April Chat: Character Exercises

Tuesday evening we had our second moderated chat of the term. Of the four choices, I picked the Character Exercises chat, which was moderated by Lori Pollard-Johnson. There were two great things about this chat.

First, there were only four students in the "room." That meant that Lori could respond to each of us individually as we went through a modified version of her exercises.

Second, she asked really great questions that forced us to move deeper into the motivation and psyche of our characters.

For instance, if your character got up in the middle of the night, what would he or she bump into?

I said that Angela would bump into her cat.
LPJ's reply: Why is that significant?
My answer: Because she really wants to start a family and having the cat is step in that direction.

I was challenged to answer the question: What is her most prized possession? What would she grab if there were a fire or other emergency?
Teffanie, a fellow student, suggested that it might be the baby quilt that is a major part of the story.

I was challenged to answer that question, because I really don't know Angela personally right now. Since it's still early in the story, I don't know how attached she is to the quilt. Angela is still revealing herself to me . . . and because I'm being wishy-washy about making choices about who she really is . . . Angela is coming off as being wishy-washy.

There are other questions for the exercises but you'll have to contact Lori Pollard Johnson at loripollardjohnson@direcway.com to find out what they are. Visit her website at www.loripollardjohnson.com.