HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS?
Recently, I grabbed a box of cereal from the shelf in the grocery store and my character pressed next to me insisting I buy Grapenuts. It didn’t matter that I don’t like Grapenuts. She does and decided to impart this tidbit in the middle of the isle. I ignored her as best I could, tossed my favorite cereal in my basket, and plastered on a weak smile. If I’d questioned my characters outburst, the gentleman inching past me and the woman panting and pushing her loaded cart at me would have declared me nuts.
Have you thought about the reality of the character/s in your WIP following you everywhere you go? When you’re engaged in the responsibilities of your real world do you hear their insistent voice rattling off their personal preferences, tastes and opinions? Do your characters willing share information about themselves with you or do they dole it out in dribbles; sometimes at inopportune moments?
How well do you really know your main hero or heroine? Just for fun fill out this quiz.
1. How much money do they have in their wallet or purse right now?
2. What’s their most vivid childhood memory?
3. Are they left or right handed?
4. Can they swim?
5. How many times do they brush their teeth each day?
6. What makes them break into uncontrollable laughter?
7. Do they part their hair? Left or right?
8. What’s in their glove compartment box/saddlebag/backpack?
9. Have they shared a secret vain quality? If so what?
10. Name their favorite piece of clothing?
11. Tell us their least favorite month of the year? Why?
12. Are they closer to their mother or father or neither?
13. Do they bite or tear their fingernails or toenails?
14. What was their favorite subject in school?
15. Did they crawl or walk first?
16. What’s their favorite color?
17. Do they prefer toast, muffin or biscuit?
18. What’s their shoe size. Narrow, medium or wide feet?
19. The first job they held?
20. Any food or animal allergies?
21. How do they feel about going to the dentist?
22. How many siblings do they have?
23. Do they prefer baths or showers?
24. What’s under their bed?
25. Do they have an Inny or outy belly button?
How many of your answers reflect or parallel you?
5 comments:
Here's my list of answers.
1. How much money do they have in their wallet or purse right now? $21.00
2. What’s their most vivid childhood memory? The neighbor’s cat stealing his red teddy bear.
3. Are they left or right handed? Right handed.
4. Can they swim? Yes, but doesn’t like public swimming pools.
5. How many times do they brush their teeth each day? Twice.
6. What makes them break into uncontrollable laughter? Beating his secretary in a game of twenty questions.
7. Do they part their hair? Left or right? He parts his thinning hair on the left.
8. What’s in their glove compartment box/saddlebag/backpack? He’s crammed his car registration, sunglasses, little bottle of hand cream and sanitizer, chap stick, a tin of breath mints, and two packets of soda crackers into his little glove compartment.
9. Have they shared a secret vain quality? If so what? He covets a head of thick, wavy hair like Brown Davis, bag boy at The Market.
10. Name their favorite piece of clothing? A blue cable-chain cardigan.
11. Tell us their least favorite month of the year? Why? January. It leaves him cool and warn out after a busy December.
12. Are they closer to their mother or father or neither? A smidgen closer to his father.
13. Do they bite or tear their fingernails or toenails? Never. Couldn’t get his toe in his mouth if he rubbed his leg with ligament cream and tried.
14. What was their favorite subject in school? History.
15. Did they crawl or walk first? Walk.
16. What’s their favorite color? Blue.
17. Do they prefer toast, muffin or biscuit? Muffin.
18. What’s their shoe size. Narrow, medium or wide feet? 10-1/2 narrow.
19. The first job they held? In the fifth grade he swept the parking lot of their neighborhood grocery store.
20. Any food or animal allergies? No, but recently tuna makes him gag.
21. How do they feel about going to the dentist? His finger imprints still dress the examining chair.
22. How many siblings do they have? An older brother and a younger sister.
23. Do they prefer baths or showers? Showers.
24. What’s under their bed? A bulletin board he needs to hang in his den which currently houses a partially started 1,000 piece puzzle. A framed picture of a mountain and lake in autumn. A growing pile of clothes slated for Goodwill.
