Libby Fischer Hellmann | How To Create Believable Female Characters

The best plot in the world. The most thrilling story of the century. A tale so
compelling it changes the lives of millions. None of them work if the characters
don't ring true.

You might think it's easy for a female writer to create believable, convincing
female characters. It isn't. Nothing about the writing process is 'easy'. Having
said that, I've discovered a way to flesh my women out, make them life-like and
three dimensional. But it wasn't always that way.

The essential male / female split

Before I was published, I wrote three novels. None have seen the light of day,
and they never will, because they weren’t ready. I had to learn the craft of
fiction. To wit, in one of those novels, two male police officers were the
protagonists. One of them walked into a house to question a witness, and the
first thing he noticed were the curtains in the window.

“Um... no,” said my writing group. A solid, beefy cop would NOT notice curtains when he walked into a house. "You need to learn the difference between a man and a woman's point of view”, they said. Looking back, it seems obvious now. But at the time it felt like a revelation.

I took their advice. Knowing what men and women think, do, and see differently,
and applying it to my characters, helped enormously (more about that later). I
eventually discovered I loved writing about women, particularly women whose
options have been stripped away from them… who are up against the wall and
desperate. How do they survive? How do they triumph over their obstacles? Many
of my stories focus on these themes.

But there's more to a woman’s personality than her gender. It's the fine detail that makes her complex. After I figured out the male–female POV, I discovered a powerful tool. I now use it regularly to create female protagonists who come across as real … credible, authentic, and unique.

Backstories are the key

I use backstories for character development. There are plenty of books and
articles on the subject, but it's easy to boil it down. Here's my take.

After I decide on the main 3-4 female characters in the novel, I dive in and
start writing about who they are. It usually takes the form of “stream of
consciousness” in that I don’t pay attention to grammar, punctuation, or even
complete sentences. I am simply sketching them out. Often, it’s a ragged start.
I’ll falter and dither with no idea who they are. But then something strange
happens. I’ll start imagining a scene from their life. It might be when they
were a little girl, a teenager, or even something in the present. Suddenly I
can’t write fast enough. I need to get it down. What happened… how she felt
about it… was there a victim? A perpetrator? Or was it all sweetness and joy?
What were the consequences?

To this day, I still don’t know where this comes from – I assume it’s my
subconscious – that I’ve let it loose to play. Whatever it is, it takes off with
a life of its own. And once I have that (for lack of a better term) “Important
Event” on paper, I fill in the gaps.

Who is this woman, her family background? How does she react to events? What
were her parents like? Her upbringing and schooling? Her choice of career... or
not? Her affluence or lack of it. Ability to trust others. Her dreams, loves and
hates, vices, and/or other formative experiences.

The backstory usually ends up being two or three single-spaced pages. But here’s
the thing: I only use two to five percent of the backstory in the actual book.
The rest stays on the paper. But their background helps me understand them and
helps me create plot points, since I know what they’re capable of and how far
they’ll go.

The 'mother from hell'

For example, my crime thriller EASY INNOCENCE is about a high school prostitution ring that’s run by one of the girls. Her mother is Andrea Walsh. I needed to figure out what kind of mother would produce a teen-age girl who came to manage a group of high-school hookers.

Andrea’s backstory provided the answers. She grew up in a blue collar “Lace
Curtain” Irish neighborhood on Chicago's south side. She had an abusive father.
Becoming a paralegal allowed her to escape her roots, marry a wealthy young
lawyer, and move to the North Shore. Once I had that, the plot moved along
smoothly. Because I knew her intimately, I knew how she’d raise her own child
and why.

Female Mafia Chief

I also wrote a major backstory for Frankie Pacelli, the protagonist in my thriller HAVANA LOST, who becomes the first female Mafia family chief. At the beginning of the story Frankie was 18, headstrong, and spoiled. Probably not surprising, since her father was a ruthless Mafia-boss and casino owner. Cuba's revolutionary history, rich in strife, provided a complex backstory that shaped Frankie as well. And a love affair gone bad didn’t hurt. The upshot was a woman who came to chase power instead of love.

Neither book would have worked without my knowing the characters on an intimate
level, and I discovered it through their backstories.

Jump Cut

The same goes for my latest Ellie Foreman book, JUMP CUT. Thanks to an ever-evolving backstory and four prior crime thrillers, I know Ellie as well as I know myself. But I didn't know the new characters, especially the ambitious and secretive Charlotte Hollander. So I wrote her backstory and by doing so, was able to make her motivation and behavior credible.

You’ll notice I haven’t discussed hair styles, fashion, body image, or some of
the other issues often mentioned in women’s fiction. While some authors might
feel they are necessary, I don’t. Yes, they can provide “business” ie, a woman
plans her next move while she’s putting on her make-up, or she twists an ankle
in ultra-high heel designer shoes and thus can’t tail someone.

But what’s important to me are the traits I believe differentiate women from
men: the ability to hold contradictory views simultaneously, the ability to
internalize and project, more empathy and compassion. Or the absence of those,
which REALLY makes a woman interesting.

What do you think?

Giveaway

One commenter will win a copy of JUMP CUT JUMP CUT marks the return, after a ten year hiatus, of Chicago video producer Ellie Foreman, in a thriller that PW, in a starred review, calls “exceptional.” Ellie is producing a video for a giant Chicago aviation company, but half way through, the project is cancelled. In her efforts to find out why, Ellie is soon entangled in a web of espionage, drones, hackers, and spies, all of which threaten those closest to her. It will be released March 1, 2016. More at libbyhellmann.com