Character Inspiration

So today Kelsey forced me to watch a video of Vermin Supreme. At first I was upset with her, because the man wears a boot on his head and wants to harness the power of zombies, but then I was so pleased, because that man is an inspiration. He's taught me that I'm writing eccentric political figures all wrong. This information will be extremely useful.

Aside from correcting that mistake, it got me thinking about how many of my characters came to be. I've always said that my friends are a huge inspiration -- this is absolutely true, and there are characters that appear in the second and third books that are based solely off of Kelsey and Marley, respectively. But what about the main characters? They aren't particularly biographical of myself or any of my friends. Yes, certain parts of them have basis in people I've met or points in my life, but no one person. In a sense, I kind of just made them up. That's a first for me.

But it's very different from the series I'm planning to write after the completion of The Decoder. The central trio is based exclusively off of Kelsey, Tyler and myself. (This is because the series was inspired by a dream Kelsey had, and it seemed wrong to change the central characters.) Other friends make appearances as minor characters, and as always people I don't like will be the villains. It will be pretty interesting, because when I'm writing a difficult situation I'll have to ask myself, "Okay, what would Kelsey do at a time like this?" rather than, "What would Eloise do at a time like this?". Is it possible to separate people from their characters? I guess I have three and a half more books to write before I have to find out.

Anyway, today I began to work on the opening of The Decoder. Again. For what feels like the millionth time. Actually, it's probably the fifth time. But I really want to get it right, because the opening is everything. It's where readers will either get hooked or they'll abandon the book for their trips to the bathroom. I don't want The Decoder to be the bathroom book, I want it to be a stay-up-all-night book.

I know all of this work will pay off in the end, but patience isn't my strongest virtue. I'd prefer to get things right the first time. Oh well. Third draft, it is.