This article is for those who are ready to start drafting their novel in 2023, or for those who have started to write before and have never been able to really write the way you want. For me, whenever I’m writing, there are many times where I start the story and then realize that I don’t quite know my characters as well as I need to, every little nuance that can make them a headache to write but a great main character. For those that want to get their story started, here is a five day writing exercise plan to help flesh out the characters driving your story. This works for core cast of 2 to 4 but the printable available in my etsy shop covers 30 days of exercises for those who have more characters and what a more structured approach to discovering the characters of your story.
Writing means sharing. It’s part of the human condition to want to share things – thoughts, ideas, opinions.
Paulo Coelho
Day 1 – Main Character
This first day is an easy exercise, something to get you into the character’s world without needing to build a five-story building at the start. Outline the very basic parts about your character, but the most crucial thing is the main goal! The Main Goal of the Main Character in your story should drive a majority of your book and be tied in some way to many of their actions. I’ll always leave a notes page on the side in case you have thoughts you’d like to scribble down during your exercise.
Day 2 – Main Antagonist
The second day should be not too much more difficult than Day 1, this exercise is mostly about people driven plot so of course this exercise is about a main antagonist! If the main part of your story isn’t really about character versus characters, this can also be translated to a slightly annoying support character, someone who is not on the side of the Main Character and helps bring conflict into the story. Every great story has conflict to help develop characters and move the plot along.
Day 3 – Support Character 1
Day 3 takes us back to people on the side of the Main Character. There are some stories with few people, so this one can be done with a bit more flexibility. Perhaps you’ll elaborate on a place that the Main Character feels supported, or someone from the Main Character’s past that is not in this story but helped shape them into who they are now.
Day 4 – Support Character 2
This is along the same line of work as day 3, but for Support Character 2, they can be either on the side of the Main Character or Main Antagonist. If they’re related to/on the side of the Main Antagonist, do they have any connection to the Main Character? Did they used to be on the side of the Main Character and then turned against them before or during the story?
Day 5 – Main Character Part 2
The last day of the five day study resolves by coming back to your Main Character. You know their goal, you know what should be driving the story, but what’s going to throw wrenches in their plans? What are the things that make them THE Main Character? That’s what this final day is for, to solidify the character-driven aspects of your story.
Writing your first great novel can be daunting, but nothing like the start of the year to really kick you into gear. I love January. It’s always a chance for you to put whatever happened in last year behind you, both good and bad, and use it to propel you forward.
For those that would like a free printable version of this 5 Day Character Study, click here. If you’d like to study your character’s even more with a guided program, check out the printable 30 Days of Character Development in my shop. Check back weekly for blog posts and freebies to develop your writing process and story.