Eliza March talks about writing characters...

I build characters... My characters tell the story.

Authors are often aked how they come up with their ideas. I dread that question. The answer makes feel like a charlatan. I'd really like to think I write my stories, but if I'm honest with myself, I know how much my characters actually influence the path the story takes. Sure I come up with a concept, but over and over again, my characters do as they please, taking the plot to levels I never envisioned.

Lately I've been trying to garner a bit more control. Yet even as I write the story's synopsis, I can already feel the characters twisting the tale to fit their goals. Well, I guess you just can't fight human nature, and once an author creates a three dimensional character, there's no stopping them. The best characters get into their roles and play them out just as if they were real people... and I love them best. Whether it's a villian or a hero, the more an author develops the character's quirks, gets into the character's psyche, the closer a character comes to reality, and then the reader identifies more with that character. You can love them or hate them, but darn it I want the reader to feel something for those people I write about.