A Quick Tip for Getting to Know Your Characters--And Your Plot

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

A single item can tell readers a lot about who your character is.

Several years ago I sat in on an RWA workshop on character building, led by romance author Susan Elizabeth Philips. I've attended her workshops before and she's always been entertaining and informative.

She gave a tip (and did an exercise) that I've tried before:

List the contents of your character's purse.

This has never worked for me since my fantasy characters don't usually have purses, but she added the phrase "or their backpack or pockets" to it. That broadened it some, and I realized that ultimately, what she was saying was:

 

What does your character feel is important enough to carry around with them? 

It's a slightly different way of looking at this character-building tip, but a subtle shift in how we consider something is often all it takes to turn a "not for me" tip into something that clicks and becomes incredibly helpful.

Then Phillips took it a step further, and this is the part I really found useful.

 

What items give a sense of the plot? 

Any item could be in a purse, pocket, or bag. People carry useless stuff all the time, and they carry stuff that could be found in anyone's bag. But if you think about what's unique to your character, and how that item gives a sense of the plot, conflict, or even theme, then you've discovered something about your character you probably didn't know before.

(Here's more with Who is That Guy? Discovering Your Characters)

Building off Phillip's tip, let's try this:

List three to five items your character would carry or keep with them.

Don't just toss off items willy nilly. Think about what this character would carry.

Now look at those items. How many of them could be found in any random person's possession? Get rid of those.

Add back only items that also say something about your character that relates to the plot, conflict, or theme of the novel.

(Here's more with Under Development: Ways to Create Characters)

Let's check in with Bob and the zombies for some examples.

Bob would posses items that someone in the middle of a zombie apocalypse would own. Ammo, a weapon, survival gear, etc. But he'd also have a photo of Jane, the woman he's secretly in love with. Or better yet--make it a candid photo of her, signifying that he took it without her knowledge and that his love is unrequited or unprofessed.

See the difference?

The survival gear is what every character in this zombie book would carry. It tells us a little about the type of book, sure, but it gives us nothing about who Bob is or what his story is. But that candid photo? That says more. That suggests a larger story at work that's personal to Bob, and makes him more interesting.

Why does he have a photo of a woman who's not his wife?

Not only does this add an element of intrigue to the character, it also suggests something about the plot by pointing out what matters to Bob. Jane is important enough to him to A) snap a candid photo of her, B) have it with him even when the world is ending, C) risk his heavily-armed wife seeing it.

From this one photo, we can guess that Bob is unhappy in his marriage, he wants another woman, and that she probably doesn't know it (the wife or the love interest, really). We' might even suspect that during a zombie attack, Bob might go to great lengths to protect Jane, and maybe not so great lengths to protect his wife.

(Here's more with 5 Questions to Turn a Character from Flat to Fabulous)

What a character keeps close to them matters to them. 

These details will have far more significance to you as the author than the reader, because you'll understand why they matter. The reader will eventually see that as the story and characters develop.

Little details often make the difference between good and awesome. It's the extra thought that pulls the greatness from a character and fleshes them out for a reader.

Even if you don't typically like the purse exercise, try it again with this new aspect in mind. Consider what items would say more about your character than the stereotypical elements of your genre and character archetype. What items say who they are when no one's watching?

You might just discover something new.

EXERCISE FOR YOU: Take five minutes and do this exercise. Consider why the character has this item and what it says about them and the story.    

What unexpected details have made you love a character? 

*Originally published August 2013. Last updated November 2022.

Find out more about characters and point of view in my book, Fixing Your Character & Point-of-View Problems.

Go step-by-step through revising character and character-related issues, such as two-dimensional characters, inconsistent points of view, too-much backstory, stale dialogue, didactic internalization, and lack of voice. Learn how to analyze your draft, spot any problems or weak areas, and fix those problems.

With clear and easy-to-understand examples, Fixing Your Character & Point-of-View Problems offers five self-guided workshops that target the common issues that make readers stop reading. It will help you:

• Flesh out weak characters and build strong character arcs
• Find the right amount of backstory to enhance, not bog down, your story
• Determine the best point(s) of view and how to use them to your advantage
• Eliminate empty dialogue and rambling internalization
• Develop character voices and craft unique, individual characters 

Fixing Your Character & Point-of-View Problems starts every workshop with an analysis to pinpoint problem areas and offers multiple revision options in each area. You choose the options that best fit your writing process. It's an easy-to-follow guide to crafting compelling characters, solid points of view, and strong character voices readers will love.

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

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