Ask the Author: Jordan Creed
Answered Questions (7)
Jordan Creed
Thanks for the compliment! I completely understand what you mean. Sometimes, a character's exterior and story seem perfect in every way, yet the character itself remains completely hollow - almost like the character is merely a shell. I've encountered that a few times with my characters, and I've found a couple solutions from my own experience.
For starters, it's easy to think of a character as a list of traits. It can be easy to think of real people that way, too! But what makes a person mysterious, complex, and rich is the fact that someone conscious is present and in possession of those traits. This can be applied to fictional characters, as well. If we look at a character from The Breacher, for instance, like Porter, we can say that Porter is a determined, responsible, loyal, and independent man. He grew up in a hostile environment, learned to fend for himself, and latched onto his first sense of home. He can have a temper or become reclusive, but he is always a devoted friend. This is what Porter is rather than who Porter is. But if I were to have continued seeing him in that two-dimensional way, he would have been instilled on the page as dry and hollow. The way I switch to a three-dimensional view of my characters is by essentially entering their minds. I don't quite think of them as creations but rather as persons - this serves to preserve the nuances and intricacies of the personality. I do not try to invent the depths of the characters; I try to find them. I try to enter their minds and see things from their points of view, similar in practice to how you might attempt to understand a friend's perspective after a conflict. What is it like to BE Seth or Porter or Nathan or Councilor Lawrence? What is it like to experience their lives rather than understand their lives? What is it like to introspect on a childhood like Porter's? Through this method, I can see a character in the same way I would see a friend or family member. In turn, this allows me to capture and portray a more realistic personality. It might not be concrete or practical advice, but I've found this to be the single most important stage when creating a new character for a story.
The next trick I've found to work quite well for characters that the protagonist encounters is to exaggerate their introduction. First impressions matter - a lot! What I always try to do is introduce my characters with a punch, whether that be through direct action (like Desmond) or through a tense interaction (like Keaton). The major elements of the character should be demonstrated quite explicitly in their first reveal. This way, the reader isn't left guessing at their role in the story - the foundation is already established. With Seth, for instance, I tried to make sure the reader immediately understood that he was a friend, perhaps one of the only relatable and caring people in the Breaching of the Walls Department. He demonstrated this by approaching Nathan and actually asking him how he was handling his new situation. I've found that when I introduce a character too subtly, quickly, or plainly, they inevitably deteriorate into shells. Somehow, though, simply revamping their introduction seems to fill them out in their later scenes.
Now, of course, that tip doesn't apply as directly to the protagonist. When it comes to the protagonist, things get a lot more complicated – especially in a first-person narration. I actually had a few difficulties with Nathan in my first drafts. He just wouldn’t seem to “come to life” as you put it. If you want to read more about my hiccups with Nathan, you can see my blog post about him either here on Goodreads or on my website (https://www.jordancreed.com/single-po...). What helped me to pin down my protagonist was my first piece of advice. I had to wriggle my way into his head and seek out the complexities. Some protagonists are easier than others, I think, especially when one has a central flaw like anger, selfishness, fear, etc. But again, if the character you are talking about is the protagonist, I would say that envisioning him as a real person in possession of qualities rather than the qualities themselves will help to flesh him out.
Hope that helps!
For starters, it's easy to think of a character as a list of traits. It can be easy to think of real people that way, too! But what makes a person mysterious, complex, and rich is the fact that someone conscious is present and in possession of those traits. This can be applied to fictional characters, as well. If we look at a character from The Breacher, for instance, like Porter, we can say that Porter is a determined, responsible, loyal, and independent man. He grew up in a hostile environment, learned to fend for himself, and latched onto his first sense of home. He can have a temper or become reclusive, but he is always a devoted friend. This is what Porter is rather than who Porter is. But if I were to have continued seeing him in that two-dimensional way, he would have been instilled on the page as dry and hollow. The way I switch to a three-dimensional view of my characters is by essentially entering their minds. I don't quite think of them as creations but rather as persons - this serves to preserve the nuances and intricacies of the personality. I do not try to invent the depths of the characters; I try to find them. I try to enter their minds and see things from their points of view, similar in practice to how you might attempt to understand a friend's perspective after a conflict. What is it like to BE Seth or Porter or Nathan or Councilor Lawrence? What is it like to experience their lives rather than understand their lives? What is it like to introspect on a childhood like Porter's? Through this method, I can see a character in the same way I would see a friend or family member. In turn, this allows me to capture and portray a more realistic personality. It might not be concrete or practical advice, but I've found this to be the single most important stage when creating a new character for a story.
