The most important thing, I think, in a novel is characters. You can have an amazing plot, great twists but without well developed characters, your book is nothing. For me, relating and liking characters is everything. The main goal of an author is to make a connection with a reader and get their story read.
Today's exercise is creating a character outline. I found it from this helpful website! This will help you create dimensional characters. You will create their story, who they are and their goals. Here's the steps for this exercise. Pick a character, name and all that stuface stuff.
Write ten facts, lies, and weird things about them.
- Facts
- He's tall
- He likes gardening
- His mother is Irish
- He works as a driver
- He's generous
- He's a good father
- He's fun to go out partying with
- He drinks too much
- He lost his driving license
- He has a dog
- Lies
- He's ugly
- He bites his nails
- He's a good listener
- He has lots of friends
- He's overweight
- Appearance doesn't matter to him
- He drives a BMW
- He's having counselling
- He never wanted children
- He plays golf
- Weird Stuff
- His partner sings him lullabies at night
- He rides a King and Queen Harley Davison
- He collects seashells
- He buys heather from gypsies
- He lives in a caravan by the sea
- He only has a bath when there's an R in the month
- He wears shorts in winter
- He washes his hair in beer
- His dog sleeps in his bed and vice versa
- He eats lug-worms
Write a backstory.
- Background
- Gender, Race, Social class, How many siblings, Parents' relationship, Neighbourhood, Health/disability, Religion, Level of education, IQ, Special abilities
- Present Circumstances
- Age, Marital status, How many (if any) children, Sexuality, Political views, Appearance, Habits, Fears/ phobias, What s/he gets upset about, What s/he gets excited about, What s/he really dislikes in other people, What s/he admires in others
Give your character traits that contradict each other.
If your character were an animal, what would they be... why?
How does your character interact with their...
- Mom
- Boss
- Friend
- Lover
Write a poem in your characters voice.
I'm definitely going to use this!
ReplyDeleteI printed out an outline of this, obviously without answers and fill one out for all my main characters. It's super helpful and then I use it when writing as a cheat sheet
DeleteThis is really helpful. I am definitely going to try this for creating my characters. thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for reading! I find it useful for my writing!
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