Character profiles

     Several people have asked me how I created the characters for my book. For me, it is easier to visualize my characters if I associate them with someone I know. Having said that, I'd like to reiterate what I said in the author's note of The Narrows Escape. The characters in my books are fictional. Their actions, thoughts, and characteristics should not be assigned to any particular person. Although the characters were originally created with a live person (or multiple people in some cases) in mind, they have each developed a "life" of their own - particularly since the events portrayed in my books are fictional. Therefore, the characters, actions, thoughts, and characteristics are fictional as well. To make sure that my characters became their own seperate entities, I changed the names of the characters and made sure that none of the family units in the story had the same number of family members in what would be the family's "real life counterpart."
     So how did I create the characters? While attending a university class on creative writing, I received a copy of a character profile diagram for primary characters and secondary characters. I had already written a complete draft of my book, so it was relatively easy to fill out the profiles for each of my characters. The main benefit of the profiles was that they helped me solidify some of the differences between the character and their original counterparts. Basically, I took some of the characteristics of their "real life counterpart," then embellished or exaggerated them so as to differentiate them more from the other characters. I also invented some characteristics purely from my own imagination in order to create conflict and subplots. This was necessary because a story about nearly perfect people would be rather boring. And although I have many flaws, some of my relatives are among the greatest examples of human beings that I know.
     To illustrate my points, I have decided to post the character profile I created for Brady Allred. Anyone who knows me will immediately notice many similarities between this character and myself - such as the physical descriptions. They will also notice some characteristics that have been exaggerated - such as always wearing a baseball cap. Although I often wear baseball caps, I rarely do indoors. Yet by using that as a characteristic, it makes it easier for the reader to picture Brady in his/her mind. Finally, I invented a fear that doesn't exist in real life - Brady's fear of water. Since fear is powerful in creating conflict, I wanted one of my characters to have a fear of water in order to add a subplot to my story. After evaluating the characters, I chose Brady as the most likely candidate.
     My secondary characters have similar profile outlines, but much less detailed. After finalizing my final draft of The Narrows Escape, it was necessary to go back and adjust some of the information in my profiles to account for new subplots, but for the most part, the profiles have remained constant. And now that the first book is published, many of these characteristics are now set in stone - or at least in print.
     For anyone interested in writing, feel free to use the character profile outline I will include as a guide.
     Brad Allred