Hold auditions for the characters you might feature in your stories, ahead of time…
Get ready for StoryADay May with these warm-up tasks in April
Get all the warm ups: https://stada.me/april-warm-ups
Continue reading “Character Building Blocks”Today’s Tiny Task in preparation for StoryADay May is to
List 5 expressions people in your life overuse
While you’re capturing the phrase, capture the meaning behind the phrase, the culture it comes from, the ways it which is irritates/delights you and how those feelings manifest, physically in you.
Pick one of the expressions to share here
Today’s Tiny Task to prepare for StoryADay is to
Make a list of 5 or more personality traits that drive you absolutely crazy
This exercise is slightly different from the other character brainstorming we’ve done this week, because it’s not so much about an internal or external feature, but more about the actions a person takes, without thinking.
I’m asking you to list traits that drive you up the wall, because accessing strong emotions is a good way to make sure that you put conflict and emotion into your story.
You don’t have to write a miserable story just because you include a personality trait that drives you batty. You can use this trait as a starting point for a character who is going to be reformed, or as comic relief, or as a cautionary tale.
Bonus points: list 3 ways each trait could be subverted, changed, used for comic relief, or otherwise turned around.
Are you keeping all your notes during these prep-sessions, in a place where you’ll easily be able to access them during the challenge? Share your ‘system’ (such as it is) here, to inspire/warn others. Then, if you haven’t thought it through yet, pick a place (physical or digital) to store all your notes, and then write yourself a big, physical sticky note to remind yourself you did it. Leave a comment to let us know you’ve done it!
Today’s Tiny Task in preparation for StoryADay May is:
Make a list of 10 accessories/physical features you can give your characters.
In a short story it’s important to orient the reader quickly. You don’t want them stopping to remember which character is which.
With main characters you can spend time working on the way they speak, think and act, to make sure that they feel unique.
But you can also ‘cheat’ by giving them (or walk-on/secondary characters) one signature item that lets readers identify them quickly:
e.g: the barrista in Friends with the shock of white-blond hair; The Doctor in Doctor Who‘s extravagantly long-flappy coat (in almost every regeneration!); Columbo’s raincoat; Aragorn’s sword; Captain America’s shield; the red coat worn by a little girl in the otherwise black-and-white Schindler’s List; the Narnia children’s gifts from Aslan…
Note: with an object there is also the narrative possibility of letting the reader know something is very wrong, if we show the item, with the character nowhere nearby…
Did you choose a mix of items and distinctive physical features?
Today’s Tiny Task in preparation for StoryADay May is to expand your pool of available characters in a different direction.
Make a list of characters who are unlike you in specific ways.
It can help to think of specific people who are very unlike you–whether you admire or despise aspects of their behavior–and make a list of the actions they take, the words they say, the body language they employ, that help you understand how they are different from you (remember that, in storytelling, showing how characters act can be more powerful than simply giving us the narrator/protagonist’s opinions).
Further reading: a writing prompt
Are you excited to write about characters who are not like you? Were you able to identify aspects of specific people that are different from you? What kinds of roles will these characters take in a story? (Will they always be the antagonist/bad guy, or did you list some features you admire, too?
Today’s Tiny Task in preparation for StoryADay May is to gather a cast of character you can audition for stories, when an ideas strikes you.
The prompts are great, but it’s going to be up to you to find characters to make them come alive. Remember:
Plot happens outside, but story happens inside
-Donald Maass, The Emotional Craft of Fiction
Create a list of five characters who are quite like you (this makes it easy to write about them quickly, since you only have to look inside for the ‘research’).
Ways they might be like you:
Bonus points: make a list of ways those things about you a, frustrate and b, delight you. Think about how you might use that to create internal and external conflict, in a story.
Further Reading: Creating Compelling Characters
Was it fun to think about writing a character that shares things in common with you? Or did you roll your eyes (do it anyway! It might save you on a day when the writing isn’t coming easily!)
