Lately I've been doing a lot of character drawings for my novel and decided I would try and help others with this process. After all, if you don't understand your characters your readers sure won't!
I like to start with the appearance before I even think of a name. Most of my characters are already brought on with the story plot, as most of my story plots are actually just extended versions of dreams I've had so I just adapt the character.
I'll use the main character of my current novel in progress as an example.
The best way to create the character is by writing down the key colours and features. You can draw these later if you want, which is what I love to do. In a way it's like meeting the character and it is through this post that I would like you to meet mine.
List things as you go along. Start from the very top and add as much detail as you can if you do not intend to draw the character:
Gender: Female
Age: 14
Height: 5' 2"
Hair: Dark brown; reaches shoulder blades; fringe comes to eyebrows; layered in a long bob style; straight.
Eyes: Emerald green; wide and innocent.
Nose: Small, bridge curves inwards, tip partially upturned.
Date of Birth: 21st May, 1998
Star sign: Gemini
You could also include things such as Blood Type, numerology of the name once you have created it and more.
When choosing the name it is important to know your character's personality. If you have the storyline this should be fairly easy. You can use online name dictionaries to help you if you want, as you can search for keywords - For this particular character I would search things such as: Strong, young and innocent.
Sometimes you will already have the name and you just have to think of the appearance. As this character derived from a dream the name was already embedded in my mind, and upon searching for the definition to see if it truly suited I found out something rather shocking. The name was perfect as it really fitted with the innocent definition. The colour white is renowned with purity and innocence, so it came as a shock that the name was literally white repeated three times over.
I have grown to love Bianca Lillian White over the last two years and have added so much of my own personality into her character. Her character serves to prove that looks can be deceiving, for - in her case - even the smallest of people can have the biggest of personalities.
Imogen
