Skip to main content

Set Up Your Characters by Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ 

Got one (or two) of your characters stuck? Don't know what to do with 
him/her? Is he/she getting too boring or predictable? Want to know more 
about his/her personality? Or maybe you have a story forming in the back 
of your mind but you don't know what to do with it just yet; you have a 
character but he/she isn't clear at this time. 
 
Here's a quick, but fun, fix -- set your character up for a surprise and 
find out how he/she reacts.
 
A. First, choose a number from 1 to 5 -- quick! Done? See what you chose:
 
1. a pearl anklet
2. a bottle of expensive perfume
3. a silk shirt
4. a plain gold ring/band
5. a high-end cellphone
 
B. Next, choose another number from 1 to 5. Now see what you picked:
 
1. moldy bread
2. a used toothpick
3. a bottle of dead cockroaches
4. cotton buds drenched in blood
5. a dirty sock
 
C. Next, pick another number from 1 to 5. Here's what you picked:
 
1. a knapsack
2. a laptop bag
3. a plastic bag
4. a gift-wrapped box
5. a gym bag
 
D. Finally, pick yet another number -- yes, from 1 to 5. I promise this 
is the last time :o)
 
1. a convention
2. election day
3. Thanksgiving
4. a high school reunion
5. a store opening
 
 
Now put the plain gold ring/band (A) and the bottle of dead cockroaches (B) 
in a knapsack (C). Your character discovers the knapsack in the car of the 
incumbent mayor's chief of security on election day (D). Your character 
opens the knapsack and...
 
What's your character's reaction when he/she pulls out the "good" item, 
followed by the "bad" item"? Write it out. Get the emotions out of your 
character. Continue by exploring your character's thoughts -- What are 
his/her assumptions for the presence of those items in the knapsack? How 
does he/she connect the items with the circumstances?
 
Pick the items at random and experiment with your character's reactions. 
You have at least 500 "set ups" for your character at your disposal by 
combining the items in the 4 lists above. 
 
 
Copyright (c) 2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
 
Shery created WriteSparks! - a software that generates over 10
*million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks! Lite
for fr*e - http://writesparks.com
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

OWNING: Only One of You

Martha Graham, a famous dancer and choreographer in the early 20th century, wrote in a letter to one of her students: "There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open." Graham's words ring true. There is only one of you in the world: The way you think, the way you see things, the way you respond, the way you nurture yourself and other people, the way you go about doing mundane things. The way you love, the way you express, the way you tell a story, the way you write. The world will know of and witness only one you . The totality of you -- talents, nuances, thought proc...
Read more

Blog Talk Radio Show October 7th with Guest Author Donna McDine

Join host Virginia S Grenier and her guests on Mondays at 4pm eastern for the Featured World of Ink Network show The Writing Mama! This week (Monday October 7th) our guest is Award-winning Children's Author Donna McDine. They will be talking about McDine's two latest releases "Powder Monkey" and "Hockey Agony", both published by Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. a small indie publisher of eBooks and print books for young readers. Donna McDine is an award-winning children’s author, Honorable Mention in the 77 and two Honorable Mentions in the 78 Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competitions, Literary Classics Silver Award & Seal of Approval Recipient Picture Book Early Reader, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention, Global eBook Awards Finalist Children’s Picture Book fiction, and Preditor & Editors Readers Poll 2010 Top Ten Children’s Book ~ The Golden Pathway . Her stories, articles and book reviews have...
Read more

Guest Post Wed: Inspiration of Writing a Book

Inspiration for writing Gabriela and The Widow by Jack Remick In one way or another, fiction is autobiographical but the story doesn’t have to be, as they blare out on TV, “based on a true story.” It’s the other way around—the novel, the fiction becomes part of the author’s autobiography. The novel is an expression of being. The author puts a writer into every story and that writer is the narrator. For Gabriela and the Widow, the autobiographical stimulus, call it the impulse to write, came when I visited my mother to celebrate her 92 nd birthday. For the last few years, my mother’s caregiver has been Gabriela. I watched as Gabriela fed her, dressed her, bathed her, combed her hair and put her to bed. But for Gabriela, this wasn’t just a job. She had a connection to my mother that was true, real, and honest. She didn’t change her behavior for my visits. She didn’t coo and perform, so I knew that what I saw was the real Gabriela and the real Mother. And there was somet...
Read more