I’ll admit it. I wrote my first novel, Flight of the Crow http://amzn.to/XGyoU2 for myself. I wanted to see if I could finish a full-length novel and hold it in my hands and show the paperback to anyone who was interested, but a strange thing happened on my journey. People bought the book, I received some nice reviews and I learned a lot about writing.

Was I surprised? A little. I had previously written two other novels, Return to Superior and The Book, but I never tried to publish either one.  Return to Superior is a love story that spanned several lifetimes which I might revisit to work on the characters some more. The Book, a story of a worldwide conspiracy, might not see the light of day, but it was a learning experience.

At a book reading I did for Flight of the Crow at Malvern bookstore in Austin, Texas, I was asked how I developed the characters for my first book. The main individuals, Tony Crow and Don Hanson were easy. Tony had a mixture of private detective qualities from novels I’ve read mixed in with some of my own experiences. Tony walks with a cane because of a shooting he was involved in as a Minneapolis police officer. I also use a cane because of a disability and could work in some of my experiences with the difficulties of walking on ice during a Minnesota winter or climbing a flight of stairs with no handrail. Using actual experiences, I believe, makes a story more authentic.

Don Hanson, Tony Crow’s sidekick in the book is modeled after a friend of mine from high school. His name was also Don Hanson and it made it easier for me to use his real name, because I knew how my friend would act and what he’d say when the character in the book had to react to a situation. I actually could see the expressions on his face as I was writing. That helped me round out the characters in the book.

One of the first things I learned when I started writing was to compose a story about what you knew. For example, If you lived in a city all your life and you’re familiar with the surroundings, then consider having your characters live in that city. Flight of the Crow takes place in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Austin, Texas, two cities I’ve lived in and know well.

I’m going to add something to that idea. Model your characters after people you know. As your story unfolds, the individuals will grow into someone else, and you might not even remember the original connection, but for me, it was a big help to start writing about someone I knew. I could visualize how he/she would act because I’d see their faces while I was writing a scene they were in.

If you have any tips or comments about developing characters, please leave them in the comment section below.