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

The Comeback of 2D Animation: Why We’re Craving Realness Again

There’s something happening in animation right now that’s worth paying attention to—not because it’s simply nostalgic, but because it’s deeply human. As someone who works in the mental health and creative storytelling space, I can’t help but see these conversations about art, AI, and hand-drawn storytelling as part of a bigger theme: our collective hunger for authenticity. We live in a time where AI-generated content is everywhere—convenient, efficient, and often soulless. It’s not surprising that artists and audiences alike are looking back toward something that feels more tactile, more imperfect, more human. That brings us to 2D animation, an art form that has shaped generations and now, it seems, might just be making a comeback. Here’s what Language of the Soul podcast host, Dominick Domingo, had to say on this trend: There’s been a lot of industry talk lately speculating about 2D/traditional ANIMATION making a comeback. Recent articles confirm that although Disney has not greenlit...
Read more

We're All Souls: The Spiritual Thread of Mental Health with Carolyn Coleridge

  By Virginia Grenier I’ve long believed that healing is more than just symptom reduction. It’s not just about coping skills or cognitive restructuring—it’s about uncovering the deeper threads that shape who we are and how we move through the world. That belief is exactly why this latest episode of Language of the Soul resonated so deeply with me. Our guest, Carolyn Coleridge, is a psychotherapist, intuitive, and healer who has spent over 30 years at the intersection of traditional therapy and spiritual insight. In our conversation, Carolyn shared something that’s stuck with me since we recorded: “We’re all souls. That’s my premise.” It sounds simple, but when you really sit with it, that one sentence flips the entire clinical model on its head. What if instead of viewing our clients—or ourselves—as broken minds to be fixed, we saw each of us as whole souls navigating a very human experience? That’s the lens Carolyn brings into her work and into this conversation. And honestl...
Read more

Five Tips for a More Marketable Children’s Picture Book Manuscript by Mayra Calvani

The world of children’s picture book publishing is extremely competitive. If you’re an aspiring children’s author, you need to make sure your manuscript is in excellent shape and has all the elements editors and agents look for before you begin the submission process. Here are five tips to make your picture book manuscript more marketable: Start right with the problem.  Many times beginner writers begin a picture book with back-story. It’s okay to have this back-story in the first draft, but be sure to get rid of it when you edit. Back-story is unnecessary 90% of the time and it only serves to slow down the beginning of a story, making it weaker. You want to grab the reader right from the start. So don’t be afraid to begin your story at the heart of the problem. It’s okay to set the stage with a sentence or two—but no more! Have a protagonist readers can relate to. Generally, children like to listen to stories about other children or animals with children’s characteristics. ...
Read more