We’ve been working on character development on The Write Spot Blog. Your character could be fictional, based on a real person or someone in your memoir.
Kurt Vonnegut says to “make your character want something.” There are several ways to go about this.
Have your character do something unexpected . . . something that surprises everyone and weave in a problem.
You can put your conservative character in an improv situation where he/she has to rap or act in a scene.
Your male character might find himself on stage, learning how to hula or belly dance.
Your female character might find herself in a lumberjack contest.
Have your wild character volunteer to help with bingo in an assisted facility.
Have your character do something unusual.
Remember these are freewrites, where you write freely for 12 to 15 minutes. This doesn’t mean you have to use these character vignettes in your novel, essay or memoir. Have fun playing around with characters.
Have fun making your character uncomfortable, make him or her squirm. Worms on a fishing pole come to mind.
Now, here’s how to really get into the heart of your character:
What does your character want? What gets in the way?
For prompts on character development, take a look at:
Character development, discovering characters, prompt #132
Flesh out your character, prompt #131
Other character’s point of view, prompt #109
Grow your characters, prompt #48
You can also type “character” in the search box on the Write Spot Blog for posts about character.
