for their good wishes, and especially James Scott Bell and Dale Ivan Smith, for covering for me during my absence.
TKZ is the greatest. It’s nice to back.
Now on to some interesting fictional characters…
“Characters are not created by writers. They pre-exist and have to be found.” — Elizabeth Bowen
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I’ve been spending a lot of my time lately in a few unfamiliar settings – at least they’re new territory to me – hospitals, rehab orgs, and skilled nursing facilities – as we deal with my husband’s recent medical problems.
Now you might think such places would be depressing. After all, they’re home to the wrinkled and veiny aged population with their wheelchairs and walkers, prescription drugs and hospital beds. However…
I found these places not to be depressing at all, but fascinating. Most of the folks I’ve met aren’t persistent bellyachers despite their disabilities. Instead, they are people who have lived full lives and are up to facing adversity in their last years.
Take Jeb (not his real name). We met the 92-year-old at dinner one night in a skilled nursing home. Jeb is down to earth and fun to talk to, although he needs his hearing aids to stay in the conversation.
When Jeb noticed my husband was wearing a navy hat, our talk turned toward the military and veterans. We discovered Jeb had retired as a Colonel from the U.S. Army after thirty years of service and had served three tours of duty in Vietnam as a green beret.
Jeb is a relatively small man, not the muscle-bound giant I would have expected of a green beret, but he was a well-respected leader. He’s even the subject of a chapter in the book The Wars of the Green Berets by Robin Moore.
But in addition to his stories about the war, it was Jeb’s demeanor that captivated me. Although he lived through some horrific events, he is genial and warm, and his conversation is peppered with exclamations like “Oh heavens, yes!” and “Now, whaddya know!”
I realized after we’d spent a few hours with Jeb that he was the perfect model for Jake, a character in my WIP. I had been developing the character of Jake, a Korean War veteran who had lost his hearing in the war, and I had a good sense of who Jake was, but I couldn’t quite picture the physical character in my mind. Then I met Jeb and realized he was the model I had been looking for.
Jeb wasn’t the only character I met. Madeline (also not her real name) was another one whose determination to get out of the nursing home was funny and inspiring. As a matter of fact, it was during a conversation with Madeline that I suggested we form a team of residents to create a short story – a murder mystery set in a nursing facility. We’re getting suggestions for plot elements and characters from all sides to our tentatively named story, “The MerriLax Conspiracy” where the murder victim is, of course, one of the nurses. Madeline will play a leading role.
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So TKZers: Where do you find characters for your stories? Are they based on people you know or always products of your imagination? Care to let the rest of us in on some of your experiences?
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“DiBianca’s plot is tightly woven, but her cast of quirky and lovable characters steal the spotlight” —BookLife Reviews, Editor’s Pick
Click the image to go to the Amazon book page.
I find them, like you, in my everyday comings and goings… my day-job is with the big safety net hospital (design and destruction – I just write like a doctor on TV), and it provides opportunities to meet all kinds of people from floor techs to the CEO, patients and family members in the ED or just lost in (and stressed out by), the myriad corridors leading to places they really don’t want to be or wind up.
In addition, being downtown, adjacent to the state university and the central business district, I some folks pretty regularly on the streets.
I learned to “people watch” (and pay attention), as an airline brat waiting to see if we’d get on the standby seats to wherever.
I also pay attention to what I read – and as a songwriter, find things that inspire starts (and eventually finishes) – like your description of Jeb this morning:
Most folks, it seemed, didn’t give a damn,
That he’d served three tours in Viet Nam,
As a Green Beret…
(Don’t know if this abused or confused the muse, but I’ll let you know how it turns out – eventually…)
Good morning, George!
You’re in a perfect place to find characters. Talking to folks can cause a spark that lights the fire – like your lyrics. I’d like to hear how that song turns out.
Have a good week.
Welcome back, Kay!
I usually invent a character as the need comes along, and almost always start with a visual impression. I’ll see the character in my mind, but then tweak that picture so as to avoid stereotypes.
On occasion I’ve had inspiration from real life. One of my favorite characters is the basketball-playing nun from my Ty Buchanan series. She was modeled after a dear friend of mine, a writer who was also on a championship basketball team in high school.
Thanks, Jim. It’s nice to be back in the Zone.
I loved the basketball-playing nun in your Ty series. She came across as very authentic.
For me it is a mix of people I know and imagination. When you’re creating characters it’s like you’re putting together a recipe for the character you need. Maybe I’m forgetting an example but I can’t think of a time when a real person became the full model for a character in my fiction, but it’s common to take different aspects of different people to form the characters I need. And certainly, like your example of a Vietnam war veteran, they are critical in forming characters who bring about the justice we are looking for in mysteries/thrillers/suspense, etc.
Life and fiction would be really dull if we humans were just a bunch of robots. Hopefully we’ll remember that before we get assimilated by technology.
Good morning, Brenda.
“…it’s like you’re putting together a recipe for the character you need. ” Exactly. Combining those different nuances from various people we know can create believable characters.
Have a great week.
It’s hard going through medical issues with a loved one. My husband had an accident when we were 1,000 miles from home, and I became familiar with Level 1 trauma centers, rehabilitation hospitals, and the physical and mental effects of his injuries. I empathize with your journey.
As for characters, I try not to use anyone I know, so as not to flatter ones I don’t like or offend the ones I do. My characters seem to pop into my head intact along with their stories.
Hi Becky.
Having a medical crisis 1000 miles from home must be frightening. Hope everything turned out well in the end.
You’re lucky that your characters show up fully formed. I sometimes use traits from people I know to help form a character, but only for the positive characters. I’ve never invented a villain based on someone I know.
Welcome back, Kay! So glad to see your fantastic post here today.
