Dear Character,
Twelve and a half weeks ago I loaned my best friend a set of “Cooking with Salt” DVDs, which were a gift from my former best friend. I have asked her every week if she is done with them. Seven weeks ago, my boyfriend began cooking everything with salt. He said he was experimenting. Five weeks ago, while searching my best friend’s apartment for my DVD set, I discovered, IN HER FILING CABINET, a pamphlet on breath care, which I had given to my boyfriend. I confronted her, but she was evasive. It has now been four weeks and six days since I have spoken to either of them. What am I to think? What kind of “experimenting” is my boyfriend doing? And how can I get my DVDs back?
Sincerely,
Inconvenienced and Heartbroken
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Let’s try this:
Choose a character from one of your works-in-progress and ask them to answer the letter above. With your character’s permission, post the response in the comments below. If you feel like it, have one of your characters write a “Dear Character” letter of their own and see if someone else’s character will answer it.
How do you develop multi-dimensional characters? What do you DO with them once they’ve sprung to life in your imagination?
Teenage Novelist: Talking to Your Characters
Marvin Whickpucket refuses to behave. When you want him to defeat the evil Onchnu, he won’t. Instead, he sits on the couch, surfs cable and eats potato skins. “This is boring!” you tell him. “Why are you acting this way?” “I miss Ilandra,” he says. “We had a fight. She said we were through.” “Why didn’t you TELL me?” you say, incredulous. Marvin shrugs. “You never asked.” Learn how to deepen your story by listening to your characters. Each class allows for hands-on exercises based on your work-in-progress and time for group critique.
Here are ALL the Writing classes at Bellevue College’s Summer Teen Program
I teach all but two of these classes. “Creating Graphic Novels” is taught by talented illustrator Dana Sullivan, and “Teenage Novelist: Writing Short Stories” is taught by amazing author Lois Brandt. Classes are held daily for one week, beginning July 14. Note that some classes are full or nearly full.