Character Journal/ Quick Write Assignments
Remember to write the date and the heading in your journal as you complete the entries.
Journal #1- 02/19/13
Getting to Know Your Character
Upload the document below or upload it from the document tray on our class At a Glance Page. Use this document to begin your Character Journal document. You must fill it out entirely.
Upload the document below or upload it from the document tray on our class At a Glance Page. Use this document to begin your Character Journal document. You must fill it out entirely.
getting_to_know_your_character.docx | |
File Size: | 15 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Quick Write #1- 02/20/13
What Does She Want?
See today's (02/20/13) archive for this Quick Write.
See today's (02/20/13) archive for this Quick Write.
Quick Write #2- 02/20/13
Character Wants
Directions for Part 1:
Create a character, perhaps one you have written about previously, and fill in the blanks of the sentence below.
name is a(n) adjective -year-old noun who wants want;/desire .
Directions for Part 2:
Next, jot down what makes your character:
Directions for Part 3:
Answer all of the following questions based on the character from the first part of the Quick Write.
Imagine your character in a situation that produces one of these emotions. What does he or she want in that situation? What is the deep, abstract desire? What, in this specific situation, does he or she want that would fulfill, at least temporarily, that desire?
Directions for Part 1:
Create a character, perhaps one you have written about previously, and fill in the blanks of the sentence below.
name is a(n) adjective -year-old noun who wants want;/desire .
Directions for Part 2:
Next, jot down what makes your character:
- laugh
- flinch
- smirk
- yell
- blush
- get a lump in the throat
Directions for Part 3:
Answer all of the following questions based on the character from the first part of the Quick Write.
Imagine your character in a situation that produces one of these emotions. What does he or she want in that situation? What is the deep, abstract desire? What, in this specific situation, does he or she want that would fulfill, at least temporarily, that desire?
Journal #2 02/20/13
Desires
Pick one of your characters. What is your character's deep desire? What is the situation that character is in now--where, doing what, in the company of whom? Make a list, inventing as you go, of the character's thought process, backward from the ultimate desire to the specific action (or inaction) that would lead eventually toward that desire.
Pick one of your characters. What is your character's deep desire? What is the situation that character is in now--where, doing what, in the company of whom? Make a list, inventing as you go, of the character's thought process, backward from the ultimate desire to the specific action (or inaction) that would lead eventually toward that desire.
Journal #3 02/21/13
What do your characters want?
Look at the stories you've already written and answer the following about one of your main characters.
If you don't know the answers to these questions, perhaps you don't know your character and his/her desires as well as you should so take the time to really think about these as you answer them. Aristotle said, "Man is his desire." What your central characters desire will inform the situations and ultimately the elements of the plots in which they are involved.
Look at the stories you've already written and answer the following about one of your main characters.
- What does the central character want?
- What are her motives for wanting this?
- Where in the story is this made clear to the reader?
- How do we (the readers) learn what the central character wants? Dialogue? Actions? Interior thinking?
- What or who stands in the way of him/ her achieving it?
- What does that desire set in motion?
If you don't know the answers to these questions, perhaps you don't know your character and his/her desires as well as you should so take the time to really think about these as you answer them. Aristotle said, "Man is his desire." What your central characters desire will inform the situations and ultimately the elements of the plots in which they are involved.
Journal #4 02/22/13
Opposite Genders
Write a page in the first person assuming the voice of someone of the opposite gender. This can be a description, a narrative, or a segment of an autobiography. The main point is to completely lose yourself and become another (your character).
Write a page in the first person assuming the voice of someone of the opposite gender. This can be a description, a narrative, or a segment of an autobiography. The main point is to completely lose yourself and become another (your character).
Journal #5 02/26/13
Garbology
If people are characterized by the objects they choose, own, wear, and carry with them, they are also revealed in what they throw away. Garbology is the study of society or culture by examining and analyzing its refuse. Write a character sketch by describing the character's waste basket.
