Exercising Your Character

“The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and how he treats people who can’t fight back.” Abigail Van Buren

1. How does your main character treat others?
2. Choosing three other characters in your book, decide how they really are, by the way they treat people they know.
3. By the way they treat strangers.
4. How does your MC feel about animals? Why?

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters” Albert Einstein

1. Does your character lie? Why or why not?
2. What would happen if she did lie? How would the story be more compelling?
3. What is the worst thing your character could do? Why is this the worst?
4. Write a scene where your character lies, and is caught, by someone who is important to her.
5. Do only the *bad* people lie in your book?

 

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Jesus

1. I think another way of saying this is, Actions speak louder than words. How does your character show her love? Her commitment? Her anger?
2. Write a scene where your character harms someone by her actions.
3. Our bad characters cannot be purely evil. How is your antagonist good?

 

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln

1. Your MC ends up with information she shouldn’t have. What does she do with it?
2. All characters must have weaknesses. What are your character’s weaknesses?
3. There should be a point, in every character’s growth, when they realize they have all the power, or none of it. What happens to your character when they hit this place in the book?
4. If you MC realizes she is more like the bad guy than she thought, well, that can be very interesting. Write a scene where your MC comes up against the darker part of herself.

 

 

 

 

 

Ten Things I Like about Writing x Two

What You Might Think

1. New cover reveals. Just saw the newest cover to my book coming out from Zondervan called Never Said. It’s beautiful.

2.Being asked to blurb a book. I’m reading something terrific right now for S&S.

3. Talking ideas with Kyra Leigh, Queen Bee.

4. Writing. I also hate this part of being a writer.

5. When the book is coming along and I am happy.

6. Getting a nice review.

7. Teaching others about writing. There is something about watching other people succeed that is very familial.

8. Talking to my agent/editor.

9. Holding that new book.

10. Thinking about the next idea when I have no idea what I might write. At this moment, as I near the completion of two books I am working on by myself, I feel like I might never write another novel. This is kinda scary. Will I settle on something new? Will I be able to write it? What am I going to do?

 

What You Might Not Think

1. Reading Dear Abby. Even though sometimes she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

2. Driving past homes at night where you can see inside and people are being a family. (That happens around here in UT.) Or things are just in there. I have never seen a dirty house at night. This is one reason I keep my blinds shut in the evenings.

3. Listening in on other people’s conversations. All kinds. The old lady swearing up a storm at the man in Village Inn. The newly married couple in the freezer section of Smith’s. The kids playing outside across the street (those beautiful girls were the first to sing a song from Frozen to me).

4.Watching students on campus at BYU. Once I saw a guy grab a girl up in a tight hug and she checked her phone over his shoulder.

5. Hearing stories from my mom. They come few and far between, but every once in a while  . . .

6. Talking to my writer friends about their writing troubles. Don’t get me wrong. I am happy for their successes. But I like working out worries together.

7. Looking through homes for sale for the place with the perfect office.

8. Watching my daughters make choices when times are truly tough. I don’t always like the results. In fact, there are times when the results are hart breaking. But.

9. Once my beloved grandmother said, “And who would read somebody else’s letters? Who? Or look through another person’s drawers.” I couldn’t answer her.

10. Thinking about the next idea when I have no idea what I might write. Will it be found somewhere mentioned above?