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Gahks
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 Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:27 pm Post subject: Character Consequences |
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This is something I picked up from a creative writing book called The Five-Minute Writer; I don't know how we could do this on this forum but it's useful if you belong to a writers' circle. If not, just respond to as many questions as you can in five minutes.
In the group exercise, you write down a character's name and approx. age. Then you pass the sheets around the room, responding to each prompt, much like in the game "Consequences," until you have a bank of suggestions that can "plump up thin characters."
Here's the list (add to it if you so wish):
1. Whom does your character turn to for advice?
2. What are the character's "hidden" attributes: qualities known to the person but not to others?
3. What are their "blind" attributes: ones they cannot see but others know of. (Remember, these can be positive as well as negative.)
4. Identify a frightening moment or situation from their childhood.
5. With whom does he/she feel most relaxed or at ease?
6. What is their driving force in life?
7. What is the first thing people notice about them? (This doesn't just have to be visual.)
8. Who is their best friend?
9. Name an event or incident the character would prefer to forget.
10. In close relationships, are they more likely to be the comforter or the comforted?
11. When the character is angry, how does he/she express it? (If they don't get angry, what does he/she do instead?)
12. Are they a spender or a saver?
13. What is their weakness?
14. What is their relationship to food? (E.g. where, when and what do they eat? Are they overweight? Eating habits?)
15. (My own.) If their plane crashed on a desert island, what three things would they save and why?
16. (My own.) What is their worst fear? |
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Jamie_rocks
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:43 am Post subject: |
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Hmmmmm, do we have to have a time limit? I think it would be more fun without. I'm just gonna answer them all regardless. And why didn't you go?
Brad Liftridge, 17
1. His step-father
2. He is actually quite self-conscious and soft-hearted.
3. He's very smart. He comes off conceited.
4. His real father was a drunk, and when Brad was five he saw him almost kill his mother.
5. Kent and Arik
6. He wants a football scholarship.
7. He's hot, loud, and he's the first one they see in a large crowd.
8. Arik
9. The car crash and replay of it on TV (See The Love Note ch. 2)
10. He's never been in a close relationship; nothing lasted more than a couple of weeks.
11. Yelling, cussing, punching things, and generally getting violent.
12. Spender
13. His little sister Kamren
14. He chows down on the protein, but no fat, just muscle. (He's the quarter-back after all)
15. That depends on if there's people on the plane. He'll save them first. If not, he'd get his cell (you never know, there might be a signal). A first-aide kit if available, and some sort of food.
16. Losing his family or friends. His father actually killed one of his friends, which is why Brad's mother finally left, so Brad has been terrified of losing people since then.
17 (my own). What is one strange physical feature that stands out?
He has shocking green eyes. However, (the doctors say his color pigments were messed up, due to his father being on drugs and booze at the time of his confection) when the light hits it right, his left eye looks blue.
Hope I did it right. I can'r believe no one replied to this yet. That helped. |
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Clo
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:54 am Post subject: |
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I really like this character list. I've seen other character lists like this, but I think this one asks the right questions to actually help you get into the minds of your character.
Sounds like a good book.  |
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