Characterisation

Play

Current Time 0:00

Duration Time 0:00

Remaining Time -0:00

Loaded: 0%

Progress: 0%

00:00

Fullscreen

00:00

Mute

Viewing guide

Before

Where does Tara gather ideas from for her characters?
How does Tara approach male and female characters?

During

During the video, think about these questions:

How does Tara gather ideas for her characters?
What difference in approach does she have between male and female characters?

After

What was the inspiration for the last character you wrote about?
How do you get into the minds of male and female characters in your writing?

Bill Spence: How do you go about developing a character?

Tara June Winch: A character can come from someone that I might have met in real life or an anecdote or a small story about a person or a newspaper clipping. I don't know, I think, it just comes from life and you just hear something special, you see something special, and you realise that they could be the person or the impetus to bring a story to a reader.

Bill: How do write through the minds of male and female characters?

Tara: The female character's ok; the young female character I've been working on, mainly. Male characters … I tend to just hang around my brothers and get their boyishness to rub off on my shoulders. I think men … it depends what the character is like. I think male characters can be quite sensitive, can be quite feminine, and female characters can be quite boyish and brash. So, you know …. And also reading and just trying to balance between the two.