3 Ways to Get to Know Your Characters
Posted by annastan on August 13th, 2010. Filed under: Craft, Resources, WIP.Some characters seem to come fully formed and ready to tell their stories, but some are a little more reserved and mysterious. I usually get to know my characters by putting them in various situations and seeing how they react, but my current WIP contains a character who just won’t let me in on her deep, dark secrets. So, I’ve spent the past few days trying out the following techniques in order to get to know her a bit better.
1. Writing Prompts
I love coming up with writing prompts (that’s what my blog StoryBug is all about) but I get a little lazy when it comes to actually doing them. Often I’ll just think about what I would write in response to the prompt instead of sitting down and doing it. But the thing about writing is that things flow out of your pen (or your keyboard) that you don’t even realize are in your head. The prompt I found the most useful was actually the one up on my website right now: Write about a time when your character was completely relaxed.
2. Visual Aides
I was inspired by Tera Lynn Childs’s WriteOnCon vlog on character collages. Instead of cutting out images from magazines and gluing them together, I did a series of Google image searches and pasted the images into OneNote, along with some notes to myself about each image. I’m not a hugely visual person, but the exercise did give me a stronger sense of the setting as well as some props that might be important to my characters.
3. Free Writing
Some people free write about their character’s experiences or journal in their character’s voice in order to get a sense of backstory, motivation, etc. I tried a slightly different approach with a couple scenes I was struggling with. I used the comment feature in Word to insert interior monologue for my main character throughout the scene. The story is told in third person but the comments I inserted were in first – this allowed me to go beyond motivation and emotions and really get at the nitty gritty of what was running through her head at each moment of the scene.
I’m still working on getting at the heart of this character, but these exercises have helped me get to know her a lot better. What techniques have you found helpful in getting to know your characters?
August 13th, 2010 at 8:07 am
I totally forgot the phrase ‘free-writing’. Wow.
I am deep in the throes of a PB rework and I think my incomplete picture of the character is what is holding me back. Thanks for reading my mind again!
August 13th, 2010 at 8:32 am
I find free writing very helpful, but LOVE your idea to use Comments in Word! I’ll be using this tip.
I also like the idea of making a collage—I saw that, too, at the WriteOnCon vlog. I’m a visual person so I think this would help. It would be fun, too.I love how you included it to include setting. Great idea!
August 13th, 2010 at 8:36 am
Really interesting and creative tips, Anna!
I’m a very visual person, and love the collage idea. However, I don’t have much access to print magazines and newspapers. And I don’t have One Note. Does anyone have any other ideas for creating digital or online collages?
I couldn’t write a word without all of my free writing. It’s how I generate almost every idea and revision I come up with. One trick that helps me is to imagine myself physically as the character. I imagine my hands are bigger and gripping the pen. I tap my foot like crazy because I can’t sit still. I give myself bad posture. It probably looks really silly, but it works quite well for me!
August 13th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Jon, I love reading your mind! Good luck with your PB!
Andrea, definitely let me know how it goes if you try these techniques out.
Anne, OneNote is actually a lot like Word, so I think copying and pasting into it would work just as well. I LOVE the “physically being the character” approach. I’ll have to give it a try (when no one else is around…)
August 13th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Really like the idea of keeping a character journal. Thanks!
theBrad (verla tag)
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August 13th, 2010 at 10:34 am
I like writing prompts! And I ask lots of questions. I love James Scott Bell’s idea from The Art of War for Writers about using a voice journal for your characters.
From the book: “The voice journal is simply a character speaking in stream-of-consciousness mode. You prompt the character by asking the occasional question, and then just let your fingers record the words on the page.”
It’s very effective! It’s amazing what your characters come up with about themselves.
August 13th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Brad, MG author RL LaFevers goes beyond a journal and actually makes scrapbooks of her characters’ travels. It’s so fun!
Laura, I love that book! It’s amazing what happens when you just let your character babble.
August 13th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Great post! I’ve found free writing to be the best for me thus far. I don’t really know what the character is going to be like until I start writing in their voice.
August 13th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
I love free writing in my character’s voice. It really helps me get inside their head and figure out their relationships with the other people in the book.
August 15th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
I just recently bought a few of those “All about me” journals that are intended for kids and teens and I fill them out for my character. It forces me (my character) to answer questions that I never would have thought about before.
August 15th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
PJ and Sherrie, isn’t amazing what your characters will reveal to you when you get them talking?
Jillian, what a fun idea! I might have to give that a try next time I’m feeling stuck.
August 16th, 2010 at 9:08 am
I *love* Tera Lynn Childs’ vlog – it totally inspired me to do my own collage. I’ll have to try the free writing exercise, I don’t usually do those (though I probably should!)
August 31st, 2010 at 6:51 am
I make plasticine models of all my characters.
Then I move them across the tabletop, acting out all the scenes.