One question I get from time to time is where does inspiration for stories and characters come from?
Everywhere is the only possible answer to this question. Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere and I am fond of saying every person I meet is a character and every situation a plot. In fact, it is rare when a person or situation does not suggest something to write about. It may not be particularly good, or it might be something that I write on slip of paper so I don’t forget it or it might flee my mind as quickly as it came. Now, I can’t write everything that comes to mind, but there is always a plot to be found. I presume this happens to every writer. It’s what we do: turn the human experience over and examine it before sitting down and saying what we feel needs to be said.
Characters are interesting people. Some are very flexible, showing up in multiple stories. A good example is Benjamin, the lead in The Benjamin Chronicles, a collection of short stories about his sexual exploits. Physically, Benjamin is based on a man I saw in the Ontario, California airport years ago, but otherwise, he is a figment of my imagination.
Other characters are less flexible, demanding inclusion in only one story. Nicole and Daniella, the female leads from the One Plus One Equals Three short story currently running on Short Story Saturday, are examples of this.
Unlike Benjamin, Nicole and Daniella are based on real people and they so moved me so much as characters I didn’t even change their names. They work in a bank and I saw them from time to time there. It took a while, and I am not entirely sure what sparked the idea of them going out with the same guy, but one day there the idea was and they were the only characters who could play these roles.
What all three characters have in common is there was no one else who could have taken their place; they were the only characters who could have played the roles I gave them.
Now Brady, the one who asks both Nicole and Daniella on the same date, was developed on the fly. I needed a male lead, of course, but no one I knew was asserting himself. I had his details, like him working an armored truck, ready to go, but as for a name and a physical description, nothing was saying “use me!”. This is hardly a conundrum, however. It could be if you let it and there was a time when I would have let it. But one of the things I’ve learned over the years is there few situations that cannot be turned to advantage and I’ve learned to turn the forming of a character into exactly that: an advantage, an opportunity to create someone memorable from scratch. A name, an appearance and some traits and you are in business. Now, as the story progresses you may find you want to change some of these original characteristics. That’s OK. It merely means your character is developing, turning into exactly what she was meant to become.
That’s all for now. Thank you for reading.
xoxoxo
K2