The Fart Of Fiction, No. 10

There is "buddy" blown away by the girl in the red dress. Buddy is infatuated with her, but the lady in red thinks he stinks. How do you create and develop characters in your story? How do you write and keep a day job and married life? So where do you begin?

First of all, lose your day job. Then, start with a character. Write a character analysis. Jot down three things about the character and ask questions. What do they want? What keeps them from getting what they want? What are they most afraid of? Build in a flaw. What about the supporting characters? What makes them tick? How do they think they’re going to get it? Make them react.

The character starts out wanting to win the contest. A character that wants something, but can’t have it, makes him or her hungry; and it makes it hard. Keep the stakes high, and it's got to be big. Maybe fear of falling. Make the characters consistent in something about them, like how they’re acting. Make characters different by having different wants. Create conflict and tension.

Rely on the memory of real people from life and put them on the page. Go shopping for characters.