My New Story!

Characters

Hey guys!

Happy Saturday!

In this chapter I want to talk a little bit about how I got inspiration for my characters in this story.

So when I began writing this book, I knew that I didn't want to have to keep track of billions of characters, (been there, done that with 14 and pregnant) and I didn't want to introduce any characters that didn't have some sort of impact within the story so I chose to keep my character number as minimal as possible. At this point I only have 7 total characters, and I'm completely fine with that. Normally I'd have 7 characters mentioned within the first 2 chapters, and it's just too much to deal with. This is a contemporary story. It doesn't need that many characters.

As for inspiration of my characters, I took from what I know. Now I'm not saying that I've been through everything that all 7 of my characters have been through, but they are all heavily influenced with my own experiences in some way. Each one of my characters has a little bit of my soul in them. I feel as though if my characters don't have some sort of aspect of myself in them, I won't ever connect with them and then I won't want to write their stories.

Another thing I have found to be really important to me especially while writing this book is that I look at my characters as real, not fictional, characters. I've already noticed that I'm taking them more seriously and in turn, i'm able to connect better with them and write them better.

I also write little backstories for each of these characters. When they were born, their favorite movie, favorite color, things they've been through that have changed them, what their job is, etc...

I know that stuff kinda sounds crazy but it really does work... if you don't do it, try it. You'll most likely see a difference... 

To kind of put this in perspective of how well it's worked for me, I wrote my 14 and pregnant characters for years, and I never wrote them backstories and gave them specific personalities...I just wrote them however I wanted to at that moment, and I was never attached to them. If someone told me I would have had to kill Lexi off in the next chapter I was writing, I wouldn't have hesitated to do it because I didn't care enough about her. I've written this story for barely over a week, and I'm already attached to these characters. I want my main character to succeed, I want my other characters to find happiness. If someone told me kill off one of your characters, I wouldn't be able to. 

That's the difference between writing a backstory for your characters and getting to know them as if they were real people, than not doing all of that...

So, take that as a little piece of advice and maybe it'll help you with your next story :)

If you have any suggestions of what you want me to write or have any questions let me know in the comments!

Fun fact of the day: I spent 2 hours searching for the perfect names for my 7 characters in this book! :P

Love you guys!<3

---Chandra