And Time Stopped by Kristen L. Jackson Book Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway! {Ends 6/23/22}

Where do you get the ideas from, when creating personalities for your characters?

Ideas for character’s personalities come from a variety of different sources, and the thrill of bringing a character to life is such a rush! Life experiences, people you meet—those you know well or just passing acquaintances—and even movies or books you’ve read all work together to help you breathe life into your characters.

Details are important. I, the author, have to know a lot more about each character than will probably ever make it into the book. This helps me create a believable character my readers can relate to. I need to know not only their favorite foods and music, but also what their mannerisms are, how they walk, talk, dress, etc. What books do they read, what are their favorite movies or favorite shows to stream. What foods do they like, and which do they detest? When they eat a food they don’t enjoy, do they spit it out? Turn green but keep chewing? Gag? These are all questions I ask myself as I bring a character to life.

All of this comes from my imagination, which in turn comes directly from my own life experiences and observations of the people and world around me. That doesn’t mean my characters are based off of people I know. I’ve never knowingly written an actual living breathing person I know into one of my books. But I, and all authors, do take tiny parts of people. For example, maybe I know someone that twirls her hair, or someone who bites his fingernails. Maybe I notice the way someone slumps while sitting in a chair, or the way someone else shuffles their feet while walking. These tiny mannerisms are the building blocks that make my characters real…at least I hope they do! They can show a person’s personality, and also convey a plethora of emotions the character may be experiencing.

The main character in my newly released book AND TIME STOPPED, Chase Walker, has evolved throughout the course of the series. He started out as an idea. Just a spark of an idea I had one day, about a boy who finds a watch that will allow him to travel to twelve different dimensions. I thought about what he looks like—wavy, clean-cut, dirty blond hair, lean and muscular body, blue eyes, dimples. A good student, star football player, popular with everyone. I thought about his family—raised by his uncle, just the two of them. I thought about what music he likes—rock. All of that helped shape him, but I needed more to bring him to life. Like the caring way he helps his elderly neighbor carry in her groceries, or the friend he’d do anything to save. His insatiable appetite, his attraction to the opposite sex. Each day, I added more details, and each day, he grew into the character he is today. Now, as I’m writing Chase into my novels, he has taken on a life of his own. He has not only become real to my readers, but he is real to me, too. As real as any person, flesh and blood. Sometimes, now that he is real, Chase takes over the story, taking it in directions I could not have foreseen. So, though he was created from my imagination, observations, and life experiences, he has now taken on a life of his own. And I’m awfully proud of him…and all of my characters!

m.