Inspiration-What Inspires You? What Inspires the Creation of Characters? What Inspires the Characters?

When writing a novel, novella, or short-story, a question that is often asked is what inspires me to create my characters and what inspires my characters ?

Characters are the essence of a story, next to plot, and tension in scenes. In truth, your characters can make or break a story. If you are anything like me, you take inspiration wherever you can find it in order to find that perfect set of characters for your story.

Some people enjoy people watching for inspiration, while others may take a walk, run, or even a train ride in order to feel the rhythm of the world around them. For me, and perhaps many others, my characters are inspired and come alive through my dreams. What’s in a dream? Where do dreams come from? Those questions may or may not have answers. It seems for me dreams, that hodgepodge of information somehow blends together to give me an Ah-Ha moment that lingers into the waking hours and forms the framework of my characters. Dreams for me are a muse of sorts. As mentioned earlier, a muse or inspiration, can be anything that inspires.

As with writing, inspiration is universal. We can all be inspired by someone or something. You too can look for ways to harness inspiration whether writer or non writer. Listen to great music, play an instrument, carefully observe how people speak and move. Pray those big, inspiring prayers that only God can answer.

Now you may wonder how do characters find inspiration? Surely us mortals can find inspiration but characters are life like creations and like you, characters also take on a life of their own. As may writers can attest to, characters often imbue traits which only that particular character has. Characters have their own unique set of desires and motivations and like life, events in a story inspire characters to leap, weep, laugh, and love. Life impacts our daily interactions and it’s the same with characters. They dream, and breathe, and take on personas of their own.

Next time you read your favorite novel, or enjoy a delicious meal, reflect on what inspires you and you’ll be sure to notice characters, anywhere you look.

LNora

Where Fact Meets Fiction

Author & Blogger