The Saturday Character Clinic - What is the most significant thing that happened in your character’s past that shaped their personality?
Crafting a character
Characters are memorable only when the author has taken time to consider the whole person. Emotions, flaws, past experiences are important - details matter. While you can’t examine every aspect of a character’s life, each character must be considered carefully before writing your story.
THE SATURDAY CHARACTER CLINIC is dedicated to discovering how thoughtful questions help writers to better understand their character.
THE QUESTION CORNER
What is the most significant thing that happened in your character’s past that shaped their personality?
WHY THIS QUESTION MATTERS?
This question is important because it helps you to create a memorable character arc. By knowing what the individual considers important, and what they have been through, the writer can shape the character’s personality, and plan how they can use the past to inform your writing.
UNLOCKING THE CHARACTER - QUESTIONS BENEATH THE SURFACE.
Below are some of the basic questions when starting to plot a character. This is not a complete list, but it will start the conversation.
When did the event happen? Were they a child, teen or adult? Was it a particular time of year? Is the season important? What year was it?
What was the event?
How did it shape your character’s personality? Did it have a positive or negative affect on the character?
How can you use the event to shape the character? Will it make them frightened, happy or sad? Is the character reacting to the event in the past? Does she react positively or negatively?
Is the event still happening? Could the person revisit the event now? Is there someone that was there with them? How did they affect how the character experienced their life?
POCKET-SIZED WORKOUT- TRY IT YOURSELF
Write a short paragraph about a significant event that happened to your character in their childhood, and how it has shaped the way they react to others.
Post your paragraph in the comments if you’d like.
CHECK IN
Is there a particular event that has changed your life, that you have used to create more depth in your writing? Take a look for yourself, and examine why this event is important.
NEXT WEEK
Something different. I will be posting more on the character sketch of Angelika Moonglenn in next week’s post..
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Bye for now. Have a great Saturday
!