Whether they be humanoid or not most stories have something to carry the plot along. I am pleased to report that in Order of the Brethren the characters are human, and in that comes both fun and difficulty. I want my characters to be human in the way they look, think, act, react, and feel.
The main protagonist in the A Pirate's Legacy series is Francois Evreux, AKA the pirate Dolphin. During the course of writing previous stories there appeared supporting characters--his wife, Mariah, their first born, Jean-Paul, the Dolphin's mentor, Aloysius "Hogshead" Shaver, Margaret "Black Maggie" DuBri, and others, many others. Of course, new characters appear, each stepping up to take their moment or two at the footlights. That can cause problems if the writer is not an adroit juggler.
People who write or think they can write proffer "rules" about writing.Some howl at having too many characters, and would criticize Cecil B. DeMille for using a cast of thousands. I use whatever it takes to move the story forward and manage them as any good general. So, who are some of these people? Where do they come from? What do they know and do? Let me start with Francois the Dolphin.
My main protagonist evolved while researching historical events around the year 1600. New World piracy was in its infancy. It was all the rage in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North Africa. In book two, The Urchin Pirate, I introduce Francois as a six-year-old orphan footloose on the streets. The bulk of the story focuses on his life at age fifteen. Times were different then. At fifteen you were considered an adult and expected to act like one. That attitude had a great deal to do in shaping and using him. As the story flew onto the electronic page, appearance and mannerisms fell into place. He is cool and calm under pressure, but there is a dark side when someone he loves is hurt, and it is that reflexive response that gets him into eternal trouble. Recording these traits is a real necessity, therefore I maintain a Character Profile for each and every individual no matter how insignificant they may seem. One never knows if they will appear again down the road, and considering I am dealing with ghosts, just because they die is no reason to brush them aside.
During a recent, online discussion about creating characters, one writer proposed a series of questions. I assume it works for him, but if I went into that sort of detail, I'd never get to the opening paragraph. The Character Profile I use is a modification and amalgamation of several forms.
There is a mug shot of how I invision his appearance, thanks to model agency pics. The pics at the bottom are representative of period clothing. Page one is basic information. In the case of this character, there are additional pages of detailed notes including a life timeline and a genealogy chart. The latter is important because Francois' descendents and some of the descendents of select associates become an important factor in the stories. (Specifically detailed in Book 5, The Bones).
Pasquel is introduced in Order of the Brethren, and is representative of the attention I give minor characters. Basically, his role is to highlight the customs of the Taino Indians which once inhabited the Caribbean Islands before Spanish decimation.
In all of human history only one individual is recorded as being perfect. The rest of us more or less have issues. That is important to remember as we give our characters life. In the case of Francois, he is a stable rock with a suppressed tendency to uncontrolled rage. Just when he thinks he has a handle on it - bang! There are all sorts of idiosyncrasies and weaknesses available to make a character more believable, just don't go overboard. The other aspect is referred to as the "arc." In short, a character starts out life one way and over the coarse of the story becomes changed. That is something worth exploring later.
Finally, naming a character. In the case of Francois, I came across it in another life and liked it. Evreax is fictitious as far as I know. It just evolved as sounding French. Pasquel came from a list of names popular in southern Spain. My Taino and Carib Indian names came from records of the times. I search the Internet for name lists for certain areas and periods of time, or thumb through my genealogy files to use family names. How a writer comes up with them isn't important as long as he or she thinks they fit the character and would be appropriate for the time.
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