Character mapping is really a simple process.

I'm sure many of you are wondering just where to get started with character mapping. How do you learn how to develop a character? Name interpretations may be one way to get the ball rolling. This page offers you a bit of insight into some character development tips that will set you off on the right path to determining just the right description for your character as you see that person, place, or thing in your own mind.

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If you still are puzzled as to why I don't just say a person, but add on a place, or a thing, the reason is because characters don't just have to be living, breathing human beings. Anything can have character when your creative juices are flowing. You just have to find a way to make each and every one of your characters jump out at your readers and grab their attention. The best example of a non-human character is on the TV show, Lost. Click here to understand more about how the characters are plotted out on that show.

Another quick and easy character development tip that will have you immersed in writing your novel characters in no time at all is to make your first paragraph immediately enlighten your readers about either the main character, or some other main fact of your story. This will instantly grab their attention and have them flipping page after page of your story before you know it.

Click here to read an example from a story I've written, along with a couple of other beginnings to stories written by well-known novelists Mark Twain and J.D. Salinger. These will show you how first paragraphs can make all the difference. You can check out the literary illusions page as well to find some more tips on this. After all, your story itself can be considered a character. To you, it has a life all its own and is constantly changing the stakes and making you wonder what to do next. It has its own dynamics and personality, and you are trying to figure out how to best shape all of that into a compelling, purposeful piece of writing.

So you see, characters are everywhere. You just have to find out how to write them. The best way to do this is by reading other characters and learning how to make yours work best for your style of writing. This is where character mapping comes into play.

Once you have an idea in your head, an outline on paper, or you have jotted down an illegible memory in the middle of the night from a dream you had that sparked the most imaginative streak in you, you can begin creating your map. Just to show how you can make a character map, I will lay out the outline of a character map here, based on the TV show Friends. As you read, see how the characters and connections were all laid out from the very beginning, and how essential the pilot episode was to the success of the series.

Have fun character mapping. You're sure to be thinking of more inspired ideas before you know it!

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