Weekly Writing Challenge
Last week I challenged you to get to know your antagonist beyond the cardboard character s/he might currently be. The experience was interesting for me, as my main antagonist didn’t feel much like cooperating. He acted much the same no matter where I put him or who I put him with.
That is, until I rewound time and put him in his own past. He didn’t like that at all. I didn’t expect him to, either, but he did reveal some things about himself that I had known in the way back dusty part of my mind but that I didn’t know I could use like I now can.
Your challenge this week was inspired by something a friend of mine said to me. He mentioned he is working on co-writing a novel (Kudos to him, by the way. I don’t play that well with others.) and that his co-author had created the perfect turncoat. He wanted a turncoat in his novel because they’re fun to work with.
The challenge for this week is to take one of your characters on the side of “good? and play with him/her a bit. Write a scene or two about him/her turning to the other side or simply start exploring the character in his/her “dark? persona.
Doing this can not only be fun, but it can be a good exercise in fleshing out your characters. People have flaws, and characters who are completely one way or the other tend to be boring, annoying, hard to believe, or some combination of those.
Get to know one of your characters this week by having him/her switch sides (you can bring an “evil? character to the “light? if you would like) and go places you might have never brought him or her otherwise.
writing, fiction writing, creative writing, characters, character development, fleshing out characters
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