Time of Day: A Character Writing Exercise

This exercise stems from some thoughts I was having last night.  I used to be very much a one-pony show, which is to say I only really concentrated on RPing one character at a time.  For months I RP'd Lorith, and then switched to Artie, and then switched to Ineesa, etc.  Lately though, I've been switching around to various characters and all of them have been very vivid and energetic to me - except Artie.  And that bothers me.  So I began thinking on a character-writing exercise that might make her sing a little, in comparison to the others.

This is probably more useful for people with several different characters, as in essence it's really about how we approach each one individually.  But it could also be handy as just a quick writing exercise for any character, sort of taking a little walk with them to see what they are like at a very basic level.

Anyway, here is the exercise:

Choose ONE time and place from the list below:

1.) Early morning, a marketplace

2.) Noon, a fairground

3.) Mid-Afternoon, the docks of a harbor

4.) Evening, a cemetary

5.) Night, a wilderness

Each of these places can be found by any race in the game within their racial scope, or in any neutral manifestation.  Pick ONE.  One time and place should be used for all characters.

Within that setting, write a short scene that does TWO things: 1.) Describes the character as if the character has never been described before, and 2.) shows the character interacting with something or someone native to the setting.  Do so for... as many characters as you feel like. First or third person doesn't matter, though third might be easier for the description.  It doesn't have to be the same interaction, but it does have to be the same setting and time of day.  Almost like all your characters showed up at the same place at the same time, and cameras followed each of them.

Like I said above, you can do it for just one character, too!  A little impromptu scene is always good.

If you want to get really crazy, you can run it all together with the characters passing each other or even interacting with each other.  Who knows, maybe even an interesting blog will come of it!

I'm going to take a little while to work on my folks. In the meantime, HAVE FUN.