This is where you imagine and write down what kind of motel your character would stay at, what brand of clothes the character wears, what type of wind the character buys, what kind of car driven, what church attended, etc. etc. You don't put all that stuff in your fiction but it's supposed to help give a character depth and life.
Personally, it's always seemed a waste of time to me.
Anybody feel differently? Why?
what kind of wind the character buys--my best line
ReplyDeleteSeems like a waste of time to me too, except as a journal exercise or to get things flowing again when the writer is stuck.
ReplyDeleteNot a waste of time. The more you know about your character the better you can convey the voice of that character whether you use all the details you discover in such an exercise or not. It helps you "feel" what that character might do or say.
ReplyDelete