Character Development through Voice Journals

Alan Rinzler posted a great article about character development, using a technique from James Scott Bell’s The Art of War for Writers, called voice journaling. His article inspired me to practice with the characters I’m writing about.

I figured that I would start off with the easiest character first, since I already know a lot about her.

My name is Amanda Colbain, and I have an unusual life. People have told me that I’m striking with my blond hair, dark brown eyes and a naturally perpetual grin. Some of them have learned to become afraid of me because I know who they are without them having to tell me. Their secrets and intentions flow into my mind like oily slime. To them, I’m a dangerous woman. Perhaps I am, although I gain no sense of power from their fear. I call it my survival mechanism.

Others latch on to me because of what they feel that I can give them: solace or power. The former involves missing and/or dead friends or relatives. The latter involves questions about cheating spouses or fortunes. It’s the latter that I resent because they know the answer and are too afraid to deal with the reality of their situation. I’m not a fortune teller and don’t like being used.

Because of the latter issue, I try to keep a lid on my clairvoyant ability and always have. As I grew up, my friends would always joke to each other and call me The Clapper because I was able to find their lost keys or shoes. It was little things, while I was growing up. Then, after my first husband tried to stab me to death, it turned into something more.

Next, I sketched Randy Lorenz, Amanda’s adversary.

My name is Randy Lorenz, and I have no real place in this universe. None of the kids at school seemed to notice me, not that I made any real effort to get to know any of them. They would have made me their bitch, like mom and dad did at home. I don’t count unless I’m doing somebody’s bidding, whether it’s taking out the garbage or hiding bodies.

The only body I really wanted to bury was Amanda Christine’s. The stupid bitch has no reason to exist, except to be a constant reminder of why I don’t matter to my dad. She is the star of the family, the one who is supposed to be important and do great things. That’s what Dad always said. He has nothing nice to say to me. To him I’m a shit for brains who will die in prison.

I hate her and her self-importance. Her husband obviously hated her, too, because he tried to kill her. I know because I was there. Dad instructed me to stop it but I didn’t. I stood in the background and watched the guy raise the knife up and down. She never screamed. When it was over and he left, I took my time walking up to the grave where she had been standing. I didn’t have to touch her to know that she was dead.

I shouldn’t have called 9-1-1. What I should have done is left the cemetery and let Dad find her that night or the next morning. If I had done that, she would have stayed dead. Of course, he might have killed me and for some reason unknown to me, I wanted to live. She disappeared four years after her old man was found dead at a bar. I figured she was gone for good, but I figured wrong.

The bitch decided to come collect the fortune that should have been mine. Dad had awarded it all to her and her fucking retarded brother. Because she was the anointed one. God, I hate her.

As I reached the middle of the second draft of SOE, I realized that Randy wasn’t the true villain. He was a spineless wimp, who tried to act tough by intimidating Amanda and her new family. His actions set off a chain of events that became not only his undoing but others as well.

I had so much fun with the journaling process that I decided to get the book to see what other tips Bell has to offer in his book.

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