some might tell you to just JUMP on in. I would advise against it if only for one reason...you'll stop almost immediately because you'll realize you aren't prepared. even if you know the story by heart, you need to do some research and mental organization.
what do i mean when i say research? well, that's different for each story. let's start with characters.
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names: first and last names are the best, even if you don't use them in the manuscript. they need to be real people, so give them real names. give them nicknames. making them real starts with them having a name.
backstories: each person needs to have a full background. like last names, they are super important, even if they aren't used in your story. it might seem like a lot of extra thinking, but trust me, it's worth it! the characters need to be real--i cannot stress it enough-- and real people have pasts. who knows, you might discover something about your character (a flaw/secret/past mistake) that you could implement into the story. something you might not have thought of without the exercise. i have actually made a lot of plot decisions during this part. a lot of really important ones.
at this point, i feel i need to give a disclaimer: i keep saying the words "it might seem redundant" and i'd love to stop. if you don't want to work--i mean really work--you should quit writing now (at least in a serious way). making 300+ pages out of nothing will be redundant and tedious and monotonous at times. working on anything like that will. so you should decide right now if you are willing for things to be hard. this isn't a paper. i skipped brainstorming when i was in high school...i didn't have time for it. and while it probably made my writing even more difficult, it wasn't my job/my passion. i could get away with it then, but not now. if you have decided to throw in the towel now, you can stop reading, but if you are ready to work long hours and write a past for every single character, major or minor, keep going. :)
backstories: (continued) when you write these backstories, don't get too consumed with what you're saying, how it's written, etc. just let it flow. you'll be amazed at what just "comes" naturally when you let yourself check out a little. don't be afraid to make them so real you feel like you know them personally. that's a good thing, because once you know them, you know how they think. and once you know how they think, you can make it easier on yourself when it's time for editing (that seems like a long way off at this point, but you'll be glad you looked ahead). for example, in my latest drafts, i changed my first 100-150 pages, totally starting the story from a different perspective. it would have been really difficult had i not known who my characters were when i had to scrap whole conversations--the ones that introduced those characters into the book. but because i knew who they were inside and out, i felt able to just make new ones. i wasn't so tied to the words i had written because i knew way more about the characters than i was revealing in the manuscript--just as you would know more about every person in your autobiography than you put into the chapters.
are you seeing the need for creating all these pasts and presents?
major vs. minor: ok so you have your characters and their backstories. you know them so well you look for them in your iphone contacts. you might find yourself in a bit of a pickle now: you like everyone so much that you want them to all be major characters. if you find this to happen, don't worry, it's normal--but you will have to make the final decisions. you're the good guy and the bad guy and the best part is, they won't be mad at you:)
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your characters want what's best for the story...and so should you! so if your favorite girl or boy are strategically placed as a character (such as ethan in Something Borrowed) who only shows up in clutch scenes, that's perfectly fine! as i've said in other posts, you don't have to pay these characters' salaries, so you can use them as sparingly or abundantly as you want. so make your decisions.
my agent, sarah, always tells me/asks me one question: is it moving the story forward? of course this can be asked for the plot, a chapter, a place, etc, but it can also be asked of characters. not everyone can be important or be a star. gosh, how many times have we all heard that? haha
so choose your characters, rate them, find their places in the story and make them work for the plot, earn their keep a little. there's no money in it for them, but they will be famous to all their readers--that's something right!?
ok i'm going to stop acting like a total geek now. thank you for humoring me. the point is you should decide the point of each character in your story. no one should be wasted. if you have an extremely complex character made up but he/she just doesn't make the story any better--he/she almost takes away from the point of the story you're trying to tell... take that character and put it aside in a notebook, backstory in tact. another story will that character.
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be consistent: when you make up someone and all their likes, dislikes, hair color, skin tone, height, eye color, last name, middle name, personality, street address, etc. etc. etc., it is really easy to mix them up. at the start of the story, you are thinking these people and details are so easy. i'll remember them. false. you won't. and i'll tell you why: when you start writing, you'll find out that as you go, the folks you crafted will grow with your story a little. you will find more about them, discover more and more details (some possibly conflicting with your original identity of them). you need to keep that index card or page(s) you dedicated to them handy. feel free to let your characters grow and shift and change into who you want/need them to be. but be careful to change it on your index card or page so that the next time you reference it, it will be correct. otherwise, you will find yourself going through hundreds of pages in your manuscript in search of one minor detail you changed three weeks ago. of course, you can find the detail, but you might save yourself some trouble and time if you keep organized.
i hope i didn't completely bore you to death. characters are fun and complex and completely and totally your people. it's like playing SIMS on paper/computer. you get to make it up. and change it. and change it again if you want.
good luck with your people. and remember. make them real.
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:)ahr
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