Character Development 4

Today we are going to look at a great way to not only develop your characters but also to help keep track of your timeline. And that is, making a family tree. This is something I do and I think it is a great way to really make your characters become more alive. It makes you think of things that you may not originally think of. And most family tree software or websites really will give you events that you may not think of or that may happen in your book that you have to keep track of. The traditional information for a family tree is Birth, Marriage, Death. But you can add almost anything and if it helps you keep track of your timeline you can even make a customized event if they don't have the exact event you are needing to remember. They also offer educational options so this will help if you are flashing back to high school years or college years, which is what I use it for often to keep track of life events that I may be discussing later in my story.

So that is the task this week, go to any genealogy site (Ancestry is free), and make a tree with as much or as little details as you want and see if that helps make your characters come alive!