5 Character Development Exercises

Go shopping

This non-writing exercise can help you connect with your character in a tangible way, by interacting with real objects:

What kind of store does your character like to shop at? A home improvement store, hobby shop, department store, consignment shop? Go to one near you and walk the aisles, searching for at least five items your character would buy.

Now head to the grocery store and go through the aisles looking for foods your characters would normally eat. If your courage and budget allow, buy some food and create your character’s favorite dinner.

Describe their personal space

Write a few paragraphs describing your character’s bedroom, study, or some other special place. Include as much detail as possible, including small, ordinary things such as cracked plaster, the creak of the window being opened, and two-week-old crumpled socks. Now read back over the description and circle the details that best relay the character’s personality. Read through it again and refine several details, making them as specific and telling as possible.

Describe someone else’s space

Place your POV character in a setting that belongs to a character they are in conflict with, such as the office of a rival or the house of an estranged parent. Describe the setting through the POV character’s eyes. What details do they notice? What might they not notice, or not care about? What judgments (right or wrong) do they make from visiting the space?

Now bring a different character into the same space and repeat the exercise. Compare the descriptions. Could a reader easily tell which description came from which character?

Craft a bio

If your character works in a professional setting, create a resume, complete with future career goals. If a job setting doesn’t apply, give the character a reason to describe themselves to a stranger and write a one-page bio monologue.

Now write an interior monologue describing what the character really thinks about themselves. How different is it from their public persona? Why?

Immerse yourself in a favorite pastime

All people, real or fictional, do something with their spare time. Real people may waste it binge-watching Netflix, but hopefully your character has a specific hobby or two that helps define their character. Get to know your character better by immersing yourself in one of those activities:

Spend an hour or two listening to their favorite music then do some reading about a few of the important musicians in that genre. Read a few of their favorite books. Find someone who knows about beekeeping or radio-controlled airplanes and spend an afternoon watching them.

For the truly devoted: Is your character into pottery, oil painting, or tai chi? Take a class in that subject. (And remember, the point is to experience it, so it doesn’t matter how embarrassing your skills might be. Pretend you are as good as the instructor and soak it in.)