Three Characters Walked Into a Bar - Exercise

Character Development Exercise

Purpose

This exercise has been designed to help you see your main characters in a different light, giving you a deeper understanding of who they are, what drives them and how they would react in certain situations.

Exercise

#1 
Put your main character in any location, whether it's relevant to your current story or not.
E.g. a cafe, shop, library, street or party.

#2 
Add two other characters, even if they don't have their own Point of View in your story.
It's fun to include the villain/antagonist.

#3
Come up with a problem they need to solve, or something they need to agree on. 
It might be as simple as them arguing over the last raspberry pie, or coveting the same love interest, or all needing to get to a distant location.

#4
Then think about how each character will:

• Notice different things in the room and about the other characters.
• Interact with different items in the room in a variety of ways. 
• Have a different emotional/physical response be to this environment. 
• Use different words and methods to get what they want. 

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#5 
Now write the scene, either from the Point of View of a character you don't normally write from, or you could even try writing the scene several times, from each character's perspective. 

When choosing the details that flesh out this location and situation, always ask "Why?" each character would notice that, do this or say that.

Reflect

It's amazing how much you can learn about your main characters when seeing them through the eyes of another.
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Reflect on what you learnt about the characters and their motivations or personalities, through this exercise.

I'd love to hear about any revelations you had in the comments below. 

Bonus

Do deeper than physical attributes and personal preferences when developing your characters.

Dig right down into their deep-seated motivations, fears and desires.

Grab FREE copies of my Character Development Templates here. 

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