Writing Ideas

November 2010

CHARACTER BUILDING

I. TOO MUCH GUY

Imagine someone who has too much of a good quality—too much honesty, courage, ambition, intelligence, compassion.  Because of this dominant quality, the person does a dumb thing, and this causes a big problem and now the character needs to do something before it's too late.

• What is your character's name? Where and how does this person live?
  
• What is the person's positive quality? How is this immediately evident to a stranger?
• What does this character like to read?
• Who is this character's hero?
• What is this character's job?
• How does this character spend his leisure time?
• What unwise decision does this character make? What events led up to this?
• What would happen if the problem were not solved?
• What three choices did the character have to solve the problem?
• What choice did the character make and what happened?

* Years later your character tells the whole story to his grandson. What does he say?

II. SHOW; DON'T TELL.

Consider an extremely rude individual. Now show this person being rude. How do rude people......

• eat pizza?
• ask questions?
• sleep?
• ride elevators?
• drive?
• read?
• exercise?
• play golf?
• walk the dog?
• sing the National Anthem?

Try these activities with a more complicated person, someone who is…….

• playfully arrogant
• aggressively passive
• unintentionally intentional
• weakly guarded
• curiously curious

III. CONNECTING THE UNCONNECTED.

Fit all of these into one person and then write a story. This individual…..

• whistles in line
• pretends to stutter
• reads three books at once
• earned a million dollars selling Frisbees
• has three cats with the same name
• prefers left handed people
• will never go to North Dakota

IV. TWO CHARACTERS AND ONE SITUATION.

Write little stories for each of these.

• optimist and opportunist and a fire at the opera.
• braggart and bully and a big league baseball game
• artist and agitator and an avalanche
• grump and gadfly and a garbage collectors strike
• nerd and narcissist and a nasty note arriving in the mail

V. FIRST SENTENCES.

Let these characters drive an original story.

• Barney always pretended to like police officers.
• Late in life, Grampa Finnigan decided to stop talking.
• I never thought I knew what to expect from teachers until I took Ms. Avery's US History class.
• People always wondered why William never attended his son's hockey games.

VII. MAKE IT CREDIBLE.

Why would…….

• a fastidious jeweler be found guilty of littering?
• an ambitious businessperson become a communist?
• a bully cry at sad movies?
• a minister give up his/her religion?
• an architect move into an igloo?

VIII. TRUTH INTO FICTION.

Think about the kind of person you are. Imagine how you might behave if you:

• found out your neighbor was a spy.
• won the lottery.
• discovered a great skill you never knew you had.
• found out you had a different nationality.
• were told a trusted friend was betraying you.
• lost your will succeed.

After explaining how you would react, create a character very much like you and put him or her in the same situation and make a story out of it.

IX. MINI BIOS.

Fiction writers in general and short story writers in particular often introduce characters by way of a short biography. They sweep through the character's life to explain why and how the character has suddenly appeared in the story.  (“When Ben was eight he was given a pet anaconda. His love of snakes grew until he robbed the zoo and stole the pythons. In prison he met another snake lover and when they got out they established a movement to have a holiday honoring snakes.”) Write little stories explaining how:

• an old lady in Ohio decided to run for president.
• a poor immigrant became the wealthiest man in a little New England town.
• a travel agent decided to cheat her customers.