Pebblepup's Writing Den

Sometimes when I’m reading a news article or a book. Even a book of fiction. I often think of the ways I would have handled the action. Sometimes I borrow characters from TV shows and put them through my old story. I usually end up giving the character my own spin. Then I changed the names of the characters, and I have a decent idea for a story, and I go from there. I create the characters based on the characters of the TV show or book. And then I give them my own flavor. Usually, the characters I come up with are way different from the ones in the original work.

So, the story I write is usually very, very different from anything. This is because my situation is different from the original work. I make no attempt to keep the characters the same character as the original. That’s not my intent. My intent is to write a good story. So, I often create characters based on other characters. But they are different. They are my own creations. In this instance I need to use a character. And put them in a certain situation. This is starting from a situation. You don’t have to borrow characters; you can create your own. I’ve done that before too.

You start with a story problem. Then you move on to creating other issues. that the same time, you develop characters to put in those situations. Give them those problems. The problems are preexisting. The character exists to go through them. Sometimes it’s a what if game. What if a witch becomes trapped behind the lines in a war. All she wants to do is get out of there. There’s the situation and the vague notion of a character. And that’s all I need. I can build from there.

All you need right now when you start out is a situation. Then you can grow your plot from there. Add some characters. Give them the tools to solve their problem. Lead them down a few blind alleys. And then let them have a little triumph or have them fail. I prefer happy endings, so I generally have my characters succeed, but you can have them fail too. Write the story. Map it out. Then figure out what kind of characters need to be there. Don’t make them super men and women. Make them realistic characters, but you can do that after you’ve given them a story problem.

Sometimes I start with a situation and 1 character. You can’t do much with one character. They need to interact with someone or the environment. Novels generally have more than one character. Although I suppose you could make it an adventure. The kind where a character is struggling to survive in the wilderness or something. This could be something like what if there was a plane crash and only one person survived. There’s your situation. You have a hint of a character, and you need to develop that character. Sometimes you need to develop the character must by the plot. You started out with a flawed character. Then have them overcome certain issues. And they change along the way, and that is a story. It’s not that much different than starting with a character. Either way, you need to build a story. So, think about situations. Add in a couple of characters and see what happens. Good luck and keep writing.