But Ralf, I don’t know how to make a character.

Ah but you do, because you know a lot of characters. We see them everyday, we interact with them and we know them very well. For you see the inspiration is all around you in the people that you know and even in yourself.

I know, I know you’re like What chu talking about Ralf?!?!

So let me esplain… no too much let me sum up.

Biff is a mailman or mail person if you wish. He is a happy guy who seems to love to do his job. He helps everyone in need and loves to talk to people to see how they are and how their day is going. He has an excellent voice and most people tell him he could have been in radio. When they do he smiles blushes and says thank you.

What we have here is a character. They are your everyday person you meet when your walking down the street. Making a character is this simple, now you can either take them the way they are and put them in your story or you can tweek them. Ok let’s tweek Biff the Mailman some so you can see

Biff is a galactic officer in her majesties services. When the populace see him they relax cause they know he will protect them. Most times he can deescalate a situation just by talking but he’s not afraid to get physical if he needs to solve a problem.

Or how about

Biff is a criminal but no one knows because he talks smooth is very charming and tells you what you want to hear. If it is in his benefit he will help you out to get what he wants. With him it’s all about the con and even when he betrays you he leaves you thinking he’s still a good guy.

Or we keep him the same and

All Biff ever wanted to be was a mailman. He loves to deliver the mail and talk to people. His acts of kindness and demeanor have endeared him to everyone that meets him.

Now we can tell a story about how his kindness has affected the people around him. Have him disappear and people trying to figure out what happened to him. Have him find out how much of a difference he has made in everyone’s life. So many things we can do with this one character and so many more that we know.

The Cashier at the local coffee shop, that teacher from grade school that means so much to us, a parent that we admire or despise, that bum who has wisdom and a smile for you every morning.

As you guys know I tend to get friends to read these little bits I write. So I can make sure they make sense and they flow the right way. Cadma had this to add as examples of what I am saying. They were great so I figured I would share.

Cadma

A dull drum pulses behind my eyes like a bounding heartbeat; creating a pressure that should make any person crumble. A cavern of fog erupt from behind the hot machinery. The cafe cat’s tail curls like smoke in sun bathing in the window. The sound of children’s laughter peals, distant and bending any listener around the corner.

All this from a conversation we had on how bad my sinuses were that day. But proves my point on both character and writing in general it comes from everywhere.

My gaze swims, heavy with ache, but it catches the barista in soft defiance. Body language defining an argument with words matching their frustrations. Her short pixie green hair shimmers silently in an sos pattern as she gathers her leather bag to storm out of the cafe. Her brown eyes filled with rage and eyebrows of defeat knowing she’s not appreciated at her job. I wonder what her dreams are? Perhaps her dreams are to be an artist….

And here she jumps into the Barista and defines her as a character. These are also thoughts we have when we see people. Thoughts broken down into these characters that we create and make. So somewhere in there is who they were and now they are who we have made into a character.

From here you can imagine or use what you know of people to make up characters.

As the reader read what was written they felt angry. Thinking it couldn’t be that simple to make up a character. They were already thinking of how they would write in the comments how stupid they thought it all was.

I’ve tried writing and I just sit there in front of the paper nothing coming out.

They said out loud to no one in particular.

The more they let what Ralf was writing sink in the angrier they got.

I hate this guy and his gate keeping. All I want is to know what the secret is to writing.

Again he burst into talking, the person next to him on the train looking over at him worried he might have to move away from the crazy person. Yet he was so upset he didn’t even notice. He was too busy writing his soliloquy of a comment to tell this Ralf guy exactly what he thought. Angrily typing away on his phone as if Ralf would hear it as he read the comment.

Funny enough these are all things I’ve been told by people who have asked me advice on writing. But, as simple as that we can write a character a story and so much more. We write what we know and what we know is the people around us. So we can make them into characters or make ourselves into characters.

Believe me the best therapy in the world is writing a story and realizing just how much of us are in our characters.