My characters can be inspired by real people, like your terrific Korean war vet being inspired by an amazing sounding former green beret. They can also be cast by my subconscious, usually invented for a reason to figure in the plot, perhaps as an aide to the hero, a distraction, or an obstacle.
Thinking of you and your family.
Good morning, Dale, and thank you again for covering for me in my absence.
It’s such fun, isn’t it, to create a new human being with just the looks and characteristics you want.
Have a great week.
Welcome back! Characters are everywhere. When we go to an event or anyplace we’re meeting new people, the Hubster always says, “Be careful what you say. She’s a writer.” Most of my characters are composites. Sometimes it’s a visual, sometimes it’s a mannerism, sometimes it’s the way they speak or a phrase they use. But they’re out there, just waiting to be discovered.
Thank you, Terry. It’s good to be back.
I love your husband’s warning to new acquaintances.
“But they’re out there, just waiting to be discovered.” So many characters – so little time! 🙂
Welcome back, Kay! We’ve missed you! Wishing your husband continued good progress.
I haven’t heard “bellyacher” in decades. My father used to say that. Thanks for the memory.
Wonderful story about the Green Beret. I too have met fascinating seniors in similar environments that have centuries of experience and wisdom. My book Flight to Forever was inspired by a Korean war vet who wasn’t allowed to see his wife of 60+years isolated in memory care during Covid. In the story, he became a still-feisty Vietnam veteran who conducts a guerilla-type mission to bust her out so they can go on the lam.
Most of my characters are amalgamations of real people but they usually take on a life of their own in the story. Sometimes they even get the bit in their teeth and run away in directions I never planned or expected. That’s the subconscious at work.
Your post leads into my interview tomorrow with an author on an exciting new journey at age 81.
Can’t wait to read “The Merrilax Conspiracy”! Sounds like a hoot!
Good morning, Debbie.
Ha! There’s a restaurant around here named Belly Acres. Haven’t eaten there, but we need to give it a try.
I enjoyed reading Flight to Forever. It’s a great example of the kind of determination and spirit I’ve noticed in many of the older folks I meet.
I’ve started Merrilax. I hope to find the time to finish it.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s post.
I was honored to be written into an Elaine Viets book. My oldest is in a different book. The things I saw as a pizza driver made its way into a story. Oldest child is a graduate of Transylvania University. “Transy” really does have a professor in a crypt under the administration building. Something that made its way into a Viets book.
Elaine, I don’t think I told you. The campus rapist who meets a grisly end on your pages is currently on the decade plan in Ohio. Seems his alibi had limits.
Hi Alan. Congratulations. It’s a great honor to be used as a model in someone’s book. (Assuming it’s one of the good guys. 🙂 )
I imagine you have quite a few stories to tell from your pizza delivery days. Have you thought of compiling them into a book?
Have a great week.
Welcome back, Kay!
Love the story of Jeb. I volunteered at two side-by-side nursing homes in my early-to-mid teens. My only surviving grandparent died when I was four, so I was searching for a substitute “elder.” The patrons loved me, a little peanut of a girl who longed to listen to their stories. They had THE BEST stories.
What I didn’t foresee was their deaths. One by one, I lost all my favorites, and each time it felt like losing another family member. Still, I continued with my daily visits for years. I couldn’t stop, knowing they needed me. Most, if not all, had been dumped there and forgotten by their children and grandchildren. I filled that void for them, just as they filled mine.
Did I ever base a characters on them? Not yet. Which is strange because I usually do use real people for inspiration. I even created two characters based on my dogs—who they’d be if they were humans.
Thanks for the welcome, Sue. It’s nice to be back.
What a wonderful service you provided those people in nursing homes! Listening to their stories was probably one of the best therapies they got.
How funny that you based characters on your dogs! That’s a good subject for a TKZ post. 🙂
have a great week.
Welcome back, Kay! I’ve missed you, and y’all are in my thoughts and prayers.
It’s true that you meet characters everywhere. I have several friends in nursing homes, and your post reminded me of two of them who really did escape…they were headed to the airport for a cruise…walking. That will definitely end up in a story one day.
Thanks for the welcome, Pat, and for your thoughts and prayers. Frank is back home now, on a long journey to recovery. Much to be grateful for and a few new challenges to work on.
We used to joke with the nursing home residents about “breaking out.” Can’t wait to read the account of your friends who really did it. One of our book club picks last year was The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.
Funny, I never gave much thought to where my characters came from. When they were needed, they volunteered. Then I needed to see what they were like so they would make sense to a reader, and they proceeded to grow. Then they became real, largely on their own.
Hi Marshall. It’s interesting that we all find our characters in different ways. I love “When they were needed, they volunteered.” Good characters, those.
Have a good week.
My mom recently had to go into a nursing home some before her passing. But we kept visiting her and her couriousity, read nosiness, made it a special time she and we made many friends with staff and residents. It was a rough but special time. There are some amazing people in the places. It’s sad we can’t see them in third strength.
We found the same thing, Tim. It has been a blessing to spend time with people who were raised in a different era. We have much to learn from them, and the fact that we will only have them for a short time makes it all the more precious.
Thanks for stopping in and commenting.
Hi Kay. Sounds like you met some interesting people!
I felt like I didn’t quite have a handle on my main character in my current WIP, so I asked myself if the book was made into a movie, which actor would I cast? The answer came pretty easily, I found a photo of the actor that best fit my character (expression, hairstyle, makeup) and stuck it next to the computer monitor. It’s really helped bring my character to life.
All the best.
Hi Linda.
Having a photo of an actor that can serve as the character is a great idea. Good luck with the book!
H
Having a checkered past and a misspent youth has always helped me create many singular characters for my writing.