Character Development: Character Prompts

Pick one of your characters at random. Write a short piece in which this character wins the lottery. What do they do with the money? How do they react to finding out they won? Do they tell anybody?

Pick a lesser-used character. Write a monologue where your character tells their life story. Make sure to keep it in that character's voice. How does their emotions change as they go through their life? Really focus on trying to tell more about their personality through the way they speak than what they say.

Write a scene with dialogue that reveals your character’s external and internal personalities. Good settings for this dialogue would be an interview, appointment with a therapist, or a conversation with a romantic interest or close friend. Write the scene in third-person omniscient so you can get inside your character’s head as well as the other character’s head; this will allow you explore how your character feels and how he or she is perceived.

Write a short scene in which your character is looking in a mirror. What do they see? What do they focus on? How do they perceive themselves? Have your character take a walk. Now how does a stranger see them? What is different between the two scenes?

Detail a moment from one of your characters' childhoods that was influential to who they are currently: end with your character reflecting on the memory. Try to avoid using "thought words".