More on Character Sketches

Per the instructions for day one of this outlining method, I have spent today creating written character sketches for all of the characters who play an important role in the book. That works out to something like six major characters (three of who are most important) and a couple of secondary characters. I'm not going to bother to create sketches for characters who only appear in a couple of scenes. Now, in all fairness, I already had fairly detailed sketches worked out for the characters who have appeared int he story so far, but I do think there was value in creating sketches for the others as well. Each character has his or her own internal and external conflicts, so I may find a way to weave some of that into the story -- which will only make it richer. I would have gotten around to doing this once they walked on stage anyway, but maybe since I've done it early I'll do more with foreshadowing. Or maybe I won't. We'll see how it goes. The one thing that I don't like about this outlining is that I'd rather be working on writing the story itself. Still, the book claims that you can produce deeper stories using this method, so I'm willing to give it a try. It's all an experiment anyway, right?

One way or the other, I find that I'm really liking my characters. Coincidentally, The Writer last month had an article on creating imperfect characters, something we all know we should be doing. Still, it's a useful reminder. I do like how they are fleshing out to be such interesting people though!