Every story has characters: it could be a dinosaur called Dexter or a mean girl called Jessica. Some characters are scary and you wouldn't want to be in the same room as them (ever!) and some are so cool, you'll wish you were friends!
A great way to make your story MORE interesting is to have exciting and believable characters in it! But how do you create a character that's sooooo REAL, it jumps right off the page?
1. Grab a piece of plain paper. (make sure it's big enough for ALL of your creative ideas)
and in the centre of the paper, draw a square (this is where you'll be drawing a picture of your character so make sure it's not too small).
2. Draw a line from the square outwards. On the end of the line, write something about the character: the way they look or something they do or something they like to say (what do they do? what kind of person are they? what's their hobby?). It should start to look like there is a square sun on your paper.
3. Under the word(s) you just wrote, write a description of this thing that your character does. Try to write three sentences. One of the sentences should try to explain your character's actions (why does he do something? Why doesn't he do something?) Another sentence could be what your character thinks of this action.
Here's an example.
Member of the School Library Club - never shows up for meetings because he thinks they are BORING. Wishes he was in the Photography Club instead but can't join because there are too many members.
Once you've filled your page, read through all the things you've put down about your character. Give your character a name and draw a picture of him / her.
Stuck for ideas? Do the same exercise with YOU as the character! Or use your favourite character (from a book or a cartoon or a movie or a TV show) to practise. Once you get the hang of it, get a fresh piece of paper and try your hand at a totally made up character!
A great way to make your story MORE interesting is to have exciting and believable characters in it! But how do you create a character that's sooooo REAL, it jumps right off the page?
1. Grab a piece of plain paper. (make sure it's big enough for ALL of your creative ideas)
and in the centre of the paper, draw a square (this is where you'll be drawing a picture of your character so make sure it's not too small).
2. Draw a line from the square outwards. On the end of the line, write something about the character: the way they look or something they do or something they like to say (what do they do? what kind of person are they? what's their hobby?). It should start to look like there is a square sun on your paper.
3. Under the word(s) you just wrote, write a description of this thing that your character does. Try to write three sentences. One of the sentences should try to explain your character's actions (why does he do something? Why doesn't he do something?) Another sentence could be what your character thinks of this action.
Here's an example.
Member of the School Library Club - never shows up for meetings because he thinks they are BORING. Wishes he was in the Photography Club instead but can't join because there are too many members.
Once you've filled your page, read through all the things you've put down about your character. Give your character a name and draw a picture of him / her.
Stuck for ideas? Do the same exercise with YOU as the character! Or use your favourite character (from a book or a cartoon or a movie or a TV show) to practise. Once you get the hang of it, get a fresh piece of paper and try your hand at a totally made up character!
