Round Robin: The importance of researching characters...

Thank you so much for including me in your 'round robin' this month to talk about June's topic: How do you go about developing your characters for a story? How much time do you spend or does it just happen in the writing process? What inspires it?

I write romance, which is a character-driven genre. For me, the most important in a romance novel is the characters, the conflict and the chemistry between them. If readers care about your heroine and fall in love with your hero (or vice-versa!), then they'll want to turn the pages to find out what happens to them, and how they overcome challenges to find happiness together. If your characters aren't believable or endearing enough, then you run the risk of losing your reader, no matter how exciting your plot, that's why it is so important to spend some time thinking about the characters and developing their personality, their background, and motivations.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

What makes an endearing heroine? You may be tempted to turn her into the kind of woman who trips over every five minutes, keeps blurting out silly comments or believes every lie people tell her. Or into a weak, self-pitying one you want to shake when she gets taken advantage of again. Or again portray her as a harsh, uncaring, and ambitious woman who will trample all over others to get at what she wants. Characters, like people, are complex. It's all right for a heroine to be distracted or have a few silly moments, or to appear cold and unfeeling at times, as long as her she has good reasons to be like that.

Her moods, and the way she reacts to events are down to her background and the past experiences which shaped her personality, as is her ultimate goal, which will become apparent as the story unfolds.

What about the hero? In a romance novel, heroes have to be confident and successful, although that doesn't necessarily mean rich - I personally have had enough of billionaires! I mean, how many of them are there around? He too has a story, a secret buried deep in his past which made him what he is today. He doesn't have to handsome, but he needs to have a strong presence. He must be someone the heroine, and the reader of course, can fall in love with. You don't have to describe him in detail - the reader needs to form their own impression of him, by seeing how he moves, listening to his voice, and feeling his anger or his ambition.

I remember once attending a romance writing workshop and the tutor saying in a very dismissing way that no reader could possibly dream about a man dressed in a cardigan holding the heroine's hand whilst gazing at the stars. Really? Since then (that was a few years ago), cardigans have become quite fashionable for young hipster men, and what's wrong with holding hands whilst looking at a summer night sky?

Although I am by nature what is called a 'pantser', I always have a good idea about what happened in my characters' life to shape their personality and make them what they are, and that involves carrying out some basic research.

One of the books I regularly re-read is 'On Writing Romance' by the brilliant Leigh Michaels. She advises writers to compile lists about their hero and heroine. For example, what is their worst nightmare or what would their dream holiday be? What are their most important material possessions, why, or what would they save if they could only rescue one thing from a fire? (actually that reminds me of one of my favourite films - Leap Year). What would they like to change about themselves - and the world? What are their favourite foods and drinks? What do they like to wear, not to wear? What job do they have, or what is their ideal job? And the list goes on.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Often, the basic research into my characters starts with finding the perfect name. I look through lists of names from different geographical areas over different periods until I find the name that clicks. The surnames too have to be consistent with my characters' personality. I will confess here that one of my secret resources for finding surnames are maps, especially maps of Dorset and Somerset, where hamlets and villages often have unusual and often poetic names, perfect for my characters' surname. I love maps!

I realised recently that many of my villains had surnames starting with 'M' - Malleval, Mortemer, Morven, Melville (all name places, by the way!) - although I'm not sure what that means...I once received a critical review of my very first historical romance, Angel Heart, from a reader who complained that my protagonists' name were 'too French', 'too complicated' and too 'old-fashioned'! Well, the characters were French, and the story was set in the early nineteenth century. I couldn't call them Sharon, Mike or Bailey, could I? Yet I supposed the reader had a point. If you can't pronounce your hero or heroine's name, or if they sound too exotic, you might be put off...

Finding names is all very well, but what about the setting of the story, or your characters' living space? Unfortunately it's not always possible to visit the setting of the story, walk through an old cottage or a manor house, and get that 'first-hand' experience of the place.

Lovely fountain in Provence

My hometown Lyon, France

I can say that out of all the settings for my novels and short stories, the only ones I have personal experience of was Provence where I used to holiday as a child, and where I have returned since with my children, and Lyon where I am from originally.

I therefore find the internet invaluable. I love Google Earth, real estate websites, YouTube clips of towns or tourist sites, and television programmes I can watch at leisure on my laptop. I also listen to music from the area where my story is set to get in the mood. While writing my historical romance The Lion's Embrace I listened to Tuareg and Algerian music, and it was wonderful.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

And when writing my Dancing for the Devil Trilogy, which is set in Scotland, I had Scottish folk songs on all the time. In fact, that's how I found the titles of the three short books that form the trilogy: The Dream Catcher, Blue Bonnets and Sword Dance, which are titles of traditional Highland dances.  

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

The first purchases I make when I start a new novel are always a road map and a good travel guide of the area where the story is set. I love maps...did I mention that already?

To conclude, I can say that I find research essential, useful and incredibly enjoyable - too enjoyable at times. I often find anecdotes which send me to a totally different direction than the one I had planned originally. I am also aware of my limitations and the last thing I want is to get some important detail so wrong that I will lose all credibility with readers.

I hope you enjoyed reading my post. Please click on the links below to visit the blogs taking part in the Round Robin!

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Margaret Fieland http://margaretfieland.wordpress.com
A.J. Maguire http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Victoria Chatham http://victoriachatham.blogspot.ca
Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/
Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/
Rachael Kosinski http://rachaelkosinski.weebly.com/
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Dr. Bob Rich http://wp.me/p3Xihq-YV
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com