Hi there Scribblers - J Monkeys here. Happy Saturday to you and yours. I’ve got a short and sweet blog for you today.
In the inestimable words of John Hannibal Smith, don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? I grew up in the 1980′s and watching the A Team was a fixture in my week. If you didn’t see it, or fancy a trip back to the 80′s, you can see episodes online here. So much so, that even though I couldn’t possibly imagine Liam Neeson in George Peppard’s shoes, I rented the new film. It was surprisingly good – get it if you were a fan and haven’t seen it.
But I digress. As you may know, I’ve been working on characters for a new books. I’ve finally got them clear in my mind. I think I know what makes them tick, how they’d act in certain situations, things like that. Just to round out the character sketches of each main character, I decided to look up the astrological sign and corresponding personality for each of the characters birth dates.
What do you know? The somewhat random birth dates I selected give the characters signs in direct correlation with their personalities. I’ve got a young girl who is independent beyond her years, but often doesn’t look before she leaps. She’s an Aries. Those qualities and many others she sports are in direct keeping with a ram. I’ve got a woman who’s been burned by betrayal in the past to the extent that she doesn’t trust people – doesn’t let them in but she’s fiercely independent and driven. She’s interested in the paranormal and at the same time, a control freak. Guess what? She’s a Scorpio.
So I say it again…Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?
Today’s secret: If you need a quick reference to some personality traits in keeping with your character, check out their sign. If nothing else, it might tell you to move their birthday.
Today’s question: How do you create your characters?
Great post, and timely as always, J. I’m in the midst of going deeper with my character sketches and haven’t addressed the zodiac personality traits. I think it’s a fine idea! Thanks for the tip! Oh, and i loved “Face Man” Dirk Benedict. I mean, who didn’t?
Who didn’t love Face? And in the remake Face was played by an even handsomer face, Bradley Cooper.
Happy your characters shaped up nicely. Enjoy the process.
Thanks!
Although I am growing my story from true history, I had to develop my characters beyond what I read about them. It has been quite a journey. How much can you possible get from history books? So I am having great fun giving them personalities . . . should I make him caring and compassionate? Should I make her sweet and soft? Or other? They are getting molded based on my story.