Part of making an engaging character is having it be someone that goes out and does things. No matter how interesting a person is, having said person sit around in their room all day and do nothing does not a good story make. (With some rare exceptions, as there are to every rule, but let's not go into those right now).
So you've got a person being active. What does that mean? How do you write about that? What does active do?
Writing prompt: Write a scene in passive voice, where everything happens TO the character. Then rewrite it in active voice and see what's different. Do you see how the person being active makes a difference?
It's hard to have a main character be too active. We're invested in that character - have them go out and do things!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
This post gives me a lot to think about. I used to never write character sketches because I enjoyed developing my character as I wrote. But with the particular story I am working on now, I am having trouble making my character active, as you put it. She's one of the toughest characters I've written and I am having a hard time relating to her. I think I need to get her more active and give her some hobbies and enjoyments--make her active--and then maybe I'll be able to relate to her better and give her something more to do besides sitting in her living room all day!
Post a Comment