Jul
Creating Characters
Today’s Writing Thursday consists of yet another exercise–a show/don’t tell character sketch.
Ready?
1) Think of something you want to get across about your character–wealth or lack thereof, ethnicity, religious beliefs, patriotism/or lack thereof, etc.
2) Now, think of ways you can show this aspect without saying, “Richard is patriotic.” For example, perhaps a flag is mounted from his mailbox, maybe he has a red, white, and blue sticker ribbon decal on his back bumper, maybe he has patriotic music wafting from his apartment windows. Do you see where I’m going with this? By showing this aspect of his personality, you’re allowing the reader to imagine it rather than having it spoon fed to them.
3) Now take the aspect you’ve decided to give your character and write a simple paragraph for us in the comment section. The follow-up person guesses what the aspect is (wealth, diet issues, whatever) and then gives a paragraph of their own. And so on, and so on.
Let’s get to it!
~Elizabeth
July 1st, 2010 at 10:26 am
He can’t wait. Only a couple of hours. He’s wearing his lucky t-shirt and has on the matching pinstripe jersey emblazed with his favorite player’s number. Where’s his cap? Checking to make sure the tickets are in his pocket and the money for the beer, hot dogs, pretzels he plans to buy. Tucked in his backpack is his glove because he knows this is the day that he’s catching that foul ball.
July 1st, 2010 at 10:40 am
Nice, Dru! Without spoon feeding it, you let us know he’s NOT a kid by simply mentioning the beer money. VERY nice!
July 1st, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Okay – I’m going with Yankees fan..good job Dru
As he stepped into his office the phone rang. Looking at his watch he reached for the receiver as he tried to pull his other arm out of the lab coat. Rounds had gone longer than expected and now he was going to be late for dinner. He told the receptionist to take a message, shut his computer down and grabbed his keys just as his beeper vibrated. With a sigh of resignation he sat down and dialed the number.
July 1st, 2010 at 1:23 pm
I’d say Dru’s character is an absolute baseball fanatic!
What do ya’ll think is going on with my shopkeeper Ptol:
Ptol held his forceps to the light, a shiny brass gear trapped in their teeth.
He’d found another clock.
He rubbed the gear on his coveralls, then pitched it toward a glass jug. She heard a chime and the splash of coins, metal on metal. Through the glass she could see gears of every size and color, thousands, tens of thousands, sloped against the sides.
Ptol slid off the stool, walked to the back wall, switched on a light.
Samantha gasped.
Three stories high and at least twenty feet wide, the wall was covered in clocks. Walnut, plastic, silver, chrome–a hundred years worth and more.
All of them silent.
July 1st, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Nikki posted while I was typing (life is timing). Nikki, I’d say your guy is a doc working at a hospital. He’s late for a date–and probably on his way to a breakup, or a divorce.
July 1st, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Ptol’s a serial clock killer….
or a gear nut…
Steve slammed down the phone. On a normal day, he handled twenty or so calls, he’d just done thirty in an hour. His ear was killing him. Opening his email, he started reading about another employee, no longer with the company. Looking around the empty cubicles around him, he had no one to ask the one question running through his mind.
What the heck was going on?
When the phone rang again, he answered, his eyes on the pile of work in his inbox that hadn’t been touched since his shift started at nine. His stomach clenched when he recognized his boss’s voice.
July 1st, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Nikki’s character is a doctor
Joe’s character work in clock repair
Lynn’s character is about to be laid off
July 1st, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Wow, nice job!! Nikki, I could feel his frustration! Joe, I think your guy has an issue with clocks. Doesn’t want to face the passage of time, maybe??? Lynn, yeah, he’s on the verge of getting laid off. Nice!
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:19 am
Wouldn’t want to buy Ptol a watch for father’s day, would you?
I think Steve works for a serial killer. His termination…permanent.