If people are characterized by the objects they choose, own, wear, and carry with them, they are also revealed in what they throw away. Garbology is the study of society or culture by examining and analyzing its refuse. Write a character sketch by describing the character's waste basket.
Journal #6 02/27/13
Trigger Lines
Write a quick sketch of a character you have already worked with--no more than two or three focused details. Then pick one of the trigger lines below and write a monologue in that character's voice. Keep going a little bit past the place you want to stop,
Now look over the monologue and highlight a few phrases that seem to you to catch that character's voice. Pick one of these and use it to begin another short monologue. (Both must be present in your journal.)
Write a quick sketch of a character you have already worked with--no more than two or three focused details. Then pick one of the trigger lines below and write a monologue in that character's voice. Keep going a little bit past the place you want to stop,
- It doesn't take much, does it, for. . .
- And what I said was true. . .
- I know right away I'm going to. . .
- I've become a different person since. . .
- I don't like anyone to watch me. . .
- You call that music?
Now look over the monologue and highlight a few phrases that seem to you to catch that character's voice. Pick one of these and use it to begin another short monologue. (Both must be present in your journal.)
Journal #7 02/28/13
Speech Flavor, Or Sounding Real
Upload the document below or upload it from the document tray on our class At a Glance Page. Make sure you write your response in your journal document.
Upload the document below or upload it from the document tray on our class At a Glance Page. Make sure you write your response in your journal document.
journal_7.docx | |
File Size: | 20 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Journal #8 03/04/13
Character through Voice
Write a "dialogue" between two characters, only one of whom can speak. The other is physically, emotionally, or otherwise prevented from saying what he/she wants to say. Write only the words of the one, only the appearance and actions of the other.
Write a "dialogue" between two characters, only one of whom can speak. The other is physically, emotionally, or otherwise prevented from saying what he/she wants to say. Write only the words of the one, only the appearance and actions of the other.
Quick Write #3 03/04/13
Taxi Ride
Your character gets in a taxi and tells the driver to take him/her to the airport. The driver has his/her own ideas about where they are headed..
When you present this in your journal, post the entries side by side (you can enter a table and put the passenger on one side and the driver on the other).
Your character gets in a taxi and tells the driver to take him/her to the airport. The driver has his/her own ideas about where they are headed..
- Part 1
- Part 2
When you present this in your journal, post the entries side by side (you can enter a table and put the passenger on one side and the driver on the other).
Journal #9 03/05/13
The Invisible Scene
When you are writing a scene in a story, it might be helpful to think of your characters as being onstage. Your reader will want to know what they look like and what the stage setting looks like. Next, your reader will want to have a sense of how tour characters move around and interact with the furniture of their stage world.--in other words the stage business, body language, or choreography. Characters live in a concrete world and it is your job as a fiction writer to keep them there.
The Exercise
Write a scene in which a character's body, as well as his/her mind is engaged in doing something--stage business. Here are some possibilities:
Explore how various activities and settings can change what happens within a scene. For example, what happens when characters are painting an apartment or when one of them is cutting the other's hair. Or what happens when characters are having a confrontation in public--say a fancy restaurant-- rather than the privacy of their home.
IT is also instructive to analyze how a writer you admire handles the interweaving of dialogue and body language. Go through one of your favorite stories and highlight all the body language and choreography.
When you are writing a scene in a story, it might be helpful to think of your characters as being onstage. Your reader will want to know what they look like and what the stage setting looks like. Next, your reader will want to have a sense of how tour characters move around and interact with the furniture of their stage world.--in other words the stage business, body language, or choreography. Characters live in a concrete world and it is your job as a fiction writer to keep them there.
