Yesterday, we tried to place our characters inside a chocolate box. Today, we’re going to meet them for coffee. We’re not interviewing them, we’re going to talk to them like new and old friends. Imagine meeting friends at a local coffee shop after you haven’t seen them in a while. Well, maybe we don’t need to imagine anything this year.
Ask the following questions:
- Where does everyone want to meet? Each one of your friends has their favorite coffee spot and brand preference. If you had to assign a brand of coffee to them, what would they be?
- Your standing in line behind them. What kind of coffee do they order?
- Sitting down at the table with them, what are they wearing? What colors do you see? Do they wear glasses? How is their hair styled? Are they wearing perfume?
- What questions do you want to ask?
- How do they respond? What does their voice sound like? Do any of them have accents? Are any of them hard of hearing? How fast or slow do they talk? Which friend talks the most? Which one is the most quiet?
Take note of all the answers to this question and apply them to your characters. Type out a scene at a local coffee shop. The details will help you with their personalities and it will help you form dialogue.
Writing scenes that don’t make it into your novel are okay to put down on paper because they help you develop necessary parts of your characters. Get out all the questions out before you finish your chapter. Using exercises and asking the right kinds of questions will help you build the necessary layers for a fully developed character before your novel ends.
Follow as I post on my progress throughout the month and share the experience.
~Yoon Ju
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