Creating the Who...

In the past I have used a variety of tools to create my characters. The thing I do most frequently is STEAL. Sometimes I am more subtle than other times. I cobble together qualities from some people and mix them with qualities from another person. That tends to create a whole new person. When I am writing female characters I usually have their entire history in my head - I know them - I know what made them who they are and why they relate to the other people and the circumstances the way they do. When I get stuck on a moment or a point of plot or character choice, it is usually because I need to go into them and figure out something about their past that I don't know.

I will admit, I find this harder with men. My male characters are more of a struggle for me and I always try to work at that. If I get stuck I STEAL again. I think of actors that I know that I thin would be good in the role and think about what would work if they were playing that character. Usually this is someone I know (a local person), but sometimes it's a famous person (I have used Anthony Hopkins as my muse...). I find that when I STEAL from life I like the results. I get different voices and diction and that helps making it seem like a real scene between people and not just an abstract discussion.

The characters change too - sometimes the way I picture them in the first draft is very different from who they become in the last draft. This is because I have to let things go that do not work. I think that can be tough because sometimes you become really attached to the people you create.

I have stolen a lot in my play writing. The script that I am working on now steals from my own life but mostly I steal from other people's lives... that too helps with the creating the who...