Step 1-Say Hello

The first step to make your characters real, at least to you.

1.  Close your eyes and imagine your character, take notes of...

a.Full Name

b.Gender

c.Age

d.Height

e.Weight

f.Race/Ethnicity

g.Hair Color

h.Eye Color

i.Birth Marks

2.  After all that staring your character may be feeling a little uneasy. Give him/her a break and go draw a picture of them and organize your notes. (These notes may change during the story as you get to know your character better-Jason is pretty plain, but he's a lady killer, aha! he should have deep blue eyes.)

3. Now go write some questions to ask your character, start it slow, because they'll have more to reveal later, I promise. You aren't coming up with the answers, your character is.

Bad example:

What's the hardest thing you've had to go through in your life?

(Oh god you're scaring the poor thing. And he/she isn't going to answer the way you want. It's going to be all you and your plans for the story.)

Good example:

Whats it like, Jason, to have such beautiful, unique eyes?

(NOTE HOW HE ANSWERS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HIS PERSONALITY)

-Haha it's sweet cause all the ladies are ALL over me, Oh YEAH!

(Ok, Jason is obviously a tool, and a perfect lady killer)

-Beautiful? Unique? They're just blue. Nothing special.

(Ahh, so Jason isn't who you thought. Maybe he's got so more secrets...)

-I have to admit that a lot of girls like my eyes, but I'd trade them for some real love...

(Jackpot, your character is not a purposeful lady killer, he's just good looking. Maybe its time he meets that beautiful undiscovered female fatal that you so adore...)

-Dude, I don't even care, all these girls are just shallow and insecure.

(Hard to decode, but an amazing answer. Jason may not be the lady killer you originally wanted, but maybe he is the star character you were looking for in another story.)

Learning how to listen to your character and have him/her answer instead of yourself is a huge step.