Into the Fire

Characters. One of my all-time favorites is pictured above. Played by my absolute favorite actor Johnny Depp. If you're familiar with Johnny Depp, you know he plays very diverse characters, and his appearance changes dramatically with each one. Developing Captain Jack Sparrow took on a bit of acting genius to sustain him through four films, reported to be creating a fifth. From Sam in Benny and Joon to The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland to Tonto in The Lone Ranger, Johnny has proven his ability to accentuate and take on the unique flavors of many characters ranging from the serious to the absurd.

As a writer, characters in my stories play their first roles in my head. I watch them, sometimes visualize their physical appearances, hear them, and eventually know them. Not unusual to hear this from a writer, but often they consume my imaginary lifetime as I walk in their shoes. Critical to the writing process is making them as real to the reader as they are to the author. If readers can't vividly see or experience who they are, there's no way they can care about a story.

This identification or observation of characters doesn't mean the reader must be able to relate to their choices or their habits or their peculiarites. It means, in some manner, the reader must be interested in them.

Antagonists fall prey to clichés. Whether it's a serial killer or an ex-boyfriend, it's hard to find unique qualities to sustain interest in them. So many evil traits have been repeated ad nauseum. What separates one from another? Do you tire of predictable villains or do you accept their bad guy personas?  

Now my question for you writers is this: How far into your characters do you get when you're creating them and writing them?  

Father, thanks for imagination. You are the Creator. Thank you for sharing so much of who you are with us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.