by: Shannon Redmon @shannon_redmon

Every October, my husband and I venture down to the great state of Mississippi for the largest car show in the country—Cruisin’ the Coast. Over 9800 classic cars registered for the event this year and that doesn’t count all the cool vehicles that showed up without filling out a form. From Chevy Corvettes (our favorites) to Volkswagen vans and brand new Ferrari’s and Lamborghinis, this tradition is the classic car lover’s dream. So, what might this have to do with writing?

Let me tell you…every car or truck is a unique product tweaked and adjusted by the owner. Each vehicle has their own personality from rat rods with horns sticking out the front to sleek custom sports cars that cost well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, as well as hydraulic cars that raise and lower to show off their oversized, gold wheels.

In our stories, our characters need to show the same level of unique traits as these automobiles. For instance, have you ever read a book where all the characters feel the same or fall flat on the page? Perhaps sometimes fears and flaws are tacked onto a character as an afterthought detracting from their personal journey. As writers, we must work hard to understand each character’s unique voice and here are a few tips to help.

Know your character.

Authors hear this all the time, but sometimes we struggle with what this truly means. One of the things most impressive about a beautiful, classic car is the owner’s knowledge of the vehicle. He can tell everything from the size of the motor to the vehicle identification number. But what every car owner loves more than talking about the minute details are the moments they slide into the seat behind the wheel, crank the engine and drive their dream car down the road.

Sure, we can interview our characters and determine their favorite color or what ice cream flavor they like, but do these details really matter to the story or the reader? However, when we sit in each of our character’s shoes, walk through each scene or conflict as they do, feel the rumble of their emotions, and connect to the people around them, that is when we truly get to know them. What does this character want and why? How does he or she react when things don’t go their way? What devastation or past environment drives their current decisions? How does his decisions affect the others close to him?

One of my go-to books with a great chapter on character voice is The Anatomy of Story by John Truby. He states that instead of only focusing on our main character we need to be “looking at all your characters together as part of an interconnected web.”

Isn’t that how life is? We’re going along, living our life and wham! Someone says something or does something that triggers an internal emotion, setting off circumstances that can’t be undone. Each character will react uniquely and as authors we must paint those scenes for our readers in a way that is unique to each character’s individual style.

Create a character book.

This is something I started doing within the last year. I’m a visual person, so pictures of my characters on the pages of a blank journal help me to understand each role they play. I include my heroine, her love interest, my villain and then their friends—although the latter ones I don’t complete in as much detail.

I create their wants, desires and conflicts that come between the heroine, the hero, and the villain throughout the story. When we understand their goals, the past pain that drive their current decisions and the conflicts keeping them from obtaining their desires, unique character traits and responses begin to appear. Handwriting these down in the character book next to each photo helps to solidify the information in our brains, so their behaviors and choices layer into the story organically.

Give them something they care about deeply.

At first glance, the classics at the auto show seem to be just shiny, fancy, or powerful hotrods that boost the driver’s ego, but there is so much more beneath the surface of owning one of cars. After talking to many enthusiasts, any person can see the real joy comes from the time spent with the ones they love—fixing them up together with their children, going for rides with their sweetheart or talking with others who also share their interest. There is depth when we take the time to look.

Our readers like heroines and heroes who love their family, their children, their friends, or their animals. Even villains can love despite their evil actions. Readers connect to the character’s desire to protect, to share life and to care for those they adore. When we write about their willingness to sacrifice for others, like Jesus gave his life for us, then we create a unique character voice and give our reader’s the ride

Shannon is a Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and her greatest hope is for her stories to immerse readers into a world of suspense and escape while encouraging faith, hope, and love in Christ.  She has three books published by Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense line–Cave of Secrets, Secrets Left Behind and Mistaken Mountain Abduction. She is also one of the Managing Editors of Acquisitions for Spark Flash Fiction Magazine, where she received her first official published byline. Shannon is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube
Agency.