For fun, today I decided to play off a past post on 50 Memes that Dani wrote about at BlogBookTours .
To make a character real, you need to know their likes/dislikes, habits, quirks, tastes, favorite music, and more of the facts besides just their eye and hair color.
It's those kinds of details that make the character appear real to you as a writer and more importantly, make them real to the reader.
So for today, I've adapted one of those memes that can be used to better know your characters.
A short eight to 10 question list can help you round out your characters before you write. To keep track of the facts and descriptions for later use, you can use a character worksheet (download in PDF format) or do a detailed character profile log as described by author Marvin D. Wilson.
Examples in this exercise are based on my characters, Sam and Lita, from Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery.
Feel free to use your own characters and share some of their quirks and personalities.
Eight Character Facts
1. Your Character's Favorite Word:
Sam likes to say 'holy cow' a lot.
2. Your Character's Favorite Pastime:
Lita likes to read. Sam is a dabbler and hops from one project to another.
3. Your Character's Oddest Thought:
Sam tries to picture she, her mom and her pal Lita in a pillow fight.
4. Your Character's Favorite Food or Snack:
Sam likes chocolate and Starbursts candy. Lita likes Banana Laffy Taffy candy.
5. Your Character's Worst Memory:
Sam hated when she and Lita were mad at each other in grade school.
6. Your Character's Likes or Dislikes:
Sam hates spiders. Lita doesn't like ghosts or spooky stories.
7. Your Character's Favorite Dessert:
Both girls like ice cream.
8. Your Character's Worst Moment:
Sam doesn't want her mom to know they got scared of some noises outside.
** Your Turn: Copy and tell us about your character. Other categories that can be added include: favorite sport, clothing, hairstyle, music, etc.
4 comments:
Interesting questions to ask your characters.
I like this! My problem with doing it before writing a character would be that these quirks make themselves known as I write...
Good stuff! I like to develop as much of a character as possible before writing, (and thanks for the link to my blog, btw - smile) but I also agree with Zhadi that lots of times those serendipitous quirks present themselves as the story unfolds. But good prep is always a sound practice. Here's my character, Owen Fiddler's answers (Kind cheating, though, cuz he's already been written up and pub'd)
Eight Character Facts
1. Owen's Favorite Word:
You would need to bleep it out here.
2. Your Character's Favorite Pastime:
Drinking, carousing and womanizing at the pub.
3. Your Character's Oddest Thought:
Why am I here? What's the point?
4. Your Character's Favorite Food or Snack:
Greasy Spoon diners - cheeseburgers and fries.
5. Your Character's Worst Memory:
Being responsible for his own daughter's death.
6. Your Character's Likes or Dislikes:
He likes to dance, but dislikes paying the fiddler.
7. Your Character's Favorite Dessert:
Doesn't like sweets much. Closest thing would be that cigarette after sex.
8. Your Character's Worst Moment:
Worst and best, actually - coming face to face with his maker in the never-world.
Fun post! I used it as an opportunity to think about one of my characters. And, since I haven't blogged myself in a while, I posted it here: http://beachhouseintheburbs.blogspot.com/2008/08/meet-billy-poteet.html
Thanks for the inspiration!
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