The Exercise
Write a scene in which a character's body, as well as his/her mind is engaged in doing something--stage business. Here are some possibilities:
- repairing something
- playing solitaire or a game involving other players
- doing exercises
- painting a canvas or a wall
- cutting down a tree
- giving someone a haircut
Explore how various activities and settings can change what happens within a scene. For example, what happens when characters are painting an apartment or when one of them is cutting the other's hair. Or what happens when characters are having a confrontation in public--say a fancy restaurant-- rather than the privacy of their home.
IT is also instructive to analyze how a writer you admire handles the interweaving of dialogue and body language. Go through one of your favorite stories and highlight all the body language and choreography.
Journal #10 03/06/13
Character through Thought
Pick a character you have created. What is your character's deep desire? What is the situation that your character is in now--where, doing what, in the company of whom? Make a list, inventing as you go, of the character's thought process backward from the ultimate desire to the specific action (or inaction) that would lead eventually toward that desire.
Pick a character you have created. What is your character's deep desire? What is the situation that your character is in now--where, doing what, in the company of whom? Make a list, inventing as you go, of the character's thought process backward from the ultimate desire to the specific action (or inaction) that would lead eventually toward that desire.
Quick Write #4 03/06/13
A Lie that Protects
Answer the following questions based on a lie that protects.
Answer the following questions based on a lie that protects.
- Who tells the lie? Why?
- What or whom are they trying to protect? Why?
- Who does the lie benefit?
- Who does the lie hurt?
- Who is involved?
- Who will be hurt if the lie gets out?
- What is at stake (list each person and write what each has at stake)?
Quick Write #5 03/06/13
Secrets
Answer the following questions based on secrets.
Answer the following questions based on secrets.
- What is the secret?
- Who is keeping the secret?
- From whom is the secret being kept?
- Who are the people involved? (Are there more than just the two?)
- Why does it need to be kept? What will happen if it is uncovered? Who will it hurt?
- Is someone digging to figure it out? Why? How are they involved?
- What happens when the secret is found out?
- What does the discoverer decide to do? Keep the secret? Let it out?
- What are the risks and rewards of each?
Journal #11 03/07/13
Deny Everything
If you think the force o gravity is powerful, try breaking trough the defenses of someone who is committed to denying the obvious. For example, tell the man whose son is clearly a screw up, who keeps failing in school and hanging out with the worst crowd, that his son may need help, and the denying father will tell you that his kid is "going through a phase." Denial is nearly impregnable; on the other hand, it can be useful in keeping someone from going over the edge.
The Exercise
Write a two-person scene in which one character tries to break through another character's barrier of denial. Make the issue both specific and dramatic. Do this mainly in dialogue but anchor it in a particular time and place.
If you think the force o gravity is powerful, try breaking trough the defenses of someone who is committed to denying the obvious. For example, tell the man whose son is clearly a screw up, who keeps failing in school and hanging out with the worst crowd, that his son may need help, and the denying father will tell you that his kid is "going through a phase." Denial is nearly impregnable; on the other hand, it can be useful in keeping someone from going over the edge.
The Exercise
Write a two-person scene in which one character tries to break through another character's barrier of denial. Make the issue both specific and dramatic. Do this mainly in dialogue but anchor it in a particular time and place.
Journal #12 03/08/13
Character Through Conflict
Write a short character sketch (it may be from life), focusing on how your character makes a living. Put your character in a working situation and let your reader know by a combination of direct and indirect methods what that work is; how well s/he does it; what is looks, sounds, smells like; and how the character feels about it. Contrast the methods.
Write a short character sketch (it may be from life), focusing on how your character makes a living. Put your character in a working situation and let your reader know by a combination of direct and indirect methods what that work is; how well s/he does it; what is looks, sounds, smells like; and how the character feels about it. Contrast the methods.
Journal #13 03/11/13
Monologue
Write a short monologue for a character who has done something, illegal, immoral, gross, or unkind. Make the reader sympathize with your character.
Write a short monologue for a character who has done something, illegal, immoral, gross, or unkind. Make the reader sympathize with your character.