Passage of time...

So - today is my son's twelfth birthday! My boy-sandwiched-between-two-girls has reached his last tween year…already! Earlier, it dawned on me that next year, on this day, I will have two teenagers in the house…suddenly, I feel strands of silver appearing amidst the red hair and an extra dozen wrinkles on my forehead and face…yep - older. Why didn't time pass this quickly when we were children? From one birthday to the next, it seemed like decades of years passed…so…slowly. As adults, though - whoosh! Wasn't it his eleventh birthday last week?!
I was contemplating how I might write out his life - spin his story, so to speak, from conception up until this day. What parts would cover pages and which, mere paragraphs. Pregnancy would get at least a couple, being he was the second miracle baby - from a womb doctors thought infertile. Baby days fly by, especially when there is a 19 month old running around the house…little things, like hating his baths or giggling when he passed gas, my boy! Toddler years would get chapters (flooding the kitchen is in the blog about writing about children's antics)…and traumas, like "near drowning" and "could have died that night" stories, of course, would make pages. His life experiences have made him who he is, creates character…
What is the point of this rambling, when it comes to writing, you ask? It would be the stories, the traumas, the antics, the backgrounds - those things are the foundational building blocks. Much like the fiction we write, the grit of what makes our characters who they are - the choices they make and why - those fill the pages. If I was going to base a character around my son…and the setting was a lake, children swimming around, splashing, enjoying the sunshine…he would be the one still cautious, goggles on tight. Why? Because of that backstory, "near drowning." He would also be the kid who is patiently encouraging a five year old girl to wade into the water, assuring her that he understands her fears, but that it will be alright. Why? Again, the backstory.
All of your characters have a history - they have gone through the passage of time…and who they are, when you write them, is because of this. So, get creative with your characters - if they make a quirky decision, explain it to readers, either before, during, or afterwards…paint the picture of their past, what has made them who they are. If you want your characters to come alive on the pages for readers, then animate them with a colorful past!