raeschae

So I was hanging out with my BFF tonight and she was telling me about this assignment she gave her sophomore English classes (taken from an some online source that I didn't bother to ask her for until I realized I didn't have anyone to credit). It sounded interesting, so I thought I would throw it out and see if anyone else might be inclined to try it. No pressure, no boundaries or limits. Just a fun little exercise in creating an interesting character through minor details.

Writing Exercise: Creating Character Details.

The most interesting characters come alive in the smallest details: a favorite food, a favorite type of music, a fear of spiders, an allergy to plums, a scar from a fall at two years of age, a love of reality television. These details are what makes a character three dimensional and human. They may seem mundane, but think about what defines you as a person. Is it the grand events in your life, or the day to day? These details of the small add a layered richness beyond the world of the story. The more you know about your characters, the deeper the well you have to draw from, the more specifically you can write for them.

This character development exercise allows you to create the details of the small for your characters.

What's In Your Bag?

Empty out the bag you use most regularly, whatever you take with you when you go out. If you don't carry a bag, think about how you carry what's necessary - what's in your pockets? Write out in a point form list each item in that bag. Why do you carry each item? What purpose does it hold in your life? Is there anything emotional (such as a letter from an old girlfriend) in your bag? Is everything in your bag strictly functional? Is there anything in your bag that shouldn't be? Look at the bag itself. Why did you choose it? How long have you had it? Do you need a new one?

Once you've answered all the questions, look back at what you've written. What does your bag say about you? What is expected about your answers? What is unexpected?

Now, apply the same process to the main character in whatever project you are working on. Give this character a bag. What does the bag look like? Why does the character carry this bag? If the character definitely wouldn't carry a bag, create the reason why. How do they carry what's necessary for their day? How old is it? Is this character the type of person who can't leave the house without a huge bag? What do the items in the bag help the character to do? Is there anything job related in the bag? Based on what you know of the character, what items in the bag are expected? Put one thing in the bag which is unexpected. What does that unexpected item say about the character? What does this bag tell you about this character?

A Moment in Time

Now write a moment that takes place in the world of your story involving this character and their bag.

Exploring the world of the small in your characters is always going to give you a wealth of material to work with.

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This is my offering:

Emptied into a gray plastic bin, the contents of his pockets seem random and disconnected.

His wallet - sixty-three dollars in cash, a few credit cards, library, gas, and coffee cards, his SAG and insurance cards, photos of his family - sits next to his cell phone, ear buds and the scuffed up flip-flops he always wears when he flies.

Next to that, his simple, black carry-on - the one he's owned since he hopped a plane to California when he was 18 - contains a change of clothes, an e-Reader loaded with books he keeps meaning to read, a plastic baggie of homemade trail mix he threw together last night, and the note that was waiting for him on the kitchen table when he headed out this morning.

There's a smaller tray behind that for his keys, eighty-seven cents, his watch, and a platinum ring that he already feels naked without even though he only took it off a second ago. His laptop has been checked and sent to wait for him on the other end of the conveyor belt.

As many times as he's done this, the number now reaching into the hundreds, it never gets less annoying. It never feels more normal. Seeing the things that he can't live without, the things that he has to keep close in case of an emergency, always makes his life seem more insignificant than he feels like it is. Flying always makes him more appreciative of what he's leaving behind and what he's heading toward at the same time.

Once his pockets are re-stuffed and he's loaded down like a pack mule once again, he makes the short trek to his gate just as first class begins to board. He pulls his pass from his pocket and offers it to the attendant with a smile. Stowing his bag overhead, he grabs the note out of the front pocket and then settles into his seat to read.

J-

1. Call me when you land.
2. Kill the audition.
3. Don't miss me too much.

-J

By the time the stewardess begins her in-flight instructions, he's smiling to himself and reading the note for the fifth time. This is what ties all of the random, disconnected pieces of his life together and makes them mean something.

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I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!