Seven days and counting, to make my book alive

Character charts are still in progress. This has grown to become a bigger job than I thought it would.

I have it down to three types of charts. I am trying to simplify my life as well as my work. I have completed two out of the three charts and am seeing a big improvement already.

With many of the redone character charts, I have gained a new perspective of my characters and found wonderful things to make the writing more alive.

So, when I am done with a character chart, when they are completely fleshed out and alive, I go back to the book. I am writing in Word and I use my Find to find each instance of that characters name to make sure their actions are consistant. This also allows for adding touches that are unique to their true character.

People do not reveal themselves right away. How often do you meet a person and think they are one type. Then, as the layers peel away and you find a whole other person. So, why should these characters, who you have created, show themselves to you on your first meeting?

Let them interact with each other and their new environment and then revisit them down the road to see who they actually are. It will make your book so much more alive.