How to Plant a Captivating, Quirky Character Garden to Prompt Your Writing Process
Captivating characters aren’t born. They’re cultivated. You, the writer, plant the seed, water it, fertilize it (with the good stuff or manure), and get out of its way. You’ll need to prune it now and again, but a character will take on a fascinating life of its own if you let it.
Start with a quirk
When I’m out and about in the world, I pay attention to people. And, yes, at times, I compare an individual to a garden fruit or vegetable. What makes them memorable?
An individual’s head (or hair) style could be a fruitful starting point.
When I see a person with a shaved bare head, they might become a melonhead. Are they a cantaloupe (rough skinned and lightly veined), a honeydew (smooth and Martian-like), or an oblong shaped watermelon? Why do they choose to shave their head? They’re not lazy. It’s a lot of work to keep one’s head as polished as a bowling ball.
Ask them (or yourself) ‘Why shave their head?’ Is it for:
- Cleanliness
- As a clique ritual
- To be closer to their god
- They thrive on tempting melanoma fate
- They’re rebelling against hair stylists or comb manufacturers
- He or she wants to be loved for their personality – not their good looks
- They’re in the depths of chemotherapy and prefer shiny bald to patchy clumps of hair
The answer to this question could be the quirk you need in the writing process to plant an enchanting character like Joan Freed.
Joan Freed started out as a Hubbard squash. Hard-shelled, soft inside, imperfect shape, nourishing, and is there for the long haul. She has many quirks. They grew from the previous life she lived. Joan would never take the time or attention to shave or maintain a shaved head. Mirrors are far and few between… is she a covert vampire?
An excellent writing prompt in the writing process is to: 1) Find the quirk. 2)Listen to it. 3)Water it. 4)Fertilize it. 5)And prune it only as necessary. But let he or she mature into a robust, entertaining, and steadfast character that readers will love.
And that’s the Voila! A star is born.
Happy Character Gardening…
P.S. Since this new, finely focused blog is just getting started, the easiest way to get updates is to follow me on Facebook. New posts should show up on the Alexie Linn page – if I’ve held my chin right… and linked the correct address…😊
10 responses to “How to Plant a Captivating, Quirky Character Garden to Prompt Your Writing Process”
I thought about corn, and the tufts of corn silk do fit, but I’m not nearly tall enough to be corn. As for the coffee grounds, I’ve been feeding my organic coffee grounds to my potted dwarf spruce trees, and they seem to be thriving on it.
If I customize your food, you’ll have to learn to love coffee grounds with your fish and seaweed…
How about corn? Are you an ear of corn/
Probably lean towards a bit acidic, I’m thinking like native sword ferns and moss. Fish and seaweed would certainly build character. Some good organic Oolong tea would really hit the spot for me. I hear tea leaves are wonderful for reading ones future. I save all mine for the roses, anything in the rose family loves a nice mulch of tea leaves.
Kohlrabi for sure, that’s me, though the tufts look more like fun pigtails. A gooseberry on the other hand has that annoying little out of place tuft that nothing can smooth down, so cow-lick-ish.
What PH do you prefer? Can I fertilize you with fish and seaweed for even more character?
Ha ha. A Kohlrabi?
Ooohhh… You may wind up in one of my stories yet! What an excellent, memorable character you are!
Oh, and I love old houses, at least a 100 years or more old. Now that I think of it, I must be some very ancient variety of Gooseberry. With lots of long sharp prickers to protect myself and the desire to be surrounded by garden and wildlife.
I have a rather small head, very straight shoulder length blond hair and cow-licks in all directions. Open for suggestions as to what vegetable or fruit I am.