I'm pleased to have Courtney Vail visiting with me on her book tour for Kings & Queens. Courtney is big on characters, so this post comes naturally to her. Feel free to share your thoughts.
Before I ever wrote one word of Kings & Queens, I fully developed
all my characters with sketches. Beyond the traits, quirks, interests, goals, I
actually dug into each of the main character’s psychology. I wanted to discover
why the characters behave the way they do, how they think, how they process
information and deal with stress, attraction, conflict, antagonism.
Weirdly, they were almost fully formed from
the start and I just had to peel back the layers. I sometimes wonder if they’re
actually alive in some other realm because they feel that real, not only to me
but readers too. Reviewers have said that they loved them ALL, that they felt
like friends, that they ARE unforgettable, that they were like a 20-layer cake.
Readers continually asking me how my characters were doing was what inspired me
to write the sequel, Sapphire Reign.
So, how did I give my characters that kind of
depth? By taking everything into consideration and then SHOWING all those
elements through action, dialogue, decisions and voice.
