Another small character detail that often gets overlooked by writers before they start writing…….

Hi all,

So, OK, you sit down to write your novel/short story/etc. and you think you know everything about your character. The physical appearance. How he/she looks, what their hair color is, their eye color, whether they’re old or young, whether they are heavy or thin. Heck, you even know the entire mental history of the character as well, including the fact that he/she really, really hated his 5th grade teacher. But they also liked the cute boy/girl that sat by the window in that class and that’s what kept them going all year. Why you even charted out the entire timeline for that character, including emotional and sexual history. But then, yeah, there’s still something missing.

Do you know the birthdate of you character? Oh, sure, you know how old he/she is but do you know when/where they were born? Most writers are good with the general age part but have not nailed it down to an exact date. And why is this necessary for your writing? Well, I can answer in one world. Astrology. After thinking about everything about your character (mental, physical, emotional), IMO, it is important to also consider the astrological sign of your character. Is your character a sexy Scorpio (like my Dracula and Erik characters are), a sensitive soul (a Pisces) or even, a powerful, ‘bullish’ type character (an Aries). Thinking about when your character was born (day and month) will allow one to fully integrate and emphasize more of the character’s traits. Also, vice verse, you can work backwards so that once you’ve developed a character, you can assign he/she a birthdate.

Again, it’s probably not paramount to assign a birthdate (and astrological sign) to every, single character in your novel. If the character only has a walk on, walk off part, then no. But, if the character makes up a significant portion of your novel/short story, I’d say go for deciding on an astrological sign. Because by giving your character a definite birthday, not only can you write cool short stories (imagine the teasing Vlad endures when its his birthday) but you can also tip off a closer reader to what may be in store for the character or what the character may do. An astrological sign may even partially explain a character’s motivation in a work. So yes, astrological sign. Pick one for your character. It’s a small detail but one that can add up to be very significant in your written work.

Take care all,
Christine

PS----If you’re interested in astrological signs, check out this wikipedia link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign