What's in Your Closet?(Creating Characters with Character)

Once I jot down basic information about my main characters, such as Age, Height, Weight, etc., (Cathy Yardley shared a short, concise worksheet with me, less than 2 pages, that drills down the basics of each character.) Thanks, Cathy!

After filling out the information on the character sheets, I know my characters fairly well. In addition to this basic information, which includes providing the Chronological happenings of the character's life, I added the following to help me get to know my story people even better.

What is his or her favorite saying or catch phrase?

What's under his or her bed?

What does his or her closet look like? What's in his or her closet?

What one secret item has the character hidden away for his or her eyes only? Where and why?

Up to this point, what is his or her most traumatic experience?

What's his or her happiest moments? What's his or her biggest accomplishment?

Just as these sort of things tell us about real world people, they reveal so much about the people that populate our stories.

So, why not ask your characters, what's in your closet?

Yesterday's Writing Results:

I wrote two short scenes yesterday (approximately 1,200 words).

If I'm going to write for a living, I need to be able to write as much as possible in as short a time as possible, so I'm experimenting with the location and conditions in which I write.