How to Write Paranormal

Creating 3-Dimensional Characters

Be honest, can you even count how many times you've picked up a paranormal book and read the summary, "Anna was a loner until she met the dark, mysterious Victor, who carried a heavy secret: he was a vampire." Or, "Eddy was plagued by his telepathy, but all of that would change when..."?

In other words, all that the paranormal has going for them is that they're a paranormal. We don't know anything about them. This is absolutely silly, since the vast majority of paranormals that we have in literature evolved from mythology and folklore. Let's look at the ways to avoid overused tropes. We'll do it by building a character—a witch named Rowen.

Step One: Research

Let's take a look at Rowen #1. First, we'll look at her trope:

"Rowen was born in Salem, Massachusetts. Her ancestors barely survived the Salem Witch Trials of the Puritan days. With her long, black hair, curvy stature and affinity for dark clothes, Salem natives often jest that she would fit right in the cells that her ancestors were held in. Little do they know, she's hiding the same powers that led to the death of those that came before her. Afraid of letting the people around her discover her abilities, Rowen avoids close contact with people and is very careful to never connect with anybody."

Would that be an interesting story? Sure. But, if you like to read about witches, I'm sure you've read a million just like it. Let's try a different method. I've decided that I'm not going to associate her with anywhere that you would think of a witch coming from. Instead, I picked my grandfather's homeland, Sicily.

Upon researching Sicilian witches, I found two interesting folklores: one speaking about a group of creatures called 'donas de fuera' (women from outside) that could charm people into doing whatever they wanted and one group of creatures called 'folleti', impish creatures that lived in Sicily and would change the weather constantly, usually just because they could. So let's have another go at Rowen.

"Rowen was born in the mountains of Sicily. With her heavy frame, round face and mess of curls, she would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Still, there was an underlying charm, just in the way she smiled and her eyes would flash, that made the men of the village drop everything they were doing to oblige her every want or need when she came to town. Occasionally, one would fall short and her temper was known to bring on the most crippling droughts or the most treacherous rains that would destroy the farmers' crops. Most people knew it was in their best interest to keep the Strega dell'Madunii pleased."

Step Two: Humanize

So now we have the origins of our new character. Let's build Rowen #1's personality, shall we?

~

Rowen tiptoed through town, keeping her eyes averted. Occasionally, an acquaintance would greet her, and she would smile and nod, not daring to look them in the eyes. What if they saw that she was a freak with these strange powers? Would they chase her out of town? Call for her head?

"Row! There you are!" a blessedly familiar voice rang out from a nearby street. She looked up to see her friend, Mary Billey approaching. She gave Rowen a small pinch on her shoulder as she joined her side.

"Turn any boys in to toads today?" Mary joked. She was the only person outside of Rowen's family that knew her secret.

Rowen donned her usual solemn expression. "I've not done it yet," she said. She knew Mary meant well, but the worry that the day would come when her powers revealed themselves to everybody else was a real fear of hers.

~

Too often do we see characters that are plagued by their paranormal abilities that we forget there should be a character in them. If you've ever read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, you know that the characters are definitely affected by their status, but they're also still very human. They have things that move and compel them other than just being a vampire. Giving your character a purpose other than being a paranormal is what makes the story compelling.