• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Tara Johnson

sharing stories through writing, speaking and singing

TwitterLinkedInFacebookYoutubetara@tarajohnsonstories.com
  • About Tara
  • Blog
  • Books
    • All Through the Night
    • Where Dandelions Bloom
    • Engraved on the Heart
    • Hollow Victory
  • Speaking
  • Singing
    • Songwriting and Everything In Between
  • Writing
    • Writing Fiction
  • Gallery

Where I Get My Characters: Quirks, Stalking and More

January 12, 2015 By Tara Johnson Leave a Comment

Barney Fife. Scarlett O’Hara. Inigo Montoya. Huckleberry Finn. Hannibal Lecter. Atticus Finch. Sherlock Holmes. Elphaba. Luke Skywalker. All great characters with vibrant and memorable personalities. All a complex mix of flaws, quirks, dreams and failures.

Here’s the thing about finding characters…predictable characters are dull characters. I think most would agree that the above characters are all interesting, memorable and larger-than-life.

So what can you do when your characters seem lifeless and limp?

1. Find a trait from someone you know as a jumping-off point.

Mark Twain based his character Huckleberry Finn almost precisely on his childhood buddy Tom Blankenship.

“In Huckleberry Finn I have drawn Tom Blankenship exactly as he was. He was ignorant, unwashed, insufficiently fed; but he had as good a heart as ever any boy had. His liberties were totally unrestricted. He was the only really independent person—boy or man—in the community, and by consequence he was tranquilly and continuously happy and envied by the rest of us.”(from Autobiography of Mark Twain)

In my last book, Hope’s Tender Touch, I was struggling to identify the personality of my heroine Faith Hathaway…that is, until I realized I have a family member whose personality is exactly like the one I visualized for Faith. She’s accident prone, a worrier with a sharp sense of humor yet is completely lovable. Whenever I faced a roadblock on how my character should react, I visualized my beloved family member and Faith’s colorful personality came to life.

2. Core wound.

Another option is to form a character around a core wound. What is the internal struggle you picture your character will have? Perhaps she is a people-pleaser because she’s longing for acceptance. Perhaps he’s a person who’s a master deceiver, all in an attempt to hide his alcoholism. Perhaps your character learned to cope with being bullied by having an outrageous sense of humor. Whatever the core wound is, identify it, research that issue and then set up circumstances against your character that conflict with his or her wound.

3. Watch people. Be actively observant.

This is more than just a mild curiosity about people. Watch. Learn. Ask yourself why people do the things they do. Observe and then ask the question, “What if?” What if the cashier at the store can’t look customers in the eye because of a past abuse? What if the old lady you see shoplifting is doing so because she longs for an odd form of excitement in her life? Pay attention to speech, mannerisms, appearance and attitudes.

4. Find a quirk.

There is nothing more memorable than a unique quirk. Willie Robertson claims his Grandmother had mental health issues and, for a time, painted anything that was square in her house the color red. Some people arrange their paper money by serial number order. Some are chronic nail biters. Others insist the food on their plate cannot touch or deal daily with odd phobias or refuse to run a vacuum.

Make a list of character quirks…you’ll be surprised how the ideas start flowing. But there is a disclaimer here: give your character a quirk but know why they have this quirk. Is it a result of something traumatic from their past? Do they just look at the world in a different way? Do they love to shock people? Whatever the reason behind their quirk, explore it and weave it into the plot.

For more ideas I highly recommend Creating Characters: How to Build Story People  by Dwight V. Swain. Before long, your story will be brimming with smirking Rhett Butlers, swarthy Jack Sparrows and optimistic Anne Shirleys in no time.

Filed Under: Blog, Writing Fiction Tagged With: The craft of writing fiction, Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Fiction, Writing Great Characters

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

sidebar

Blog Sidebar

Get to know Tara . . .

Writing

Writing

Speaking

Speaking

Singing

Singing

Free gift from Tara!

Join Tara’s email community and you’ll receive a FREE short story, In the Shadow of His Wings.


Subscribe to our mailing list



FREE Book Club Kit


Click HERE to download your FREE book club kit for All Through the Night.

Where Dandelions Bloom

Where Dandelions Bloom 360X570

Engraved on the Heart
Click to view purchasing options for Engraved on the Heart.

Latest Blog Posts

A Tale of Three Dogs: What it Means to Walk with God

  • What’s up with the Christian Cliches?
  • Cracked Pots
  • What I Learned in the Darkness
  • Shattering the Fairytale: When Perfect Isn’t Enough

Click to read more . . .

Reader Reviews:

Robin Lee Hatcher

Engraved on the Heart by Tara Johnson

“Tara Johnson delivers a stirring tale of danger and hope.” Read more “Robin Lee Hatcher”

RITA and Christy Award winner

Sarah Sundin

Engraved on the Heart by Tara Johnson

“Engraved on the Heart brings Savannah, Georgia, during the Civil War to life.” Read more “Sarah Sundin”

Award-winning Author

Laura Frantz

Engraved on the Heart by Tara Johnson

“Johnson weaves a tale of selflessness, and service . . .” Read more “Laura Frantz”

Author

Jocelyn Green

Engraved on the Heart by Tara Johnson

“Lovers of Civil War fiction will rejoice to add Engraved on the Heart to their collections.” Read more “Jocelyn Green”

Award-winning Author

FREE Blog Updates!

Enter your email address:

Meet Tara

Tara JohnsonTara Johnson is a writer, singer, speaker and passionate lover of stories. Tara uses fiction, nonfiction, song and laughter to share her testimony of how God led her into freedom after spending years living shackled to the expectations of others. She lives in central Arkansas with her husband and children.

Trailer for Engraved on the Heart

Copyright © 2021 Tara Johnson. All Rights Reserved. | Contact

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Sitemap | Disclaimer | Contact