Character Development: Making Those Characters A Little More Three-Dimensional
Purpose of Exercise: This is a handout-style exercise for protagonist development in writing short stories.
Description: You might distribute this handout in class for students to fill-out during class time, or ask them to fill it out as a take-home journal for discussion/drafting in class.
Suggested Time: 15 mins to entire class period
Procedure: Ask Students to complete the following handout, either at home, or during class time:
Character
Full Name: Sex (don’t write, “yes, please.”): Age and Date of Birth (as your story does not need to have a contemporary setting): Birth City: Parent’s Names: Siblings: Ethnicity: Pets: Education: Favorite Movie: Favorite TV Show: Favorite Book: Favorite Food: Favorite Day of the Week: Favorite Hobby: Favorite Drink: Favorite Band: Favorite Song: Favorite Halloween Costume (if s/he celebrated Halloween): Religious affiliation: Political affiliation: Love interest(s):
Physical Description
Eye Color: Hair Color and Style: Height: Weight: Skin Tone: Facial Description (does s/he have a unique nose, forehead, eyes, ears, lips, ect.?): Clothes (what s/he is wearing or usually wears): Other Physical Characteristics (ghetto booty, busty, muscular, corpulent, scrawny, disproportioned, ect.):
Defining Moments
The one childhood instance—good or bad—that indelibly affects who this character is now: The character’s proudest moment: The character’s most embarrassing moment: The character’s career goals of future aspirations/ambitions: Whom the character would most like to have dinner with (past or present) and why: Three adjectives the character would use to describe him/herself:
Post-secret
What would your character’s post-secret say? How would it be designed?
Take time in class to discuss character development, and the characters they created. Have students begin a scene in which their character confronts a specific situation/conflict. Or, if students have already begun their stories, have them revise a scene in which their character’s traits are more apparent.