Monday, October 6th, 2014

Tonight I was at my writing class. It's always a pleasure to get caught up with the others and see what we've all been up to. Also, of course, there was a writing exerciser. Tonight we focused on Character - character development, getting to know our characters and so forth. I did the exercise in class on a character from a project I've been working on for years, but I'll also do it on a character I've already written about in here.

The exercise:

Think of a (handbag, night stand,  purse, wallet, drawer, briefcase, school bag...) belonging to that character.

What's in it? 

Is there a movie ticket? To what movie?

Is there a shopping list? What's on it? What's been crossed off?

Character study exercise:

What’s in Landers’ Coat?

Landers is a traveler and carried most of his possessions in a large rucksack, but he also wears a long jacket with several pockets.

What does he keep in his pockets? And what does it tell us about him?

In his outer pockets, he has:

- A leather pouch containing coins, some gold, most silver and copper.

- A small smooth stone – which he rubs with his fingers when he’s thinking,

- A folding knife, used primarily as a tool.

- A few morsels of bread and dried meat folded gently in a linen material, not enough for a full meal.

- A hefty pendant with a red jewel on a broken gold chain.

In his inner pockets he has:

- A knife in a sheath.

- A flint rock and a sharpening stone.

- A silver flask similar to a canteen with a matching cup - they fit together.

- An envelope containing a hand written note from someone named Maridia and a lock of hair.

- Several different leaves and bits of bark carefully folded into another piece of linen material.

- A length of waxy string.

The hope is that there will be things very particular to that character, very telling of who that character is, showing the inner reality and emotions of who they are...

I'm not sure what these things tell me of Landers.

Obviously there's someone in his past named Meridia. (Perhaps I'll need to look into her pockets next.) It seems the he is willing and ready to fight if he has to, but I also see him as someone who would prefer to solve things peacefully if possible.

I'm unsure what the pendant suggests...

I welcome any suggestions, observations, comments or feedback.

Or try it yourself - what's in your character's pocket, purse or briefcase??

Cheers