Characters from an Author's perspective

So, I am a big-picture writer. I don't see the words I write, I see the scenes I create. And sometimes that comes with smells, but it always comes with sound, visuals and feelings.

I don't think of the scenes, I specifically retire for the afternoon or the night, depending on the time and the circumstances. I'll sit in a chair, or I'll be in bed and the conscious thought I have is: "What will I do in my story next?" (Personal note - I don't say story, I usually say 'to my characters'.)

When I do that, I get a strong sense of my characters as they take me through the last scene visually. Then they give me what the next scene is. If there's more than one character involved, they might even have a discussion on who's doing what or who's having what done to them.

I remember a number of years ago when I was writing my third book, I went to bed thinking - and this is exactly what I was thinking: "What will I do to Marek next?"

Next thing I hear is: "Shut up, you just shot me!"

My reaction was: "What? What?" I had not had any plans to shoot him! I lay there asking him exactly what happened and he took me through the scene where his bedroom is literally riddled with bullets - which I may need to look back at (Mythbusters, I hate you!)

Characters, for me, are living people. They tell me what they want to do and if it doesn't sound correct, we have a discussion and they either convince me it will work or we break it down and figure out a way to make it work.

Have you ever been cuddled by a character? After an especially horrendous scene (at the character's drive) I went to bed feeling wrung out and really out of sorts for me. It was like I had watched my best friend break in half and the character knew this and I had a warm presence at my back for a while that night - and no, it wasn't my cats!

Characters can be haughty, they can be wonderful, they can be evil, they can be damaged and we do it all to them.

I broke Marek when he was 20. I was trying to get a feel for his earlier years and I wrote this particular story that occurs five years before the first book (I shot him in the second one) about a heist (yes, he was a thief) and everything went well until his accomplice died before his eyes. He'd never experienced anything like that and I put him through emotional shock. He had all the symptoms - all 15 of them. I left him with a bottle of vodka for the weekend before I went back to review the scenes.

Yet I've also gone through amazing transformations with my characters. From a mediocre life to a life of amazing breakthroughs and personal achievements. Mind you, they went through a lot of heartache to get there, but they did achieve their goals in the end.

And that's what we want to give characters. A chance to fulfill their dreams. To be as much as they possibly can - whether they end up as evil characters, flawed heroes or charmed heroes. Even if they retire having lived out their entire lives the way they should.

It's up to us to embrace our characters in whatever form we can. To accept them for who they are and encourage them to become whatever they wish to become and achieve whatever goals they strive for.

As long as it moves their stories forward, of course!