Every story has to start somewhere. For one writer, this could be a slice of a setting they want to explore further. For another, it could be a plot idea with serious potential. For me, my somewhere is usually character.
In my early days of writing, characters were not only where things started, but where they ended as well, and not in a good way. I was so focused on superficial descriptors like the protagonist's eye colour that I literally "lost the plot". The details of my characters were skin-deep, leaving my stories floundering at the starting line, if they even got to the track at all. While you'll still see me gleefully describing various physical characteristics of characters in my current writings, the people I write about now are much more three-dimensional, their traits extending beyond their outward appearance.
From the start of planning the book series I have in progress, I had many characters occupying my mind. They were standing there, fully formed, but hidden from me in my mind's eye by a shroud of mystery. In the hope of understanding them better, I employed a peculiar strategy: consulting Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elffers' The Secret Language of Birthdays. I'd initially picked up this tome from my Library's book sale a few years back and until then had only briefly flipped through it. The book spent most of its time since arriving in my possession tucked under my bed as it was too large to fit on my bookshelf. I'm not sure what compelled me to look at it again, but I'm so glad that I did.
"But Laura, how does a book based on numerology, tarot cards, Greek Gods, and astrology possibly factor into your character creation?" I'm so glad you've asked.
Part of each birthdate's entry in The Secret Language of Birthdays is a list of positive and negative traits, in addition to an over-arching "title" for those born on that day. For example, May 22nd (my birthday, and ironically the birthday of Mr. Golschneider) is "The Day of the Serial Epic". Persistent, energetic, and productive are the listed strengths, and obsessive, compulsive, and unrealistic are the weaknesses (all of these points being a little too spot on for me if I'm being honest). I thought these little descriptors were a great way to hone in on my characters. So, when a particular set of traits lined up with my initial idea for a character, I fleshed out said character's bio and gave them a birthday to boot (a real bonus when dealing with time travel and having to keep timelines straight).
Whether you put stock into these kinds of things or not, The Secret Language of Birthdays was an extremely helpful jolt to my creativity and a fascinating read. I'm sure I will peruse it again.
Have you explored any unconventional avenues while developing characters for a story?
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