Sophie asked Jennifer E. Smith:

I am currently reading your book "Windfall." I think Teddy, Alice, Charlie and Leo all have excellent personalities. As i am only 12 years old i can't possibly imagine how hard writing a book must be, so I was wondering....how do you think of the characters? Do you base them on real-life people or do you make them up? I am loving Windfall and look forward to reading more of your books!

Jennifer E. Smith Thank you so much! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the book. That’s always nice to hear!

I think a lot of writers know their characters really well before they start writing, but I write to figure out who are they are. When I sit down to start a book, I don’t know much about it — just the basic set up. So at the beginning, my characters tend to be very opaque. But as I start to write my way into the story, I get to know them better and better. With each decision they make, with each fork in the road they have to choose, I start to understand who they are and what makes them tick. So by the time I’m at the end of a first draft, they’re three-dimensional and very real to me. And the biggest work I have to do when I revise is to go back and make them feel that way in the first half of the manuscript as well, since I was still getting to know them at that point.

I think it’s a bit of an unusual process, and I’m not sure I’d recommend it…! But one thing I’ve learned from writing all these years is that there’s no wrong way to do anything. You just have to try a lot of different things and see what works best for you. So good luck and happy writing!

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