You want to write a novel or a screenplay and you know the basic story, but the characters aren't coming alive. You don't know them well enough yet. What to do?
How do you get to know people in your real life? How do you know whether someone is generous or mean or decisive or timid?
By what they do. We judge people and really get to know them not so much by what they say but by their actions.
Someone may tell me, "Jim is a really nice guy," but if I have a coffee with Jim and I see that he's rude to the waitress, I think, "Hmm, Jim is a nice guy when it suits him but not when he has nothing to gain."
So here's the solution to not knowing your characters well enough: watch them in actlon.
Imagine your character in an interesting situation of some kind.
Let’s say, for instance, she’s driving and she sees an accident up ahead and there’s nobody else there. Would she stop and try to help, or would she get on the phone and call for help but drive by, or would she do nothing to help because she doesn’t want to get involved?
Let your intuition tell you what she'd do. Your subconscious mind already knows--and now your conscious mind will, too.
It doesn’t matter that this scene is not in your story. Do that with a bunch of situations, eventually including ones you know will come up in your story.
Make notes. Jot down what you imagine the character saying and doing.
You can do the same for situations that involve two or more of your characters.
Pretty soon you'll find yourself writing scenes as though the characters are dictating them to you.
(There are more tips about developing your characters in my book, "Your Writing Coach," from Amazon or your other favorite online or offline retailer. A great way to continue is to be inspired by my free monthly Brainstorm creativity and productivity e-bulletin--just send an email request to BstormUK@aol.com. And if you want more support than that, check out the two versions of my online coaching program (one group, one one-to-one)--details at jurgenwolff.com.)
