
____________
To me, as a reader—and I am a reader first, an author second—character is king. It took me a while to discover this, but after many bouts with “I don’t care about this book and don’t know why,” I finally learned that I crave rich, likeable characters. If I don’t like the characters, I can’t connect with a book. Plain and simple.
So as a writer, it’s important to me to craft characters that feel authentic, natural, and likable to my readers. A lot of preparatory work goes into my outlining, but I spend more time crafting characters than I do developing plot. In a way, characters can drive the plot if I’ve done my due diligence with them.

I find that a plot can change a lot once I’m full-swing into the writing. Sometimes I have a better idea after I’ve already started. As long as I have my characters well designed, these plot changes come to me naturally, and don’t often upset what I’ve already written. Sometimes, I have to change things later, but that’s just a part of the process, I think, for every writer.
One of my favorite experiences with writing a character was actually in my novel Sovereign. One guy in particular was originally written as a plot tool—I needed him to be present for a certain scene that needed to take place. I later found more and more places to use him, and I simply ended up developing quite an affection for him. In later drafts, I went back through and weaved him into the story even more, and many of my readers have fallen in love with him. To me, that is simply incredible, because I never even made a characterization on him. No mention of him, no chart, nothing at all in my outlining. He just showed up one day and turned into this beautiful character. So that’s a little about my approach to character, and I’m certain there is still so much I can learn and look forward to learning as I get more experience as an author.
I hope that readers enjoy my characters as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. Thank you for hosting me on your blog! Have a great day!

I hope that readers enjoy my characters as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. Thank you for hosting me on your blog! Have a great day!
________________
Thanks, E.R. Arroyo! If you'd like to read a copy of Sovereign, fill out the entry form below to win one of three signed copies!
2 comments:
Thanks so much for hosting my blog tour and sharing my guest post on your site! Good luck to all your readers in the giveaway!
This is a great post. I love E.R. Arroyo's methods for developing her characters, and the fact that a character surprised her by becoming such a huge part of the story. I have a few characters like that!
Post a Comment