My Journal

Characteristics of a Character

When moving through various stages of character development, always be sure there’s contiguity.  I’ve never devised a character yet that ends up the way I originally planned them.  Sometimes they don’t even stay the same in the transition from my mind to the page; often I’ll imagine them in my mind one way, and they’ll come out entirely different.  Plot and characters depend upon each other; plots grow and change to accommodate characters and the characters will evolve and change to help the plot.  Thus, if your character is required to talk to a lot of people and do it well, it wouldn’t make much sense for her to be shy.  If in the first draft you describe her as shy and then in later drafts have her be very socially comfortable, it’s going to seem silly to the reader, and make any previous descriptions contradictory.  Remember, actions speak louder than words.  Change and develop the character as the story grows.  This may mean old drafts of a chapter have to be trashed or completely redone, or that the plot or even the ending redirected, but don’t try to fight it; if you let them, your character will naturally become exactly who they need to be, and the best version they can.