Character development – discovering characters. Prompt #132

For this two-part prompt, we’re going to develop a character, either fictional or based on reality (especially if you are writing memoir).

How do writers develop characters? How do you get to know your character beyond their looks, their desires and where they went to school?

Step One: Give your character a hobby or an interesting job. The more unusual, the better. Bee-keeping? Needlepoint for a man. Bucking horses, art aficionado, chemist, skywriter, laundromat manager, tornado chaser. You can look up unusual jobs that pay well by clicking here, such as: Cruise ship entertainer, ice cream taster, human statue, hot dog vender, dog groomer, personal shopper, funeral director.

Sketch how your character might spend an hour of their work day, or hobby time: gathering honey, purchase yarn and patterns, ranch and corrals, visits to art galleries and museums, mixing potions in the basement. You might paint a picture what an hour of their job looks like: what do they see, who do they interact with, what do they think while working.

Spend some time with this before going to the next step.

Step Two: Interview your character as a journalist would. Stymied? Look at interviews in magazines, newspaper articles or look online and see what others have done.

You can interview your character from Prompt #131, or create a new character.

We’ll continue with character development with the next prompt.