This is the first in a series about character development for characters in Young Adult Contemporary Fiction. In the series, we'll talk about their drive/motivators, goals, research, and more. These are simply my tips and tricks of the trade. Every writer has a different process, and I want to learn about yours!
Today, we'll talk about my first step in getting to know my characters. --- On Instagram (stephanielogue_writes), I’ve been talking about my characters in The Right Kind of Light and my current WIP a lot. A lot. So much, in fact, that I’ve had people commenting and asking questions about Ginny, Lou, Greta, and Annabella. The questions have all been fabulous (I feel so famous!), but the most thought-provoking question for me, as the author of these four women, is: how did I develop them? Friends and fellow writers: I named them first. Ginny came to me in a hazy idea at an Ed Sheeran concert in 2015. Its the last summer before college, my subconscious said. Missing her best friend. Fell in love with best friend’s ex. Works at a place like Storybook Land. Got it. Got it. Got it. Brett drove us home after I finished fangirling over Ed, and I grabbed the first notebook I found and wrote down as much as I could remember from whatever I saw during “Photograph”. Somehow, even in that moment, Ginny’s name was Ginny. My paternal grandmother’s name was Virginia, and I always knew that I wanted to name either a daughter or a character Ginny. That one was easy. The remaining three girls were…(mostly) easy too. Here’s how Lou, Greta, and Annabella came to be: Lou: As Ginny’s ex best friend, I knew they were polar opposites. The kind of people who would push each other to be their best, and maybe bring out each other’s worst when they weren’t cohesive anymore. She needed a harder name. Something with implied edge. I’m a sucker for a.) old school names and b.) names that belong in a traditional sense to a man or a woman. Louise = Lou. Bad ass, strong, take-no-shit lady. Greta: I knew she was sweet as pie and desperate to find her first love, but with a spine of steel. “Pearl of a girl” is a phrase that I heard in a song lyric a gazillion years ago. I don’t remember what song (and now its going to haunt me all night.) Turned out Greta means “pearl”. Its ALSO an old name. (Double check in the pro column: Greta is a name for a supporting character in a series of stories I wrote in junior high and high school. A tip of the hat to my…self, I guess.) Annabella: AB for short, but only her best friend Ed calls her that. Annabella is a Latina and comes from a traditional Catholic family, so I wanted something respectful but fitting that I could see her parents perhaps choosing. The name means “grace” which is a larger plot point in my WIP. Here’s the thing about characters though: They’re gonna tell you what’s actually up about everything, including their names. Lou, for instance. She’s the most delicate little sunflower I’ve ever encountered in my life, and I have a golden retriever that’s afraid of laundry baskets, empty storm sewers, and open refrigerator doors. When I was writing The Right Kind of Light, I didn’t realize how her motivators would evolve past Ginny. And Annabella: this woman has had two name changes, her direction changed more times than I can recall, stripped of her nickname only to get it back, and her girlfriend’s name changed too – when I realized their names rhymed and that was just too weird in all the “ella”. My only goal for all these four women is that I continue to channel honesty and sincerity into their hearts. Girls aren’t rainbows and butterflies. We’re eye rolls and loud voices and periods. We drink too much alcohol and coffee and we’re vain and go to sleep with toothpaste on zits. We say stupid shit to our best friends, we cheat on our boyfriends, and we hook up in backseats at parties by lakes. But we’re heart, and we’re hope, and I will be damned if I contribute to any conversation about young adult girls and women in college in any way that isn’t as truthful as I can make it. So when I write a line that seems to manufactured or trendy (or wannabe trendy), it hits the slush pile. I can usually hear her, whoever’s head I’m inside at that very second, tell me they’d never say that. And my god, as a writer, its so helpful. Yours in Devotion to Voices in Your Head, Stephanie PS – there’s SO MUCH more to character development. Another trick I like is to make playlists for each book or piece I’m working on. Head on over to my Instagram to learn more.
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