Characters do make fiction. I wasn't just told this in my years of studying creative writing at BGSU, I know it: a strong character that a reader can relate to is at the heart of all good fiction.
I began as a writer with plots: I wanted to share a story that I devised, and tried my best to lay out the story as a plot. One thing leads to another, leads to another, leads to another, and so on. Since early college, fiction for me has become all about establishing a cast of characters that the reader can connect with in some way or another.
Today, I'm going to look at some characters that have been featured in my fiction, some characters that are in unfinished fiction, and some characters who are still in my head, but are still all the same, close to my heart. What follows is broken up by story, then followed by a list of characters with a quick description about each character's birth (creatively speaking), history, context within each story, and importance to me as an author.
"Almost Home" / Almost Gone
Benjy
Creative Conception: 2004
Age: 20
Benjy used to have another name: Brandon. Originally borrowed from another work of fiction that I used to work on, Benjy was closely modeled after myself in many respects. As "Almost Home" fleshed into a complete short story, Benjy eventually became his own person, and with the sequel, Almost Gone, on the road to becoming a novel someday, Benjy is now a full, independent, complex character. Benjy stands some six feet tall and features deep red hair that is unmistakably a throwback to the hair I myself miss. "Almost Home" told the story of survival, and in "Almost Gone," Benjy is caught in a changing world where he tries to hold on to everything familiar to him, doing all he can to avoid growing up.
Ashley
Creative Conception: 2004
Age: 20
Ashley is the tall, beautiful, well-rounded affection of Benjy's infatuation in "Almost Home" and Almost Gone. In "Almost Home," Benjy's affection for Ashley was considerably absent, but in Almost Gone, she is fully pursued by Benjy. Ashley is based on a former friend of mine, and although her and I haven't been in contact with one another for years, she is still the heart and spirit of my character: Ashley in Almost Gone features all the same smiles, beauty, and happy-go-lucky attitude.
Event Horizon
Kalman Kennard
Creative Conception: 2005
Age: 21
Event Horizon is my secret love affair. Although I have much more serious fiction in the pipeline, Event Horizon is the story that I've wanted to write for quite a few years now. It's also my newest piece of fiction, even if it is generally unfinished. Kalman, shortened to "Kale" by in-fiction characters and text, is my first completely-original fictional character. He's based in part on elements of my past (late-bloomer with the ladies, socially awkward, but persistent as hell in all aspects of his life). He is also an avenue of exploration for a college life that I didn't get to experience: dorm life. While I have been through many of the "usual" paces of college life, I never particularly got to explore dorm life, and Event Horizon is an oddball chance for me to explore what I thought dorm life might be like. Of course, I do have friends who stayed in dorms, so they are a great influence on my writing. More than anything, however, Event Horizon is a love story buried within a twisted realm of dreams versus reality. Tasty.
Shaylee
Creative Conception: 2005
Age: ??
Shaylee is my second fully-fictional character, and her character mirrors her development: always changing. When I began writing Event Horizon, I was not quite sure who Shaylee would be, but Kale needed a romantic interest in the story, and Shaylee was born from this idea. Physically she represents an ideal I have in women: long, silky flowing black hair; short, skinny frame with moderate yet tempting curves - nothing physically extreme nor boring. Emotionally she is a blank slate, devoid of emotion save for the first time Kale meets her. Shaylee is young in appearance and spirit, but Kale never learns of her age, and by the end of the story, he understands why: she is a resident of Horizon Dormitory, the ominous complex at the center of Event Horizon. To keep her situation brief: Shaylee is a prisoner of her own lusts and desires, aided by the mysteries of Horizon, and has no ability to distinguish her dreams from reality.
Minor Thirts Series
Unnamed Man / Unnamed Woman
Creative Conception: 2006
Although I have only published one story in this series, I have a whole collection of unfinished short stories that feature these two generic characters. An unnamed man and woman on the verge of becoming "real" adults as they near 30 years old struggles to survive in a near-future Earth that is suffering from a severe shortage of potable water: millions of poor die every year from lack of access to water, the middle class fights constant international wars for water, and the upper class (these two characters) are reduced to finding their way in a world where their former comforts are all but history.
More importantly, I created these characters to be generic on purpose: each fills a gender role, a personality role, and a societal role that I use to try to abstract a lot of ideas about our modern day way of life. I then put these abstractions in difficult situations brought about by this world of war over something so basic as water, and see how they react. I've received criticism from peers that these characters are a little too abstract and hard to relate to, but if any of my readers can picture themselves in the shoes of these nameless figures, then I have succeeded.
Meltdown
The Entire Cast: ???, Brent, Lindsey, Jana, Erin, Pat
Creative Conception: 1998
Pardon the triple question marks up there, but I'm currently rewriting a lot of my characters featured in Meltdown and some of this involves finding new names for my characters, including the lead. But until that is done, I will go ahead and use the original character's name: Brandon.
Yes, authors are never, ever supposed to use their own name for their characters, but when I began writing Meltdown in 1997 and 1998 I ripped every character in the story from real life inspiration, including names. Over the years, as Meltdown evolved into a more sophisticated project, I began to see that my naming scheme and character development felt awkward, so I embarked on a mission to rewrite all my characters into their own fictional people, rather than being entirely based on former high school classmates.
Today Meltdown consists of a cast of six core characters. It seems ironic that my first foray into fiction turned out to be my most complicated: it's hard to write a cohesive story that can successfully tie two characters together, let alone six. In light of what I learned in college, I've begun to restructure Meltdown to be more than an adventure story; rather, I'm using each of my characters to contrasts one another, each his or her own unique person with a personality and historic background that will contrast one another quite well.
My first aspect of differentiation among these characters is what I call "facet of human characteristics." For example:
Brandon is a risk-taker, as where Jana keeps a cautious head. Pat looks forward to the future even in a bleak world, while Erin consistently struggles to overcome the loss of her family and past. Lindsey becomes physically weak in the story, while Brent grows stronger against all odds.
Meltdown is turning into quite a diverse story, and I'm plucking away on it in tiny, controlled bites every day. Piece by piece.
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