Revealing Character
7 Exercises to Make Characters Live
⋙ Master the Fundamentals, Keep the Streak Alive ⋘
Bookmark these daily “streak savers” from Writing Streak.
The old adage goes, actions speak louder than words. My grandmother, for example, could yell words so shocking that angels would look down with concern. But when she picked up her large wooden gumbo spoon, that’s when you knew to move your britches out of reach. Taking that spoon down from the wall meant something unmistakable.
“Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
This is a good quote for writers to consider. When writing about characters we can write about thoughts and actions, we can use the habitual aspect to write about habits, describe a character, and ultimately reveal their destiny in the pages of a book. Unfortunately, as writers we ourselves can get into the habit of using dialogue and introspection to turn characters into fuzzy ideas. It can become a bad habit to describe characters with vague statements: “Jill was a clumsy woman,” or “Jack was a follower rather than a leader.”
In the following exercises we’re going to put aside statements like these and reveal character through choices, actions, appearances, voice, interactions, and external perceptions. Let’s create some characters with real character.
This Week’s Streak Savers 🪦
⋙ Monday, Jan 13: Triple Threat
Setup: Think of a situation where someone must choose between two or three equally bad options.
Goal: Explore character by focusing on a character’s choice.
Constraints:
Write a short scene where a character chooses one of the options.
Explore why they made this choice, or decided against the others.
Repeat for the other choices, creating a new character for each.
Reflection: How did the choices reveal each character’s personality and values?
⋙ Tuesday, Jan 14: An Active Day Off
Setup: A character has a day off from their usual work.
Goal: Reveal the character’s personality, values, and priorities through their actions alone.
Constraints:
Write a montage listing the actions the character performs throughout their day.
Add timestamps or times of day when the actions occur.
Focus only on the actions—avoid direct internal thoughts or dialogue.
Reflection: What did the character’s actions reveal about who they are? Were there any surprises?
⋙ Wednesday, Jan 15: They’ve Got The Look
Setup: Start with a single word that captures the essence of your character’s appearance (e.g., mundane, unique, colorful, drab).
Goal: Reveal the character’s personality and story through their physical description.
Constraints:
Describe the character’s physique, clothing, and demeanor in a way that supports your chosen word.
Avoid explaining why they look the way they do—let the description speak for itself.
Reflection: How did focusing on a single word shape the way you portrayed the character? What did their physical description suggest about their personality or life?
⋙ Thursday, Jan 16: The Sound of Their Voice
Setup: Choose a word to describe your character’s vocal quality (e.g., sweet, gruff, lilting, quiet).
Goal: Convey the character’s voice and tone without directly stating the chosen word.
Constraints:
Begin by crafting a simile or metaphor to describe the voice (e.g., “talked like he had sandpaper in his throat”).
Write a snippet of dialogue that aligns with the voice you’ve described.
Avoid explicitly mentioning the vocal quality—let it come through the word choice.
Reflection: How did the voice shape the character’s dialogue? Did their tone suggest anything about their personality or mood?
⋙ Friday, Jan 17: Silent Conversation
Setup: Place two characters in a situation where they can see each other but can’t speak directly.
Goal: Write an entire conversation using only gestures and facial expressions.
Constraints:
Avoid internal thoughts or narration—stick to describing visible actions.
Convey distinct emotions and intentions through each character’s gestures and expressions.
Stop when they have either made a decision or given up on the miming.
Reflection: How did limiting communication to non-verbal cues shape the interaction? What did their gestures reveal about their relationship or personalities?
⋙ Saturday, Jan 18: Breaking the Mold
Setup: Place a character and a close friend or family member in a familiar situation.
Goal: Reveal change or mystery in the character by exploring how they defy others’ expectations.
Constraints:
Have the character do something unusual or unexpected.
Show the companion’s confusion or surprise through their reaction or dialogue.
Include the character’s explanation, but keep it brief—let the action carry most of the weight.
Reflection: How did the companion’s reaction highlight the change in the character? Did the explanation deepen or complicate the mystery?
⋙ Sunday, Jan 19: Through the Looking Glass
Setup: The narrator observes a stranger in a particular situation. The stranger is unaware they’re being watched.
Goal: Write a vignette that reveals the observed character’s essence through their actions, appearance, and words—without naming or interacting with them.
Constraints:
Avoid any direct interaction between the narrator and the observed character.
Focus entirely on what the narrator sees or hears from the stranger.
Do not reveal anything explicitly about the narrator—let their perspective subtly shape the scene.
Reflection: How did focusing solely on the observed character shape the vignette? What did the narrator’s observations indirectly reveal about their own perspective or biases?