How I Work Up Character and Setting Profiles #MFRWauthor #BlogHop

Hello!

Welcome to Week 18 of the MFRW Author Blog's 52-Week Blog Challenge.

This week, our topic of discussion is: How I Work Up Character/Setting Profiles.

If I'm not mistaken, we've discussed this before, only it was worded differently.

And, if I'm not mistaken, this is asking me to discuss how I create or devise my characters and/or setting for each novel I write.

Before I begin, let me apologize to those of you who participate, because, for the past few weeks, I've been suffering far more than usual with seasonal allergies.

It affects a strip of my face and head that is crucial to writing and reading... the ears, the eyes, and the nose.

Plus, I cough a lot, which causes a sore throat.

Anyway, my eyes are crossed, blurred, double vision, and constantly itchy, making it nearly impossible to see, much less read.

Then I get headaches from trying to read or stare at a screen, so...

*Sigh, enough with the problems and on with the show.

SETTING

My settings for Contemporary Romance are always close to home, which just means they usually begin their life right here in Michigan, USA.

Not in my hometown, but in an area of the state that I enjoy visiting, think is spectacular or  has some amazing quality about it, or where I have always wondered what it might be like to live.

I thought about creating fictitious place names but then don't do that, and it worries me.

I probably SHOULD do that and save the hassle of perhaps being sued by some upset mayor or tourist council member?

I honestly don't know how that works, but it is probably wise to create fictitious names for these real places.

This is likely due to my need to write what I know, which just makes it harder to turn around and give them fake names.

?????

In an earlier work I am thinking about blowing the dust off of and revising, I have the heroine begin by leaving her Sold childhood home, dropping off the keys at the realtor's office, and then driving across country in her late father's older model Buick Riviera (a car I was SO in love with in the late 80s, early 90s).

She experiences car trouble about 3/4 of the way through her journey, where she meets the hero of the story.

It's a bit paranormal/fantasy (because I keep getting the two genres mixed up) but I probably mean fantasy in that there is magic, supernatural abilities, and some ghostly-like situations mixed into the romance.

Paranormal Romance (Wiki): "includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, blending together themes from the speculative fiction genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror."

Fantasy Romance (Writing-World.com): "Fantasy romances cover a wide ranges of "things that could never be," from elves and fairies and mythical creatures to adventures taking place in invented worlds."

I say Fantasy, because I view Paranormal to mean shape shifting, and none of my novels include this element.

Oddly, while I begin my stories here in Michigan, the characters don't necessary stay here for the duration.

I most typically have them go off on some journey, be it within the states or to another country, before they return (full circle) to their home base.

Sometimes.

With the 3 Brothers series I'm working on, the brothers are originally from England but with Russian roots, so for one or more of them to end up in England and stay is a possibility.

In Love Over Time, the two leads meet inside Seoul's Int'l Airport in S. Korea, though they don't really speak to one another until they are forced together at another airport in Alaska.

When their ordeal is resolved, I return the heroine to Michigan and leave the hero in Alaska, but then they both meet up again in Chicago, of all places, where the romance starts to form.

They remain in Michigan at the HEA.

Sing to Me is entirely in Michigan, but with two jaunts to Chicago and Europe, then the HEA occurs in Michigan.

I had to take a brief trip up to the Petoskey/Harbor Springs region of Michigan (Lake Michigan side) to 'remember' what I'd learned and loved as a child in order to make my 3 Brothers series read more believable.

It was a fun trip with my daughter, and I was surprised to see that much of what I'd recalled from my childhood remained intact, so to speak.

But, it also helped to get a better feel for the area, its climate, the flora and fauna aspects, the inland lakes (some of which are no longer there or so dried up as to be no more than swampy ponds, sad to report -- fracking, and bottled water pumping).

Like most of my stories, they begin with a spark and then evolve as I write it all down for posterity.

The editing process is where I gather my thoughts, rearrange things, omit others, and try to make it more cohesive and interesting.

CHARACTERS

The people I create takes far more thought, planning, and work-up.

I love using Pinterest and my writing room wall for this.

Scanning the web for sexy males, and women who somewhat resemble the heroine for my latest story, is fun but also time consuming, so I only spend a few hours at it.

Before there was internet, I used to buy Vogue and GQ magazines to search for and then rip-out & tape them to my bedroom wall, using that as inspiration for my writing.

Today, people do the same thing on Pinterest for outfits, houses, gardens, and decorating ideas, which is cool and something I used to do... only the old-fashioned way.

Anyway, when it comes to Character Profiling, I spend a lot of time on this before I even start writing my next novel.

There are a few guidelines you can search online that offer work-ups to answer questions about the male and female leads, your antagonist(s), etc.

I've found those to be useful even when I can't answer some (or most) of the questions asked.

Since personality means a lot to me, it has to be a big part of my fictional characters, so I want to know who they are before my readers do.

Shy, reliable, selfish, childish, angst-ridden, suffering in silence, oblivious, power-driven, power-hungry, mature for their age, clueless yet sweet, humorous, deadpan, charismatic, awkward...

It all matters to me, and I try hard to pick out at least 3 of those traits IF they can and do bounce off each other logically or help to create someone interesting yet in need of some help in order to grow.

