Character development

Fiction reading leads to questions such as:

What does the character know/want/feel?

This leads on to the construction of a character:

• flesh out a character
  

• give the character a name
  

• consider appearance
  

• think about typical behaviour
  

Always double-sketch your character:

• write five points about your character
  

• draw your character
  

- Any bizarre element must have something to do with the story
- Choose a situation that will reveal your character
- Create a context that explains your character's actions
- Character should not exist purely to serve plot: explore motive and consequence too
- Think of what a character wants and why
- Unfolding plot as well as dialogue should reveal character