Or perhaps a better title would be: Boys, boys, boys.
Last weekend, I read (in a little less than a day) an advanced readers copy of Holly Black's newest novel, White Cat. It was great. I especially loved the voice of the main character, a guy named Cassel. He is the type of character I would love to pull off, the one that just seems so sure of himself and yet unsure at the same time. He's clever, can't keep his mouth shut, and more dangerous than he knows.
Cassel got me thinking about my own characters. I know I have a certain fondness for male main characters. Nineteen times out of twenty, I'll write a male as the lead. I have my reaons, but what makes me curious is your characters. Do you tend to write more male or female leads? Are they all around the same age? Do they differ? Are they different races? I'm curious to find out.
Also, what makes you choose your main character? Does it just happen like magic, or do you carefully craft what you want this person (or creature) to be like?
My main characters are normally male. I try to differ the age ranges to reflect real life. For example . . . a group of friends ranging from mid 30s to mid 50s. There are commonalities that bind them together, so the ages of the characters doesn't really matter.
ReplyDeleteFemales usually play supporting roles in my current stories, but have played very strong roles in past writing stuff.
I haven't really played with the different race thing . . . at least not yet, maybe one day.
I have no clue what makes me choose a main character. Most times, I start out with a story idea and then figure out the characters. I guess there's a bit of magic involved.
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I'm with you on the magic part. I once started planning a novel that was about this woman (as a main character) and how she met this interesting (and kinda scary guy), and it got so turned around that he became the main character all on his own. Sometimes, characters almost create themselves. Other times, I spend time crafting certain aspects of them.
ReplyDeletePretty even split for me.
ReplyDeleteHow I chose? Not really sure. Sometimes when I get the idea, the MC has already been chosen. Other times I flip a coin.
I agree that sometimes the MC has already been chosen when I get an idea. They just go hand in hand sometimes. :)
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