25. Do they have an Inny or outy belly button? Ack! Dare I peek at his belly button? He told me he sports an inny.
Seven of my responses reflect or parallel my own.
1. How much money do they have in their wallet or purse right now? $42.15
2. What’s their most vivid childhood memory? Other than being molested by her father- Her mother baking cinnamon rolls every Wednesday morning.
3. Are they left or right handed? right handed but can do many things like write with her left hand.
4. Can they swim? Yes. She spent a summer teaching swimming at camp for abused children
5. How many times do they brush their teeth each day? Twice and chews sugarless gum after eating anything other than a meal or after lunch.
6. What makes them break into uncontrollable laughter? She hasn't since she was a young child, but with the help of the hero she is slowly learning to have fun.
7. Do they part their hair? Left or right? Down the middle.
8. What’s in their glove compartment box/saddlebag/backpack? She doesn't own a car. Her lifestyle doesn't require one.
9. Have they shared a secret vain quality? If so what? I can't think of a vain quality... she hates to be called beautiful, doesn't think about her body in that way, if anything maybe that she has more will power than others.
10. Name their favorite piece of clothing? Loose caftan type dress in earth tones.
11. Tell us their least favorite month of the year? Why? March, it's when her mother died when she was ten.
12. Are they closer to their mother or father or neither? Her mother before she died.
13. Do they bite or tear their fingernails or toenails? She nibbles on her cuticles.
14. What was their favorite subject in school? Music
15. Did they crawl or walk first? crawl
16. What’s their favorite color? Pink
17. Do they prefer toast, muffin or biscuit? Toast
18. What’s their shoe size. Narrow, medium or wide feet? narrow 7
19. The first job they held? Did odd jobs for the piano teacher to pay for lessons.
20. Any food or animal allergies? no
21. How do they feel about going to the dentist? It is what she must do to remain healthy.
22. How many siblings do they have? one brother.
23. Do they prefer baths or showers? baths. A good soak after fourteen hours on shift is what she lives for.
24. What’s under their bed? She doesn't live in one place long enough to put anything other than her suitcase under her bed.
25. Do they have an Inny or outy belly button? Inny, but it's been a long time since anyone other than her has seen it.
How many of your answers reflect or parallel you? eight
Fun Blog, Lori!
See you all tonight! I'm off to run a bunch of errands before I head your way.
For the record, Lori, I love Grapenuts. But my favorite cereal is Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Plus. I'd say my heroine's is probably Captain Crunch.
Sorry I haven't been around lately. I just got back from Denver yesterday afternoon and the Colorado Gold conference was absolutely EXCELLENT! So I've been tied up since last Wednesday. Because I should be writing right now, I'm going to save your list of questions for later. These are fantastic!
BTW, my agent sent me news of my first publisher rejection on Thursday. Wah! But the good news is I have unexpected interest from St. Martin's Press on an unrelated project I workshopped at the conference on Friday. Squeee!!
Paty, Thanks for playing. It's amazing how much we know about our characters, even the trivial.
Karen, You might find this hard to believe but I was finishing a bowl of your favorite cereal as I read your reply. How funny! I love those pumpkins seeds in the mix.
Glad you're back home and your conference was excellent.
Sorry to hear you received your first publisher rejection. Whoo Hoo for St. Martin's interested in the project in your workshop at the conference. That's fantastic.
Hi, Lori!
Sorry for the late post. I've been having issues with Internet and e-mail plus my son and I are really pushing to get house projects done, so I'll probably only be dropping in briefly for the rest of the month.
However, these are great questions! I printed out a copy to use as I write.
Karen, sorry about the no thanks from one publisher but congrats on the interest from another. Glad the Colorado Gold conference went well. I know you were concerned about your workshops.
I'm going to order some more promo items before I fall asleep at the computer. Happy writing, all!
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