Thursday, January 27, 2011

Character Study


"So tell me about yourself."

I'm interviewing the characters in my book. It's pretty fun because I'm on both sides of the microphone. After the preliminaries (name, birthday, what do you look like) I get personal. Here's a sample of my questions:
  1. What do you smell like? Horse sweat? BO? Evening in Paris?
  2. How do you spend your money? Are you thrifty, cheap, generous, or impulsive?
  3. By the way, how much money do you have? Did you earn it, inherit it, steal it, find it?
  4. What do you really think of your mother-in-law? Your best friend? Your boss?
  5. Are you having an affair? Should I mention it to anyone?
  6. What is a normal day like for you?
Then I give them a list of personality traits to check off. Are you:
  1. Absent-minded
  2. Abrasive
  3. Annoying
  4. Busy
  5. Critical
  6. Decisive
  7. Dowdy
  8. Fidgety
  9. Impulsive
  10. Insolent
  11. Jealous
  12. Moody
  13. Naive
  14. Obscene
  15. Paranoid
  16. Rebellious
  17. Resiliant
  18. Sarcastic
  19. Serene
  20. Self-righteous
  21. Vain
  22. Wholesome
  23. Wicked
  24. Worldly
  25. Zany
Throughout the interview I analyze their complexion, the color of their teeth, the rumbles from their stomach, and the hairs on their chin. Are they boring, fascinating, colorful?

The final question is, "What is your problem?" And then, like smart people everywhere, they always follow my advice!

What a great bunch of characters.

Now it's your turn:
  • Choose three numbers between one and six.
  • Go back to the list of personality traits and see what you've picked.
  • In a short paragraph describe a person with those traits, without using those words.





2 comments:

allison said...

I am sort of in the middle of this, too. I'm studying my character, Cecily, in The Importance of Being Earnest. I love character analysis.

Grandma Shelley said...

What a fun exercise. I so admire your talent to write!