Comments | jbknowles: Exploring what your character wants

jbknowles

Exploring what your character wants

Jul 17, 2017 04:00

Hi Teachers!

Welcome to Week 2 of Teachers Write! I hope you enjoyed your first week. It was filled with inspiring lessons! If you're stumbling across this post and don't know what Teachers Write is, Check it out here.Today, let's talk a little about characters and what they want. As you know, the plot of a story is basically all about what the ( Read more... )

teachers write, monday morning warm-up

Comments 44

Great Prompt! anonymous July 17 2017, 12:20:29 UTC

I've done exercises where I've just let my characters talk to me. These sentences gave me specific information I didn't have about my MC. For instance, she looks up her deadbeat dad on the Internet, and I got her emotions seeing his new family. Even if that doesn't make it into the manuscript, it's valuable information as I finish the final chapters of this rough draft. Thank you!

Theresa

Re: Great Prompt! jbknowles July 17 2017, 13:57:01 UTC

That is WONDERFUL to hear! I'm so happy! And I can totally see a kid doing this. Thanks for sharing!

Character's Wants anonymous July 17 2017, 12:31:19 UTC

I wish could just forgive my mother.
I have never told anyone this, but I fear I have turned into her.

If I had the guts to tell my mother that I understand and forgive her, I just know that I would feel free.
The only one who really understands me
is my brother and that's because he was there.

Re: Character's Wants jbknowles July 17 2017, 13:57:33 UTC

These are fantastic!!! You really went right there. :)

Getting to know my character better anonymous July 17 2017, 12:33:13 UTC

Hi Jo,

Thanks for another great writing warm-up. As you know, I don't really have a WIP; so I simply continued writing about the woman I had seen sitting in front of her house during one of my morning walks. I found completing the sentences made me know her much better, as if the story begins to naturally/organically emerge bit by bit, by just thinking about this character. She is currently wondering whether to confront her husband about the constant money issues, his excuses for not being able to pay long overdue bills, like the kids school fees, even though he has a relatively good job. She wonders whether he might have an affair or another family, something that happened to her closest friend, the only one she has confided in so far... to be continued :)

Happy Monday!
Tanja

Re: Getting to know my character better jbknowles July 17 2017, 13:58:23 UTC

This is fantastic! It's amazing how a small tool like blanks to fill in, can get the ball rolling! :)

ext_2676428 July 17 2017, 12:50:28 UTC

Thank you for this great writing warm-up! Jo, I really look forward to your posts. They inspire me and set me up for a great writing week.

These prompts did help me think about my characters a little more deeply. I tried this with two stories I'm working on, one that I'm revising and one that I'm playing around with drafting. I was much more successful for the story I already know well, so this might also be a strategy I come back to during revisions.

Here are a couple of lines I wrote:

I wish we could just have ice cream cones together, without it being about picking flavors for the party.

The only one who really understands me is Whisper, and that's because she doesn't have a choice since I'm the one holding the leash.

jbknowles July 17 2017, 13:59:15 UTC

I'm so glad you find these useful. Thanks for telling me, and for giving them a try! Love your sentences!

anonymous July 17 2017, 14:11:59 UTC

I really appreciate the time you give to sharing your thoughts pre and post writing for us. Today I was thinking about a young female character and her coach from a story I had put away for years. I found your questions helpful for me to clarify where I might go with them. For example, when she wishes she could just hop on her bike and ride away, I realized that where the sunlight was might be important.

Although when I first created the characters, they lived most of their time at at specific locale for me, I realized today I needed to change that up so that she definitely was riding away from the setting sun toward tomorrow morning's horizon. Neither of the characters is happy in the present moment. One of them is looking too much in the past. One of them has not been able to move past her present situation until this moment where she can move toward a better life.

jbknowles July 17 2017, 18:39:38 UTC

This is so great! I love how just a tiny question can spark something crucial to a story! Thanks for sharing!