Look at a scene where your character made a pivotal choice. What would have happened if they had made a different choice?
Examples:
What if Catherine had married Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights?
What if Dimmesdale had confessed his sin earlier in The Scarlet Letter?
What if Éponine had allowed the robbers to attack Valjean’s home in Les Misérables?
What if the Joads had stayed in Oklahoma in The Grapes of Wrath?
Like the last exercise, this will help develop your plot as well as your characters. Figuring out the what if will help you understand the consequences of your character’s actions and strengthen your understanding of their motivations.
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Who Am I? Exercises to prevent your character from having an identity crisis
Non-FictionComing up with five adjectives to describe your character barely scratches the surface. In order to make your character figuratively come alive, you'll need to know them better than they know themselves. The exercises in this book will make you thin...
