How do you get into character when your mind just won’t wrap around it? It’s a problem I’ve been having lately. Writing a teen romance when you’ve just gotten out of a relationship may seem like good therapy, but parts of it are torture. Staying true to the character of your heroine when you’re down in the dumps and she’s giddy and giggly with the thrill of a new relationship is tortuous. My teen readers would be a little put off if all Chloe wants to do is mope on Tyler’s shoulder.
But this isn’t just a problem of moods. What about a character who’s much older than you, or much younger? A character who was born in a drastically different tax bracket. One who lives in a different state, a different country, a different time. One who’s sadistic, histrionic, affected by a medical condition or psychological disorder. How do you get into the head of someone whose head is practically another planet?
The easy answer is not to write about such people, but that’s no fun. “Write what you know” stops being good advice when you realize that writing about a middle class girl in her twenties with all the same traits you have doesn’t really give your imagination much of a workout.
The best answer I’ve found is to people watch. Don’t stalk them. That’s illegal, and creepy. However there are plenty of subjects around all the time. Whenever I’m in a crowded place, I find myself zoning out and watching people interact. The airport is the best--people at their most stressed, so all the masks tend to slip. It’s not going to give you much of fifteenth century England or your sadistic alien Glork, but hey, you can pick up a lot of interesting accents and behavior peculiarities. You may not remember much about being a little kid, but watch a few and you’ll start to see the ways they talk and make up words and move through the world. Watch your friends. They probably won’t mind too much, and you know them better than anyone else.
The other best answer: read. Reading nonfiction gives you the details you need, whether it’s history about Victorian manners, a memoir of someone growing up in poverty, or a case study of someone struggling with a mental disorder. Your imagination can take you far, but there are some situations that are impossible to understand if you don’t have original source material. So writing a happy, bubbly character when you’re feeling depressed only requires remember how to feel happy, but writing an inner city kid or a soldier will sound flat if you don’t know what you’re talking about, even offensive. It’s easy to tell when an author hasn’t bothered to fact check; don’t be that guy.
Another solution: take it to the extreme. You may not be a villain, but you’ve definitely been mean to someone before. Well what if you actually said all those things you keep to yourself, because you know they’d hurt someone? Bingo. Evil baddie. Aren’t one of those happy, bubbly people we talked about earlier, who are outgoing with everyone? You’ve had outgoing moments though. Think of those and multiply them by ten.
It’s not an exhaustive list, just things I’ve been brainstorming while trying to solve my Chloe problem. Really getting into a character and writing them like they’re part of you takes more than just watching people, reading their stories, or taking your own traits to the next level ... but everyone needs to start somewhere. Time to go eat some chocolate, watch The Matrix, and borrow some of Neo’s killer confidence. Next step, write a fun happy Chloe.
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