… Just give me seven days.

Sorry, I can’t help it. Whenever someone asks me how I come up with my characters, I get this mental image of Dr. Frank-N-Furter smirking and pouting while singing about the concept of creating the finest testosterone-enhanced creature in the short span of a week. It’s a nice thought, really, and definitely one of those talents I wish I’d been born with.

However, if I’m being completely honest, I’ve never actually believed that I create my own characters. They seem to find me—an odd but interesting individual with purple hair walking past me on a set of stairs; a man that looks strong enough and big enough to be the stunt double for Beast, but who has the strangest, sweetest smile I’ve ever seen; a sex-worker on the street with such a direct gaze that I’m convinced he can see right into the dirty parts of my soul—characters are everywhere if you let your imagination run with the prompt that the Universe gives you.

This twists the question away from “How do I create my characters?” to the more precise query of “How do I find a voice for the characters I’ve been given?”

[Before I continue, I have to insert the following disclaimer because I am not a big fan of the this-is-how-you-MUST-write-to-succeed post. That disclaimer is: Yes, there is a perfect way for you to be successful at writing, but I have no idea what that way is for you. You, and only you, are the master of your creative demon. What you are about to read is merely a summary on what works for me.]

Let’s face it, I don’t live the life of any of my main characters. I’ve never hired an escort, ships terrify me, and I’ve yet to be offered the opportunity to write a star’s biography. Although, I’d try. Seriously. The email address is a.freedom.henley@gmail.com for anyone who’d like to throw in an offer. I’m talking to you, Mr. Depp. You too, Mr. Keller.

[What? It could happen. Maybe. I’m just saying I’m open to the possibility.]

So, is it hard to find a voice for a character that I don’t appear to have any relatable issues with? No, actually. Not really.

When I write about a character—be they male, female, Caucasian, Romanian, straight, bi, gay, young, or old—first and foremost I keep in mind the fact that he or she is a supposed to be a person. Before they are any other label they are people. Whatever their history, they have fears and hopes and needs just like I do. Regardless of how they’ve developed, at some point in their life they’ve cried and laughed and lost their mind over something stupid, just like I have. There’s something that inexplicably turns them on, and something that grosses them the hell out. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I’ll make this the last time I type this… but again, just like me.

Point being, I make my character a living, breathing, speaking being in my head, and once I’ve understood that my character is just another guy, or just another girl, the circumstance of their story becomes secondary to their emotional experience within the story. I ask myself, what is the basic expression that my character wakes up with in the morning, and goes to bed with at night? Are they anxious? Disappointed? Frustrated? Scared?

Once I’ve figured that out, I could be writing about a thirteen-year-old tribesman from New Guinea about to sit down to a meal of Rockefeller brains and I will have no problem relating to him. (Hey! It’s not a stereotype – I looked it up!) He’s going to sit down on his mat and as he eats, he’s going to tell me how he secretly cringes over the idea of taking a wife, how terrified he is by the pale people’s skin colour, and that he’s got a sore on his left heel that he’s afraid to tell anyone about lest he be sent to the healer.

Because I may not know what it’s like to grow up in an indigenous setting, but I damn well know about fear.

Luckily enough, most of the characters that find me these days tend to inspire men’s stories of a romantic and sensual nature. So I don’t think we have to worry about reading the above plot bunny anytime soon.

Until next time!

AF Henley <3

~ * ~

Henley was born with a full-blown passion for run-on sentences, a zealous indulgence in all words descriptive, and the endearing tendency to overuse punctuation. Since the early years Henley has been an enthusiastic writer, from the first few I-love-my-dog stories to the current leap into erotica.

A self-professed Google genius, Henley lives for the hours spent digging through the Internet for ‘research purposes’ which, more often than not, lead seven thousand miles away from first intentions but bring Henley to new discoveries and ideas that, once seeded, tend to flourish.

Henley has been proudly publishing with Less Than Three Press since 2012, and has been writing like mad ever since—an indentured servant to the belief that romance and true love can mend the most broken soul. Even when presented in prose.

Henley’s upcoming release, “The Chase and The Catch” will hit the market on November 19th, but is available for a limited time on pre-order at a discounted cost. Check it out HERE.

For more information please stop by for a visit at afhenley.com.