Jack of Harts

I have created many characters that walk through the stories that I write. And in many ways they are real people in my mind. Sometimes they feel more real than the physical world around me. I often find myself asking “What would <character name> do?” when I see something happening. They all have different answers. I keep them straight by having a cheat sheet of major characters, giving their basic statistics, where they were born, where they grew up, and stuff like that. I also have character portraits of them. I’ve hired artists to make them. I use 3D software to make my own. The key is that whenever I am writing a character into a story, I pull up their picture and put it on the screen next to my writing window. I pull up my cheat sheet and place that next to their picture. And then I write. The characters I put to page feel real to me because I see them in my mind and with my eyes. And it is my great hope that I convey that reality with the words that flow through my fingers.