Of Pens and Inkwells

I’m here today to tell you what I’ve learned about my newest character, Elyna!

I don’t usually make up last names to my characters unless they’re absolutely needed (or told to me by my characters), so for now she’s just Elyna.

When figuring out my characters, I often make a list of traits or interests that define my character. Then, I add up pros and cons to my character (vices and virtues, if you will), and also piece together the background of their life (what happened before they first appear in their book). Understanding their weaknesses and strengths helps me a lot when working with them later on.

Here is what I have so far, as a sampling of how I plot characters (Elyna in particular, for this example).

Elyna (is):

• 19 (book one); 23 (book three)
• a trained thief
• one who likes to hide in shadows; very secretive
• okay with magic (trained by Farendil) but is much more suited for assassin-thief work
• partial to bows and daggers
• hardly interested in politics; somewhat self-absorbed
• stubborn and strong-willed to the point of being overbearing
• prefers light armoured suits to robes and dresses (much to Farendil’s annoyance)
• thinks most rules but the highest code are to be broken
• has only been in one relationship with another thief that betrayed her for money and as a cover-up to his own crimes
• is very loyal to family (and friends)
• quick-witted and protective
• sharp-tongued
• hard to following orders

This list is usually proceeded by background information, vices & virtues, and usual little things like favorite colors, clothing, interests, hobbies, nicknames, birth dates, etc. I have gone this method of character building for the rest of the characters in this series (Rafael & Kayse from Tortured Compositions included), and it has worked well for me so far.

Anyway. That is supposed to be Elyna on the book cover at the beginning of this post. The title, The Thief Apprentice, is a working title … meaning it is apt to change at any time. As I’m still not solid on the workings of this novel (it will be a NaNo August novel this year!), the plot could change and another title could become suitable. As it is, Elyna is a thief who becomes apprenticed, against her will, to the court mage, Farendil (who has proper etiquette and likes to be left alone to his research). This sort of explains the title choice, maybe just a little.

A couple weeks ago, the story line for Tortured Compositions blew up and became a four book series. The series in entitled The Annals of Fenellyn.

I am excited to get to work on writing it (and seriously editing Tortured Compositions), and you should hear more about it as time goes on and August kicks into high gear. :)