As I wrote my book about Catalyntje, I wanted it to be relatable to readers and for them to care about the lives of the characters I created. To accomplish this, I wrote about feelings, people, and experiences from my life. Of course, there has been a lot of imagining since my book is about people who lived 400 years ago, and I haven’t experienced everything I wrote about. However, people and situations are generally the same, no matter when or where they live. 

One idea that I discovered early on in my writing is to pay attention to people and situations around me. Many of us live routine lives each day, generally with the same people. But, there is a wealth of writing material in our ordinary lives if we pay attention. I’ve watched people’s mannerisms, how they treat others, their words, and even how they walk; then I take some notes. That way, I had information to create a detailed and relatable character. Of course, I can use these notes to make a positive or negative character; we have both types of people around us. With this process, I’ve come to appreciate the quote by Anne Lamott, “If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”

Who are some of your favorite characters from books you’ve read?