I'm back from vacation and anxious to be back at work! I can't wait for summer, too, to be outside (that time in Florida only made me more anxious for summer sun! It's still cold here...ugh!). In the meantime, here's some character development advice:

Let Your Characters Be Your Guides  
         

A great book on writing is Noah Lukeman's "The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life."In it, he discusses a technique of letting your characters and their traits be the kindling for starting your plot fire. It's something I think I've always done on a subconscious level, but doing it on a *conscious* level could really make for stronger fiction.

For instance, Lukeman says, if your character is a certain race, religion, age, or occupation, these things could affect your plot. If your character comes from a particular background, family, geographic area, these things could also affect the plot.

Certainly, we've all read of the classic fish out of water story -- the city boy transplanted to a cattle farm for a month. But take this a bit further, Lukeman advises. Lukeman has a whole host of questions just under the section on pets. Does your character have a pet? What kind? A dog? A hamster? What breed? If he doesn't have a pet, why? If he does have one, how does he treat it?

Once you've answered those questions Lukeman has in his book about your character, decide on how you can incorporate those details into the story and into the plot. You can take a tiny detail in a character's life and make it symbolic of much more in the novel or make it affect more of the plot.

For instance, Lukeman talks about how a simple character trait, like obesity, can create an entire plotline, like the one in "What's eating Gilbert Grape?" It may sound like a simple question to ask of a character in terms of appearance but in that movie, it became quite important in the overall story (I'm using movies as examples because they tend to be more universal than books).

Example: Say your character has a dog. He's only had it a week. He doesn't know how to handle it, has never had a dog before. Meanwhile, he's got a crime to solve. The dog becomes a hassle that he hasn't counted on. Hmm…sounds like a plot device. Can you see how that can influence the plot? Make it stronger? Change directions? Maybe even change and influence your character?

Or…create a movie like "Turner and Hooch?" That's a classic example of a small element -- a dog -- becoming a major plot element.

Internal character traits can also become important to the plot and influence your overall story. Who does your character hold up as a hero? Michael Jordan or Michael Jackson? The answer is very telling of who your character is. Other things like what they think of their parents, how they treat their friends, what motivates them to do good - or what motivates them to commit evil -- can also dramatically influence your plot.

The key to characters who influence plot is communication. Talk to your characters. Get to know them as well as your neighbors, your relatives. Find out how they tick and you'll see your book take on dimensions you never saw before. And in the end, your story will be richer, stronger and deeper than ever before.

Shirley