The Skeletøn Bøy

Behind the scenes: Character Creation

EDIT: this was previously published, but i drafted it. and now, i'm bringing it back. I think it's an interesting part of this story's history!

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Hello guys!

I'm going to give you a little insight on to why I created the characters the way I did. No character was spontaneously created - they all had reasoning behind them as to why they starred in this story. So, here we go!

Why did I pick a character like Elliott? 

Well. I remember it as clear as day when the idea came to me. It was for nanowrimo 2014, and I had to write a novel in 30 days (well, 50,000 words), and I needed an idea. I didn't even plan, I just started writing a prologue. And my mind spit out Elliott, an abused boy who was really a girl. The first draft of the prologue had Adrian dead in the basement on the floor with lipstick on. (this was when Adrian was a girl as well - all of them were. They even had girl names. Adrian was Adrianna, and Mat was Matilda, which is why I spelt Mat with only one t. But, then I changed my mind and made them real boys). Then, I planned out my book. My reasoning behind an abused child had to do with a personal story involving my own mother. She was abused as a child, and her younger brother was beaten to death because of it. So, taking that, I made up Elliott. And then I started planning around her. Of course, there is so many different ways i could have gone about creating Elliott, but I wanted mystery. And I wanted to incorporate a bit of myself. So, I took my insecurities, my need to please others, and my mother's abuse, and put it into a character. Then, I tweaked it, so she was her very own person. I also wanted to make Elliott come together at the end of the story, to become the person that was strong enough to overcome the abuse, but someone who had gone through the trials of a social recluse who was making friends. Not everyone we meet will be the perfect best friend - that's why the characters in this book are who they are.  

Why the brothers?

The point of Adrian is to show Elliott's growth. If Elliott had been an only child, not only would the reader not see the love Elliott has for family, but the reader would also not see Elliott grow. By the end of the book, Adrian is totally free from Elliott's clutches. This shows the release of control Elliott has. It shows how okay Elliott is with letting go, and finally living her own life. It shows Elliott's maturity as a brother (sister) as well. Adrian was here for Elliott only. Without Adrian, we wouldn't have seen this. Now, why Mat? Mat is an interesting character that on the surface looks like a random character when in reality, Mat represents Elliott's loss of childhood. Mat has a mental disorder where he thinks he's younger than he actually is. Mat not growing up was Elliott's childhood - which was stunted as a child. Elliott's childhood had basically stopped, like Mat's maturity. By the end of the book, Mat has grown into a normal twelve year old. This moving on and growing up symbolizes how Elliott was letting go and living his life, which included making up for the lost childhood. Mat moving on meant Elliott was moving on.  

Why Brent?? (other than love purposes haha)

Why have another guy when there is Wes? Well, Brent is important because he was mean to Elliott in the beginning. Basically, Elliott HATED Brent. But, when the two became friends, it proved to Elliott that people aren't always who you think of them and the power of first impressions. It also allows him to forgive his mother - he forgives Brent, and realizes that if he could forgive a bully, he could forgive his mother. Not even for the purpose of having a better relationship, but rather for the purposes of letting go of the past. Brent and Mother have a lot in common in the beginning with Elliott, and the parallel didn't go unnoticed. His main point was to allow the forgiveness of mother and letting her go. Also, Brent's siblings are taken by mother in the prologue. When they are taken, it presses the point hard that family matters. Another big thing for Elliott, who has grown up without a family. Seeing the raw love Brent has for his siblings only makes Elliott more aware of Anna and his brothers.  

Okay, so why the bitch Natasha?

Natasha is the first person Elliott really talks to. We as the reader see this, and take note of this. Natasha's sense of person is important, because Elliott needs to realize that people don't always have right motives. She's the first person he lets in, but she's the first to backstab him. It's to show that people need to look deeper for friends than the surface. If we were all friends with the people who are nice to us on the first day of school, we'd have a lot of heart breaks. It not only teaches Elliott a valuable lesson about the power of first impressions, but her personality is also essential to aid the friendship of Brent (the only good thing that came from Natasha). 

So, why Wes? 

Wes is there because he and his father have been hired by mother to get close to Elliott and feed her back what is going on in his life Eventually, mother will have the two kidnap Elliott and kill his siblings and Anna, but Wes and Mark don't know when that is. This is his main purpose, but his other purpose it make Elliott feel. Elliott has a problem with emotion, much like Wes, but when Elliott gets a crush on Wes, she begins to realize that being a girl and finding happiness and love isn't so bad. However, when Wes pulls the rug out from under Elliott's feet, it symbolizes the uncertainty of trust Elliott has been struggling with her entire life. The purpose of making Wes also fall for Elliott is to not only give the audience what they want (romance romance romance) but to also show Elliot that she does have an effect on others, and people care for her. (so much that they went from an unfeeling assassin to an emotional wreak).  

Kenzie only showed up in the end - what was her purpose?

Kenzie was brought into this book at the last minute. She was a spur of the moment character that just fit. I felt that there was too much "oh no, trust is bad! No trusting people!" between all of the characters. She's the character that is too trusting. She clashes with Elliott's I DONT TRUST ANYONE personality. The reason for her being Wes's sister was for Wes's sake just as much as it was for Elliott's. First, finding a girl who was trusting, could keep secrets, and was dropping everything to be Elliott's friend was too fake. That doesn't happen in real life - people don't just drop into our lives with cheery smiles to fix everything. The fact that she was Wes's sister was a hit to Elliott (because for some reason I like playing with Elliott's emotions). And then there is Wes. Wes, who grew up without a sibling was finally meeting his sister who didn't live under Mark's control. Seeing this, Wes began to believe that he too could escape. Kenzie was needed to restore trust and faith, and allow Elliott to become the girl she'd wanted to be. 

Okay, Polly. Why did Polly even have to exist?

Polly's story comes in the sequel, but the reason I threw her in this story was to set up for the sequel. At the end, she saves Elliott and the rest of the gang, but she's mysterious and unknown. Her presence in this story didn't affect the story line all that much, but in the sequel, you'll understand the importance of her character.

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So, there it is - an insight on character creation and the reason they exist. Notice Anna is not here - when I created these characters, I wrote this blurb (so I didn't just write them now, I wrote them months ago, back in november 2014). Anna wasn't going to be a huge character, but then she turned out to play a huge role. Because of this I never wrote up a blurb. But, the reasoning behind Anna was to show Elliott that women are good people, that not every woman is mother, and that she can trust Anna. 

I hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes sneak peak! 

Okay. Love you all! XOXO