Character Conversations with the Author

1. I have found certain traits emerge more easily once I start talking to them and they can be more easily be translated into a draft.
2. I often don’t know what they’re thinking until I start talking to them.
3. Some of these conversations reveal more about a character than I had planned.
4. The characters occasionally come up with better plot points than I have already explored.
5. Their voices emerge more easily when I am talking to them.
6. I have found that through these conversations, the characters ‘take ownership’ in the story and either support or object to what has happened to them during certain chapters.

This strategy never fails to get me unstuck and I've used it throughout a first draft process.

How did it work for you? Did you discover something new about a character? Did you even discover a new character? [That would be really cool.] These conversations really do break down the barrier between author and character.

Please do share a snippet [or more] of one of your conversations. As my sample demonstrates, I usually use the screenplay style with a character's name followed by the colon.

James: Good morning.

John: What's good about it?

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