There’s a major problem I have when I do any public speaking or talk to my students – especially when it’s a little off the cuff. I hate repeating words. I’m not sure if it’s a mental problem but I don’t want to sound dumb. I mean, besides the normal way I sound dumb.

During an eloquent delivery (see?), there are a bunch of voices in my head. Not just on pitch day either (see yesterday’s post).

The hardest part about this is separating these voices. One of the ways to do this is to give each character characteristics. I start by coming up with at least five traits that a character can have. He can be emotive, happy-go-lucky, shy, loud, et al. You get the picture. I put those together that, at first, seem willy nilly. Well, it is willy nilly. But once I put them on paper, I try to make them a little different. Do I want someone who is shy and reserved? That’s a little boring. I want to make those adjectives or traits to be pretty varied. Heck, maybe they aren’t even closely related at all.

Shy and loves to play with buttons. Huh? Not really related but pretty cool.

See what it does? It elicits a feeling about a character. I mean, what kind of person likes to play with buttons?

This gives the character a life of their own. This is SUPER important in this world of make-believe. It’s important if you are a character designer. It helps give form to your character. What her face looks like. What kind of clothes they wear. It does it all. Start with a blank canvas? You get a blank character.

It’s also important with animation. Give the character some fears and loves and suddenly you have vibrant animation that seems a bit more real. Do this with writing? Well, that’s my whole point of this long run-on paragraph laden rant. I can’t even begin to write anything until I know who my characters are. I do a biography so I can hear them speak.

And speak to me they do. I don’t have to write anymore because they do it for me. (I, however, will take the paychecks. They get nothing and like it.) This can’t happen without drawing up characteristics. Without breathing a little more life into them.

But believe me, there are days I wish I didn’t have so many of them in my head…at the same time.

It’s hard enough to know what is MY voice anymore…but that’s another discussion…