How does one go about creating characters? I would be most interested to hear how other writers go about the process as well as thoughts from readers on what they like and don’t like about character development.

I first get an image in my mind of who this person is going to be, and this is often modeled upon traits that I possess, those that I admire or detest in others, and conflicting flaws that I find fascinating. Sometimes I scroll the internet to find a picture of somebody who fits the blurry image coming into focus in my mind and put it into my notes, character sketch, and outline document.

Underneath this image I start building the description. Tall, short, slim, thick, eye and hair color, and so on. I also like to give characters a descriptive defining trait like the nose of a falcon’s beak or some such thing. But a description is much more encompassing than physical traits. Who are they and how did they become that? Humor, foibles, wit, trigger points, compassion, attention to detail—well, you get the picture. A real, live, breathing human being.

The Protagonist: I have five different protagonists in my books, three out there in the world, and two not yet born.

Goff Langdon is the star of my Mainely Mystery series. He is a PI as well as the owner of a mystery bookstore. Langdon’s father left at an early age, making him the man of the house before he was even a teenager, and a father to his younger twin brothers. This experience shapes who he is and how he interacts with the world.

Clay Wolfe is a PI and a lead in my Port Essex Trap series. He returns to his small coastal hometown in Maine after becoming jaded on the job as a Boston homicide detective. He is a snazzy dresser, perhaps to cover up his insecurities, and has a difficult time committing to a love interest due to his own tragic beginning being orphaned at age eight.

Brooklyn born Hungarian 8 Ballo is a naturally large and strong man who has trouble finding clothes that fit. He is ‘woke’ long before his time (1920s), is a product of WWI, and consorts with gangsters as easily as celebrities, even though he is an honest and average person.

Max Creed will grace the pages of my new series debuting in April of 2025. His life takes a horrific twist when his bride is killed on their wedding day by an assassin hired to take her life by a billionaire who Max tried and failed to bring to justice for his crimes. After a downward spiral, Max re-emerges as a modern-day Robin Hood looking to bring justice to those wronged by the ultra-wealthy.

Jazz Jones is my latest creation. He is a white PI in 1950s Raleigh who was raised by his aunt and her Black husband. This shapes his life as he has one foot in each of two worlds in that turbulent time, and at the same time, belongs in neither. It will be interesting to continue to breathe life and bring to life this man who has his own emotional baggage, some of it foisted upon him, and some of his own doing.

The Antagonist: The five PI mystery and thriller series that I have created all need an antagonist, none of whom make the jump from one book to the next. That means that I have now fabricated sixteen villains. Men and women who are just plain bad and evil, but sometimes complicated and with redeeming qualities. They are the most fun to manufacture. A man with rancid breath like the smell of burning tires. That sort of thing never gets old.

The Regulars: I like to cloak my protagonist in the warm embrace of a supporting ensemble of friends who throw their efforts into helping, bailing out, saving, and doing whatever necessary to help our hero win the day. They, along with the protagonist, continue to evolve and grow from book to book as the traits not visibly seen continue to be added to complete them as living, breathing, human beings.

The Nameless: And then there are those who have not risen high enough in the ranks to get a name. Sometimes they get nicknames based on their physical features. The Mountain. Mouse. Scarface. Crooked teeth. And sometimes, these same people grow and gain a name. The deli owner Tony. The newspaper journalist Marie. Real people who refuse to leave the pages like Dorothy Parker.

Creating life is one of the best perks of being a writer. I’d love to hear input from writers and readers on what they think works and doesn’t work in breathing heart and soul into the people of the pages.

About the Author

Matt Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries.

Cost has published five books in the Mainely Mystery series, with the sixth, Mainely Mayhem, being released in November of 2024. He has also published five books in the Clay Wolfe Trap series.

For historical novels, Cost has published At Every Hazard and its sequel, Love in a Time of Hate, as well as I am Cuba. In April of 2023, Cost combined his love of histories and mysteries into a historical PI mystery set in 1923 Brooklyn, Velma Gone Awry. City Gone Askew came out in July of 2024.