Characters
Sometimes we base our characters on ourselves. Our feelings and opinions manage to transfer to these hollow people, slowly bringing them to life. But what about our baddies?
Does this mean that we all have nasty hidden traits like psychopaths or serial killers?
I love writing about villains, whether they are all bad or just a little. Does that make me inherently bad too?
Problems
This is the most important and also the fun part. Our characters need problems. I think about this a lot and have often wondered if this rule applies to us too. When do we feel most alive, firing on all cylinders and bursting with energy? Usually, when we have a ton of problems to solve.
I made this assumption because I have been feeling a bit meh lately, and only just realised it could be because I don’t have any serious problems at the moment.
Desires
As soon as I can, I must establish what my characters think they want or need. This will change as the story progresses, of course, as finding the HEA often leads them down unfamiliar roads, doing the strangest things.
Message
Lastly, what is this universal message that books must have?
Basically, characters need to evolve and become better and happier people by the end of the story. Love – death – corruption – heroism. I have been told to consider the theme of my own life. Unfortunately, this didn’t help much for reasons I won’t go into here. Maybe this is why I became a writer, to find solutions that work?
They say that love conquers all obstacles. I know it doesn’t, but often wondered why they say that…
Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes 
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