Meme - Day 9

I find this next one a very strange question, and judging from the other writers I've seen fill out this meme, I'm not the only one.

9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.

This is such an odd question, because I can't really say that there is a particular process. I have had characters jump into my head fully formed, named and complete with a story, and I feel like I haven't had to lift a finger. I've also spent days pouring over baby name books looking for a name to jump out at me that will inspire a character.

I've also put together characteristics and then scoured for a name to match them. I've looked at my friends and family and made characters inspired by them (who always turn into their own creations at some point, a thing I have never quite felt I had anything to do with). Sometimes I watch a TV show or movie and see an actor and a character arises from it. Sometimes I read a book or watch a favourite show and think of a character inspired by what I'm seeing. It's just so varied and different, I can't say I get ideas from any real places in any specific way.

Maybe it's because so many of my characters seem real to me, that is seems somewhat absurb that I "get ideas" about who they are. I find the longer I write, the more they just show up. When I was younger it felt much more like I had to struggle to create someone, while now they just arrive and wait for me to use them somewhere. Once they're here, they feel real, and I feel I have about as much control over them as I do regular people.