While TAing the most recent Write NOW event, I had a blast talking about the way characters from our favorite TV shows and films (and even our favorite music albums!) can teach us to create dynamic and beautiful characters of our own.
What is it that strikes us about a particular character that doesn’t let go until our ears ring? Is it the unique backstory? The emotional evolution?
Maybe it’s the highly-specific quirk that makes us feel both called-out and seen.
Remember the stories that first inspired you to create!
If one of your own characters is struggling to come to life, it can be useful to consider why you’re drawn to other characters and fictional universes. If you notice something you love is missing in your own work, see if including it helps spark an evolution that truly makes your character sing!
To get started, here are a few prompts to help you explore what makes those characters so addicting.
For many of us, our writing journeys began when we imitated the writers we admired, maaaaaybe even by writing the occasional page of fanfiction. This is an invitation to delve back into that sweet comfort and imagine yourself, someone from your WIP, or a completely new character interacting with one of the beloved fictional characters who impacted you growing up. Consider the children’s books that shaped you, the cartoons that captured your eyes on Saturday mornings, or the comic books you traced while zoning out during class. Write for six minutes.
If choosing a particular character isn’t your style (or if you want some more of that sweet-sweet comfort writing), think of your favorite fictional universe. Are you in a haunted mansion? A wizarding school? A fairy-filled glen? Wherever you are, place yourself or your character into that setting, and see what happens! Write for seven minutes.
Now, a memory exercise with no consequences (the best kind, amiright?). Think of an influential scene in a book, film, or TV show that has stuck with you, for better or for worse. What can you taste? Do you smell fresh rain, unwashed bodies, or the mouth-watering scent of fire-roasted lamb? What can you hear? Now, while it’s fresh, write it down. NO CHEATING to look up the scene before you write, and if you wander from the original, who’s going to know? Write for five minutes.
For the meta-minded among us, consider a favorite fictional character, either your own or one borrowed from another creator. What would they do if they realized they were a character in a story? Would they fight to break free or work to follow the plot? Perhaps they would rally the other characters into a boycott or use this knowledge to subvert their enemies. Write for seven minutes.
How did it go? Did you dig it? Subscribe to The Fool & the Page for more guided writing and cosmic conversation.
KAY TEEKELL is Claire’s Summer Communications Associate and fellow creative writer. She has five years of writing and editing experience that ranges from content writing for blogs and magazines to grant writing for nonprofit organizations. Kay is passionate about the power of storytelling and strives to amplify voices that might otherwise be forgotten. She is excited to use her artistic and literary skills in her professional aspirations and will continue to develop her talents for the rest of her life.