Character Development
Undisclosed Desires
What does your character want most? Now consider what he needs most. Is what he wants preventing him from gaining what he needs? Or will he have to find what he wants before he can achieve what he needs?
Discuss this exercise
Feel inspired? Share your story below.
Similar Exercises
Get your creative juices flowing with these similar creative writing exercises.
Character Development
Set The Stage
Believe it or not, choosing the right setting is one of the most important decisions to make when planning a scene. The location can add mood, supply tension and conflict, steer the plot, characterize, foreshadow, …
Character Development
Grab Your Red Pen
Pick a scene or passage you've written that you feel dissatisfied with. Take a short time — maybe 10 or 20 minutes — to read the passage as though it were someone else's work. Take …
Character Development
Mood Swings
I recommend starting this exercise with a travel magazine packed with lots of interesting photos. Select an image that appeals to you. Now, write a short scene from the viewpoint of a character who has …
Character Development
The 81-Word Story
This exercise encourages you to write a complete story using very few words, and helps you learn how to avoid overwriting. When undertaking this exercise, it’s essential to edit your work carefully. Strip out anything …
Character Development
The Food Critic
Write a review of a restaurant at which you recently ate. Describe the food as much as you can. Feel free to be eviscerating as well.
Character Development
The Tiny Stab
Write a short story of whatever topic you’d like, but make sure that somewhere in there, you include this line: “I can’t believe that you stabbed me with a knitting needle.”
