Character Study

​It's all about the character. 

At our last meeting, we discussed the importance of creating a developed character, one that we, as authors, know intimately. We know them just as much as we know ourselves - or our best friend. We know their likes, dislikes, ticks/tells, personality, family structure, favorite foods, beliefs, and so much. All so we can create characters that jump off the page. 

To get our minds working, we each started developing a new character and thus began a character study. We used character-building questions (Character Development, "Character Questionnaire," under Resources). These questions dove deep into the psyche of the character and even asked "What's in the character's fridge right now?" 

Talk about freedom! When we know our characters - our babies - down to the finer details, we are free to have them act, speak, and re-act with ease, confidence, and authenticity. It's a great feeling. 

To organize our thoughts, we used the Character Stat Sheet (under Resources) to begin building a character sketch, which is simply an organizer for all of our character's finer details. This is a wonderful diary-like collection of fun facts about our characters. From family structure to personality traits and even miscellaneous information like email address and phone number, we can organize our thoughts and create a "file" of all things characterization.

With this, we're all set to find a story for them to star in!

Looking forward to our next meeting, we're all busy finishing up our character sketches so we can build a strong character for March's writing prompt:

"When I awoke, I was in the hospital..."

Using our Character Sketch, we can have fun writing our next adventure. Why was the character in the hospital? Who's with them? How are they feeling? How will they react? What will they even say? We can let our creativity run wild as we place our new darlings into their new worlds, and, by doing so, can let our individual styles and genres shine bright!



NOTE:
Be sure to bring your Character Sketch to the next meeting so you can talk about your character study and how you brought your character to life. 

Character Stat Sheet. Available for download in Resources.