Girls Write Out
Monday, December 05, 2011
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!


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Colleen Coble  
posted at 9:38 PM  
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The Authors
Kristin Billerbeck
Kristin Billerbeck is a proud Californian, wife, mother of four, and connoisseur of the irrelevant. She writes Christian Chick Lit; where she finds need for most of the useless facts lulling about in her head.

www.KristinBillerbeck.com

Colleen Coble

Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.

www.ColleenCoble.com

Denise Hunter

Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.

www.DeniseHunterBooks.com

Diann Hunt

Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.

www.DiannHunt.com

Hannah Alexander

Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.

www.HannahAlexander.com

 
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