Reading for Your Characters

I recently finished reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and I have to admit it was not my kind of novel. I almost stopped reading it about half-way through, but I decided to finish it because it struck some chords with one of my characters. Something about its gothic air and the moral questions it raised appealed to Judith, one of the characters in my WIP The Everstone. Reading Jane Eyre helped me learn more about Judith’s ideas about the world.

That is what I mean by reading for your characters. Picking out and reading books that your characters would enjoy or find interesting. I started doing it this past fall when my family began making frequent trips to the library. When I had no idea what to read, I went around looking for something one of my characters might like. I’ve actually found out a lot about my characters through this process. Everything from developing their backstories, learning how their minds work, and discovering new contrasts between them.

One character, Donovan from my book The Other Side of the Rainbow, was strangely attracted to Charles Dickens. Dickens’ style seemed so far from Donovan’s personality and character that for a while I couldn’t put my finger on why he enjoyed these books. The more obvious answer was that he came from a poor family himself, but Dickens’ characters are often not just poor but also horribly traumatized. So I started asking Donovan what happened to him that he should relate so much to these characters. As I fleshed out his backstory, this became apparent in his own trauma. I can only imagine how long it would have taken me to find that key point in his story if I hadn’t started reading Charles Dickens.

Another character from The Other Side of the Rainbow took me down quite a different path. Iris studies entomology and spends a lot of her time observing insects. So, one day, I decided to take out a field guide on insects. Suffice it to say, I am not a science girl. Though I found some interesting bug facts, I could barely understand half of the scientific terms. Thankfully, reading through the book was as fruitful as it was confusing. The complicated scientific portions gave me an appreciation for Iris’ mind and her ability to keep all of those names and facts straight. I could also see why she loves entomology so much: there are so many different species and interesting things to learn from each one.

Lastly, I wanted to highlight something I noticed about the different tastes of Judith and Mia, the main character in The Everstone. After I discovered Judith’s taste in books, I started wondering what kind of books Mia would read. Given that she’s an avid bookworm, I was surprised I had never asked myself that question before. After some searching, I realized she would enjoy Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. I found this interesting because it showed a little of the contrast between her and Judith. Both Jane Eyre and Tuck Everlasting deal with moral dilemmas, but they are very different from each other. Tuck Everlasting asks the question whether immortality is something to be desired, a much more hypothetical question than Jane Eyre’s dealings with justice and bigamy. And again, Jane Eyre is much more gothic than Tuck Everlasting, which maintains a whimsical air in both setting and storyline. By understanding the different books they’re drawn to, I’ve been able to develop Mia and Judith’s characters more. I understand Mia’s love for adventure and Judith’s struggle to understand the world a little more now.

The next time you go to a library, or even to your own bookshelves, I highly suggest looking for books that your characters would like to read. You never know what part of them they’ll reveal to you next. Plus, aside from helping yourself to a better understanding of their backstory, minds, and interests, you’re doing them a favor as well. After all, your characters will never read a real book. So why not read one for them?