“Character is a puzzle reader should solve.” – Erika Amber
I am often asked questions like, “Are the characters in the book reflections or prototypes of real people?” Did I choose traits from a specific person when creating a character? Or did someone I know inspire a particular character? And so on.
The truth is that the characters living in the book are neither real nor entirely fictional. They are people trapped somewhere between reality and the shackles of actuality. The book is their path to freedom.
Character ARC
Characters, much like the creative process itself, are intertwined with the author’s—my own—experiences, joys, losses, and discoveries; people met along life’s path; films watched; and books read. All these experiences—both positive and negative—remain in memory, filed away in their proper compartments. When the right moment arrives, a small fragment of them finds its way into a character’s arc.
One character might inherit a particular hobby; another, an emotion held deep within the heart; a third, a habit that irritates everyone around them. Piece by piece, the character takes shape. Yet, they are not a reflection of any single, specific person.
If you were to imagine a mirror pieced together from shards of varying shapes and sizes, that is roughly what the character would look like.
Many people experience anger, joy, or tears; many work as teachers or salespeople and so on. Many desire a better life or harbor a hatred so intense they would do anything to crush an opponent. So, none of this is invented out of thin air. We aren’t reinventing the wheel here.
Where is the line between reality and fiction?
Fiction begins when I create a character—pieced together from various traits and given a unique appearance that I feel suits them best—and place them into a specific situation. There, they are forced to find a way out, solve problems, build relationships, gain understanding, and learn.
Some situations are meant to teach the character a lesson, others to foster their growth, and some offer a choice: to grow or to remain stuck in the same place. From that point on, it is up to them to decide how to move forward; my only role is to write it down.
As an author, my goal is to allow my characters to change. And that doesn’t mean a villain will turn into a hero, solve all their problems, and live happily ever after. After all, reality isn’t always painted in shades of pink, nor do endings always come with triumphant fanfares, right? A character might rise just as easily as they might hit rock bottom.
The protagonist is special
People in real life are diverse and complex. Life experiences nurture our positive and negative traits, which, over time and depending on our environment, come to dominate. Because of one or a few such dominant traits, we remember a particular person more vividly than others. When discussing them with others, we frequently label them with a name that reflects their personality: “grump,” “sourpuss,” “drunkard,” “cat lady,” “bundle of energy,” and so on. When creating a protagonist and developing their character, I carefully choose a distinctive feature to assign them—a choice dictated by the role they are destined to play in the story.
When a story is born, bringing its protagonists along with it, I devote special attention to them. Each character has their own separate portfolio with their entire life from birth to the present moment. Unlike in the manuscript itself, there are no hints or scattered puzzle pieces here. There are no secrets. I write down in black and white every sin and transgression, every pain and desire, whatever they may be.
Characters shape the author too
When writing my fourth book, I became fully convinced that the author is not the master. The author is more like a guide, accompanying characters through the story until each finds their own path. More than once, events in the story took a turn different from what I had planned. A character made a different choice, and forcing them to change their mind felt wrong.
There were moments when a character said something that made me pause and wonder: is he thinking like me, or am I thinking like him? After all, we are two separate people. He is pieced together from countless fragments and diverse experiences—most of which are not my own. I am shaped by life. Yet, I am the one writing the story. You would think I ought to dictate the rules… but that is not the case.
I’m creating them; they are shaping me.
Author
Erika Amber