I just think it makes more sense to write a fictional character according to logic.

If your female lead was abused as a child, it isn't likely that she is going to be gregarious, outgoing, and the life of the party, though I'm not saying it isn't possible -- even if I would have to assume drugs and/or alcohol are likely to be motivating factors.

Which is what I'd take into consideration if one of my characters was abused as a child... which just means I'd have to concentrate on how I intend to help the woman overcome or move beyond that aspect of her life WITHOUT the need of artificial means as a way to cope.

Next, I concentrate on their looks, and while I do tend to have a pretty good idea about that in my head, I still like the idea of scanning all the handsome and body-licious males on Pinterest to get an even better idea about what I want my main character(s) to look like (to the reader).

Also, it is vital to have something to look at (word or image) so that you aren't that author who says the hero has sky blue eyes at the start, then as you read on, the sky somehow turns emerald green or amber.

His hair starts out dishwater blond and ends up being jet black or like honey.

Embarrassing!

I use a whiteboard for that stuff, which I've affixed to the wall beside my computer.

It has the name of each character, what they look like, their age, their occupation, and their character traits listed so I NEVER forget!

To totally safeguard the information, I've begun creating Blog posts with the same information, which I store on my The Muse page.

I have no excuses, really.

Occupations tend to fall into place as I'm working up my character, which I find to be a little weird, but it always happens that way.

"He's definitely a sports figures" and "She's GOT to be artistic, like a photographer or interior designer"

It just happens, which means that sometimes I have to do a lot of research on a job description in order to make it read plausible and realistic.

Also, it happens that I know precisely what I want my lead to be professionally, which usually means it is a plot devise, and that ends up being what decides how they are going to look and act.

With one of my 3 Brothers, the female lead is giving me a really hard time, because she keeps telling me she works in a diner, and while I don't have a problem with that (I'm thinking of making it a pretty cool diner!) it isn't jiving with her character.

Like, she's far more than what she conveys to the world... which means mysterious, yes?

I don't mind that, either, but... what is this mystery supposed to reveal?

Where is she really from, what is her real history, and why is she 'hiding' as a line cook at a dive joint?

I'm being lazy, I know, but things like that tax my brain and make me want to walk away or start another story until the other one makes perfect sense.

My biggest fear in that regard is that the story will end up being cliche-ridden, predictable, and loaded with a lot of unrealistic nonsense, and I don't want to fall into that trap.

But, this is all part of the magic we writers experience in order to create.

All of these aspects need to be worked out, like a puzzle, so that the end product makes sense and tells a delightful story for the reader.

I lump these two aspects in with the Research aspect, though.

Since I don't write Historical Romance (yet), I have to find out if being neurotic AND friendly are logical, if someone who plays professional Rugby for a living can also be introverted or nihilistic.

It matters to me, so it has to matter to my characters.

Also, would a social worker also be a clothes horse or shoe fanatic?

Can a painter working the Craft Show circuit also be a snob or standoffish?

I need to know, so I research, and if it isn't working to my mind, I don't think it will work to the potential reader, so I change personality traits until everything falls into place.

I've also had it happen where I finally get the personality down, but then I have to rewrite the job and body type configurations because they no longer fit!

In Sing to Me, I actually had an interesting conversation with a cop.

I created a State Trooper as an aside character, and the story is set in an up-north, slightly rural setting.

He's friends with the heroine, he's interested in one of her friends, and while the heroine is driving a lone, two-lane highway, she stops to allow a mother duck and her ducklings to cross the road.

The trooper pulls up behind her, gets out, and asks what's going on before he sees what she's stopped for, and as they wait, they have a friendly conversation before saying good bye and going on their separate ways.

A second time, he arrives at her house with the Hero, who is worried that she may be snared in his stalkers latest trap, so the Trooper is there to get the whole story.

One of my Beta readers said it was ridiculous and would never happen in real life, so I 'phoned a cop' to find out.

Not only is it plausible, it happens frequently in small town or rural areas of the country.

Whew!

I've used Attorney twice now, and both times I had to do extensive research on a single aspect of their job in order for my story to sound believable.

Adoption and Stalking, and then Wrongful Death and Landlord/Tenant.

This time, it is Corporate Law, which is even more convoluted, but at least I am being specific in my searches, but a lot comes up that I have to read through in order to find out if what I want my character to say or do is correct.

Funny thing is, these, too, can have an affect on the way my character is portrayed... personality AND appearance-wise.

Like always, the key to my success is Discipline, and as you can tell, I don't possess a whole lot.

I try to stick to a concept or idea or character trait, but sometimes it just has to be changed, and I don't really mind as long as it doesn't change the whole outcome of the original plot.

As I've stated several times now, my main goal when writing Contemporary Romance is to create two fictional characters who are on the verge of falling in love, what they're like, and why they deserve each other, and how I intend to bring that about for them.

But, writing this way also helps me to gain more confidence about my upcoming Fantasy novels as well as taking a stab at Historical Romance.

It might not sound like fun to some people, but for me, these two aspects of writing happen to be what I enjoy most about the process.

Figuring out how to get what's inside my head onto paper so that it works.

It also constantly reminds me that I should have made a career as a Researcher and not in Education.

As always, I thank you kindly for stopping by and reading my post!

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