I’m still working on the first draft of this new novel. It’s based on a true story, and that’s given me the main plot points of the narrative. There’s so much to learn, though, about the characters and what might or might not be possible for them. One of the things I like most about writing novels based on stories from the news, particularly stories way back in time, is the fact that the news stories usually don’t have much to offer about the people at their heart. Who were they when they were alone in the dark? How can they surprise me, the readers, and themselves? What’s left to be known beyond the headlines?

Here are ten questions I use while writing the first draft:

 

1. What secrets do my characters carry with them?

 

2. What do they think they know about themselves?

 

3. What do they think they know about other characters?

 

4. I already know the plot arc, but what are the arcs of the main characters? How do they contain the opposite of what’s initially apparent?

 

5. How did they come to be the people they are? What’s their back stories?

 

6. If their essential character is harsh, what softens it? Vice versa, if their essential character is saintly or angelic, what roughens it?

 

7. How do the worlds they occupy shape their characters?

 

8. What hidden talents do they have? Why are they hesitant to reveal them?

 

9. Where am I connected to my main characters? How can I make their stakes in the story mine as well?

 

10. How can I use the answers to these questions to write scenes that will push the plot along?

 

Writing a draft of a novel has always been an act of discovery for me. The characters show me things about themselves I never could have guessed from reading the news stories. I leave myself open to imagined events that may help me make my characters more multi-dimensional rather than merely names in newsprint.