I Write Characters Not Buildings

Character building is, for me, in no way like worldbuilding. Although both thrive once I learn to let them grow organically, there's something rather sinister behind the idea of "building" a character. In the same way I think the idea of predestination sinister.

So if I'm being truthful, I do not build characters. They simply show up and refuse to leave my head until I've completed their stories. For many that has meant I write their stories once and wave goodbye a la Sam and Merry and Pippin to Frodo at the end of The Return of the King. For others it means I must write and rewrite and rewrite their narratives, revising and reshaping them over the years, until their stories are published and read. I have learned to live with both.

I do not build characters. I build stories.

Once those characters show up, I heed their voices until I can see a clear path through to chronicling their story. Then I sit down and start writing. Notes are often required but I can no longer write to outlines, else the story dulls. It becomes a chore, a headache, something I'd rather not deal with. Thus I hear the voices until the story or a method by which to tell that story emerges, then pants my way through to the end.

It's a hectic process but a fun one.