Peer Review Writing Workshop- Building Believable Characters Part 2

So it's Thursday again, and I've renamed the workshop, but it's the same idea. I've stayed on the same subject because having good characters is essential to having a good book.

Last week we did a character sketch. It's an exercise in getting to know the characters in order to portray the personality in a realistic way.

I've rewritten my character sketch from last week after looking at Hemingway's example again.

Kate Wilson viewed her good looks as a source of annoyance rather than an asset. It was far more important to her to be the smartest in the room, or the most talented, and she pushed herself to be seen in other ways than just the prettiest. When she decided to go to South America, it was her compulsion to do something different that inspired her to not only go, but to return again to live. While there, she discovered that she had been missing real meaning in life and began to fill the void by opening herself to the local people. She loved and let herself be loved.

So that's my second attempt!

This week I've copied part of the link I had in my last blog. The full article's website is found below the quote.

"Place the Fully-Developed Character into a Setting

Once the writer has fully developed one or more characters using the above techniques, it is time to place the character or characters into a setting. Rather than going for something dramatic like a car accident or 1920s murder scene, it is often best to place the character in a common setting the reader knows well like a coffee shop or a classroom. Because the writer knows the characters so well by this point, the writing is a matter of observing and recording what the characters do based on their experiences and the biographical details the writer has already “learned about” the character.

Look to Authors of Character-Driven Fiction Like Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Carver

While it is not important to have anything “happen” in the scene, some writers may become uneasy with how little appears to be going on. It may be helpful here to read some Ernest Hemmingway or Raymond Carver stories to see how much can happen when nothing appears to be happening. Furthermore, the scene being written probably won’t ever see another reader, so the writer needn’t worry if the prose is not “exciting enough.”"

Read more at Suite101: How to Write the Character-Driven Novel: Steps to Creating Belivable Characters | Suite101.com http://suite101.com/article/how-to-write-the-characterdriven-novel-a79387#ixzz1xjLrW0NQ

The example they give of Hemingway, and how little is "going on" but a lot being said made me think of his book For Whom the Bell Tolls. I think it spans about a week's time period and that's it.

This week's exercise is to take your character and put them in a setting. Mine will be from the suggestion of a coffee shop.

Kate took her laptop to the local coffeeshop with free internet to check out the latest news from Ecuador. On her income as a waitress, she couldn't afford internet at home, so once a week she would go and buy herself a latte and spend an hour or two surfing the web. Her dream of returning to the rainforest was a long way off, but she hung onto it with tenacity, determined to not lose sight of it.

She sat engrossed in the headlines when she became aware of a young man hovering near her.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, smiling.

Kate cringed inwardly but looked up with a welcoming smile. "Not at all."


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