The following exercises will help you to build realistic, believable characters for your novel or short story.
Too often, beginning writers make the mistake of focusing on plot and forgetting that plot is closely tied to characterization. In order to be a great story-teller, it is imperative to understand who your characters are and how they will react to various situations. This takes practice and the following exercises are designed to assist emerging authors to flush out their characters before they begin to write about them.
Learn To Write About People Who Are Unlike You
Practice writing from different points of view in your daily journal. (If you don't have a daily journal, start one right away). Think of a traumatic or upsetting event that happened to you in the recent past. Write down everything you remember about it in first person, present tense. When you have completed this, rewrite the whole thing in third person, and then again in second person.
Find Out Who Your Characters Are
Ask the following questions about your characters:
- What do they like to eat? What don't they like to eat?
- What are their favorite colors?
- Do they like to read? What are their most treasured books?
- What motivates them?
- What do they do with their spare time?
- What is their family background?
- What is their education level?
- How do they dress?
- What kind of music do they listen to?
- Who are their friends? Enemies?
- Do they like animals?
- What does their favorite tee-shirt say?
- Do they have a cell phone? A blackberry?
- What kind of car do they drive?
- Do they like sports?
- Are they competitive?
- What is the condition of their teeth?
- How long is their hair?
Think of your characters as new friends you are getting to know and find out everything you can about them. Jot down your observations in a note book that you can refer back to when writing.
Discover How Your Characters React To Specific Situations
Play with your characters. Place them in different scenarios and explore their reactions.
How would your characters react to the following risky or challenging situations?
- Climbing a glacier
- Jumping out of an plane
- Sailing solo around the world
- Becoming a rock star
- Being stuck in an elevator
- Hosting a large dinner party
- Discovering he/she has a terminal illness
Naming Your Characters
Experiment with different names for your characters and don't be afraid to change their names in the middle of a story. As you grow more familiar with your characters, certain names will become more suited to their emerging personalities.
Once you know your characters inside out, they will begin to say things you don't expect, or do things you hadn't planned on. It is at this point that your story will take on a life of its own. The plot will emerge as a direct result of the actions of your characters and suddenly the writing will seem easy.
