How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson

Author:Randy Ingermanson [Ingermanson, Randy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DitDat, Inc.
Published: 2014-07-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Your Character Bible

DURING THE BREAK, Goldilocks hurried down the hall to the snack table and got a banana and a cup of tea. She smiled at the young man with the bow and arrows. “What sort of novel are you writing?”

He gave her a confident grin. “It’s a collection of tales about a band of merry outlaws living in the forest, shooting wild deer and drinking ale and kissing wenches and evading the local sheriff.”

“Well, good luck on that …” Goldilocks peered at his name tag. “… um, Robin. Your story sounds awesome.”

He shrugged modestly. “Your story is pretty epic, too. I hope Baby Bear puts you on the hot seat again. I learn, like, loads about writing every time he gets you up there.” His eyes flicked down to her chest for a moment, and a sloppy smile played across his face. “And you look like a wench who likes to have fun. If you ever want to hang out in the forest—”

“Oh, my!” Goldilocks pointed to her watch. “Look at the time. We’d better get back to our workshop.”

When they reached the classroom, the Big Bad Wolf was curled up on the floor in the back corner of the classroom, snoring gently.

Precisely on time, Baby Bear rapped on the front table. “Step 7 in the Snowflake Method is to write up a character bible for each of your characters. You can do this however it works best for you. Some authors like to start by finding pictures on the Internet that resemble their characters. If that helps you visualize your character, then do it. But let’s remember the most important thing. You want to know enough about your characters so that you can get inside their skins.”

Baby Bear passed out sheets of paper with a large number of questions.

Robin looked at his and started snickering. “Why do I need to know what color my hero’s eyes are?”

Goldilocks couldn’t believe he could be so ignorant. “That’s important! You can tell a lot about a character from the color of his eyes.”

Robin laughed out loud. “What can you tell about me?”

She studied him. “Your eyes are all red and bloodshot. I bet you drink loads of ale and stay out too late at night chasing loose women.”

“Wenches,” he said. “Not loose women. Wenches.”

Goldilocks sniffed. “Same difference.”

Baby Bear cleared his throat. “You’re both missing an important point here. All too many books show the heroine with blue eyes on page 1 and green eyes on page 99. One purpose of your character bible is to give you a place to save all the little details about each character—so you don’t make mistakes like that.”

“Who would be so stupid?” asked Goldilocks.

“It happens all the time,” said Baby Bear.

“Why can’t you just remember that sort of thing?”

“When it’s 3:00 a.m. on the day your book is due to your editor, and you’re reading the proofs one last time to be sure it’s perfect, you’ll be very glad you have one central place where you can look up what year the village postmistress was born.

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