Elements of building character

1. Writing Prompt (20 min)
• Three different people, each with their own objectives, take three
different paths to the same destination. Write a story. Make sure to
indicate:
1) The destination
2) Who the three characters are and their motivations
3) The path each character takes to get to the destination

2. Character

3. Character-Driven Plot
• “The stories don’t come into being until the character gets life.”
• Establish an emotional connection between the reader and the story.
• “Readers want to believe they are reading about real people with real
emotions.”
Reunion by John Cheever

4. Moving from Character to Story
Analyzing the father from Reunion, how can we answer these
questions?
1. Who is he? How does he live?
2. What does he want?
3. What is his adversary?
4. How does fail in the story?
5. How does he react to failure?

5. Levels of Character
• Primary — the protagonist, the leading or most prominent character —
The Point of View (POV) character
• Whose POV are we seeing in Reunion? Who is the protagonist?
• Secondary — characters with whom the protagonist deals in major ways
• Who is the secondary character in Reunion?
• Tertiary — characters the protagonist deals with to get to the goal; they
are usually encountered in one scene or chapter.
• Who are the tertiary characters in Reunion?
• Incidental — the bit players, the people in the background, dealt with for a
moment.
• Who are the incidental characters in Reunion?

6. Choosing a Primary
Questions to ask yourself:
• Whose story is it?
• Who will the reader care most about?

7. The Antagonist
• Real Person
• External Force
• Personal Flaw

8. Homework
• Turn in exercise 3-2.
• Read pp. 28-34 of the Character handout. Complete exercise 3-5 for
the main character your short story.