Here is a simple and fun exercise to cook up a new character or sauté an old one…

Mini Workshop: A Recipe for Great Characters

Character

MAIN INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of ‘real’ person  (a neighbour, a picture from a magazine or someone from your past, for example)

1 cup of a story idea  (choose a theme or a question that begs for an answer)

2/3 cup setting  (browse through travel brochures, coffee table books or stare into your own backyard)

¼ cup back story  (this one’s entirely up to you, writer!)

Flavour bouquet  (mix  3 positive and 2 negative traits, such as cheerful, friendly, kind and boastful, envious…)

1 tsp of a line of dialogue (overheard on a bus or at an event, or some line you really like)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a quiet room, mix together the first three ingredients. Allow them to simmer over a low heat. Stir occasionally to see what changes.

2. Add back story. Continue to simmer.

3. Choose contents of your bouquet. Loosely tie ingredients together and add them to the pot.

NOTE: Don’t worry if any bouquet ingredients seem too strong at first; you can always spoon some out for now. Remember to reserve your removed ingredients in case you need them later on.

4. Carefully insert the line of dialogue.

5. Bake in your pre-heated mind for 2 minutes.

INGREDIENT LIST — brief notes here, just the bare bones. This will be your reference point as you write your character scene later on.

1 cup of real person

Name

Gender

Age

Appearance Basics

1 cup of a story idea

Kind of story and genre:

Loss/Gain:

Theme(s)

Emotional connection for character?

2/3 cup setting

Place

Year

Season/temp

Time of day

Smells, sounds

¼ cup back story

Childhood

Old losses

Old gains

Flavour bouquet

Positive

Positive

Positive

Negative

Negative

1 tsp of a line of dialogue

“Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah-de-blah blah!”

Additional spices

You are the cook; what else do you want to add?