I had to show this cover because it's a finalist for the
ECPA best cover of 2011. It's the only novel on the list and I'm way excited!
And that brings to my topic: writing an interesting character. I like my characters to be overcomers--a woman who has faced hard things in life and come out stronger and better with God's help. Someone who turns her lemons into lemonade. So I thought I'd share the character sheet I use. Disclaimer: I have no idea where this thing came from. LOL It may have come from a book, it may have come from teaching somewhere.
So here are the questions to ask your character:
CHARACTER TRAITS
1. Give basic stats of your character: name, age, appearance.
2. What trauma or hard knocks happened when the character was young? How did this change him/her?
3. What is your character’s relationship with their family? Parents still alive? Any sibling rivalry?
3. What does your character do for a living? Can you come up with something even more interesting or that gives him/her a strength? This is a biggie for me. I like an interesting profession.
4. What secret does your character hide?
5. What does your character have to lose? How can you make his possible loss worse?
6. Who hates your character and why?
7. What does your character fear?
8. What quirk does your character have?
9. What’s in his/her refrigerator right now?
10. Look at your character’s feet. Describe what you see there. Does he wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Is he in socks that are ratty and full of holes? Or is he wearing a pair of blue and gold slippers knitted by his grandmother?
11. Your character is doing intense spring cleaning. What is easy for her to throw out? What is difficult for her to part with? Why?
12. What is your character’s greatest regret?
Want to share something interesting from what you're working on right now? Let's share from #10. What's on your character's feet? Here's mine:
Tess is wearing clown shoes. She works at a bookstore in the children's department. Today she is the day she reads to the children so she is dressed like a clown.
Your turn!
Labels: Character Development
9 Comments:
Crocs. She's a chef.
Amy and Camden are both wearing sneakers. They are on a college campus heading to a meeting for their photography club.
Love these! Keep them coming!
White go-go boots!
She's wearing Under Armor tennis shoes..at the State football Championship. Her son is playing defense.
She's wearing brown cowboy boots because she's going horseback riding.
He wears black shoes, suitable for running across any terrain, but they're clean and free of scratches. My guy's the local sheriff, mainly because I need him to have enough authority to do what the ending requires him to do, but the story also requires that he pretty much ignore most of the trouble the villain has been causing in the area. So he shows up at the office every day, shoots the breeze with whoever might stop by, and goes home in the evening.
My character Millie is wearing sensible penny loafers and scorns high heeled pumps her sister typically wears...but that's because she (Millie) loathes her weak ankles and can't wear fashionably high heels. ;)
This.
is.
TOO COOL!!!!
=D
gray knee high boots with a wedged heel. she's walking at a fast pace towards Molly's Cupcakes shop.
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