The next trick I've found to work quite well for characters that the protagonist encounters is to exaggerate their introduction. First impressions matter - a lot! What I always try to do is introduce my characters with a punch, whether that be through direct action (like Desmond) or through a tense interaction (like Keaton). The major elements of the character should be demonstrated quite explicitly in their first reveal. This way, the reader isn't left guessing at their role in the story - the foundation is already established. With Seth, for instance, I tried to make sure the reader immediately understood that he was a friend, perhaps one of the only relatable and caring people in the Breaching of the Walls Department. He demonstrated this by approaching Nathan and actually asking him how he was handling his new situation. I've found that when I introduce a character too subtly, quickly, or plainly, they inevitably deteriorate into shells. Somehow, though, simply revamping their introduction seems to fill them out in their later scenes.
Now, of course, that tip doesn't apply as directly to the protagonist. When it comes to the protagonist, things get a lot more complicated – especially in a first-person narration. I actually had a few difficulties with Nathan in my first drafts. He just wouldn’t seem to “come to life” as you put it. If you want to read more about my hiccups with Nathan, you can see my blog post about him either here on Goodreads or on my website (https://www.jordancreed.com/single-po...). What helped me to pin down my protagonist was my first piece of advice. I had to wriggle my way into his head and seek out the complexities. Some protagonists are easier than others, I think, especially when one has a central flaw like anger, selfishness, fear, etc. But again, if the character you are talking about is the protagonist, I would say that envisioning him as a real person in possession of qualities rather than the qualities themselves will help to flesh him out.
Hope that helps!
Jordan Creed
I have a two-step plan to writer's block, actually. The first is simply prevention. In my experience, the best protection is organization. For each of my stories, I always outline the major plot points, then summarize the individual chapters, then briefly outline the details of the chapters, then finally write them. I spend nearly as much time planning as I do writing, in fact. (To read more about my writing model, see my blog post on my website: https://www.jordancreed.com/single-po...). I have found that model of working from the outside in to prevent writer's block most of the time.
However, I have encountered one or two instances of writer's block before. That's where my second step is implemented. It may seem counterintuitive, but my solution to writer's block is writing. If I can't afford to skip to a further part of the story, I force myself to bear down, armour up, and drudge through it. I remind myself that I can always return to this draft and fix it later. I just need to put something down and continue along, however bad it may be.
Although that plan may not work for everyone, I've found it to save me from a few sticky situations in the past years.
However, I have encountered one or two instances of writer's block before. That's where my second step is implemented. It may seem counterintuitive, but my solution to writer's block is writing. If I can't afford to skip to a further part of the story, I force myself to bear down, armour up, and drudge through it. I remind myself that I can always return to this draft and fix it later. I just need to put something down and continue along, however bad it may be.
Although that plan may not work for everyone, I've found it to save me from a few sticky situations in the past years.
Jordan Creed
The best thing about being a writer is the fulfillment I get from completing a story. I think every writer feels a sense of duty to their stories and a sense of duty to cementing them in the world. My stories are very dear to me, and it would be a personal crime to lock them away in the back of my mind where they'll wither and be forgotten. They have to be told and preserved. They have to be written. That's the best thing about being a writer: capturing my inner world like a photographer captures his outer world.
Jordan Creed
Although it may seem like common sense, the best advice I can give is this: write! The most important thing is that a certain amount of one's day is dedicated to sitting in front of a laptop and putting words down - quality or not. Whether one writes for thirty minutes or seven hours, just write. When I started writing, I was pretty clueless. But I got better by sitting down every single day and getting to work. Once that foundation of dedication was established and a constant stream of creation was produced, I looked back two years later and saw that I had a hardcopy of my first novel sitting on my bookshelf...
Jordan Creed
Currently, I'm editing the next installment of The Breacher Trilogy, The Breacher: Revenant, and working hard to get it in your hands by fall of 2017! To stay updated on its progress, release, and offers, subscribe to my mailing list at www.jordancreed.com!
Jordan Creed
The short answer is music, actually. Music is one of my most notable inspirations. In fact, almost all of my chapters, characters, and stories are based on songs and the emotions or images they contribute to my imagination. The music births the stories, but what forces me to write is my dedication to those stories. I feel a sense of duty to these narratives I find myself in possession of. They have to be told. If no one else is going to do it, I'd better get working!
Jordan Creed
I can't say that the idea for The Breacher came from any one source. Rather, it was about a month-long process of imagination and various inspirations that gave me the story. It began when I was fifteen and toying with the concept of population control and what forms it might take. I settled on a model which soon became the System that we know in the novel. Of course, if I wanted to implement that model into a narrative, I needed a setting, a plot, and characters. I forget the source of this idea, but I developed the Colony as the perfect place for the System to operate. After that, Nathan and Jon came to be. At first, however, they were simply friends rather than adoptive brothers. I knew that Jon would be injured, Nathan would choose to save him, and that he would Advance in order to do it, but that was about all I had mapped out. Once the Breaching of the Walls Department hit me, though, I ran with it until the major aspects of the plot were established. One of the interesting things I noted along the way was that I never felt as if I was creating this story myself. I felt like I had stumbled across scattered pieces of a puzzle and was slowly reorganizing them into their intended whole.
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