Tuesday Two-Minute Writing Tip – Flesh out Characters Using Facebook Games

Got two minutes? Then check out this week’s quick tip ~ Using the ‘getting to know’ you games on Facebook to get to know your characters

Hello and welcome…I am a freelance editor and an editor for The Wild Rose Press, as well as an author. I often struggle with my own writing, and I have found that sometimes, a little reminder of ways to improve the process can be helpful, so, I like to share these moments of brilliance with others :). But, in this busy world of ours, who has time for pages and pages of writing tips? That’s why I’ve condensed mine down to quick flashes you can read in (approximately) two minutes. Enjoy…

Disclaimer: All of my tips are suggestions, and are only my opinion. And, for the most part, there are exceptions when going against my advice will make your story read better. Take what works, leave the rest.

We’ve all seen them, and, admit it, many of us have played them. Those Facebook games where we answer a list of questions about ourselves, then challenge our Facebook friends to do the same. It occurred to me, if this helps us get to know our FB friends, might it also help us get to know our characters? Below are a few examples of the questions that have found their way around Facebook:

Set One:

💉Tattoos…….
🚼Children……….
😷Surgery….
🔫Shot a gun……
✌Quit a job……..
✈Flown on a plane…
🚙💨100+miles in a car….
😨Gone zip lining…
😢Cried over someone…
😍Fell in love….
🏃🏽‍♀️Skipped school….
👶🏻Watched someone give birth? 
💀Watched someone die?
🍁Been to Canada…
🚑Ridden in an ambulance..
🌴Been to Hawaii?..
🐫Been to Europe…
🏦Been to Washington DC
🌞Visited Florida…
🏖 Visited Texas …
🎲Visited NY, NY….
🎤Sang karaoke….
🐶Had a pet………..
🏂Been sledding on a big hill…
🎿Been downhill skiing…
💨Rode a motorcycle…
🐎Rode a horse…..
🏥Stayed in a hospital….
💉Donated blood…
🚗Driven a stick..
🚓Rode in the back of a police car..

Set Two: (Forgive me if some are repeated)

1. Are you named after someone? 
2. Last time you cried? 
3. Do you like your handwriting?
4. What is your favorite lunch meat? 
5. Do you have kids? 
6. Do you use sarcasm? 
7. Do you still have your tonsils? 
8. Would you bungee jump? 
9. What is your favorite kind of cereal? 
10. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? 
11. Do you think you’re strong? 
12. What is your favorite ice cream? 
13. What is the first thing you notice about someone? 
14. Football or Baseball? 
15. What is the most favorite thing you like about yourself? 
16. What color pants are you wearing? 
17. Last thing you ate? 
18. What are you listening to right now? 
19. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? 
20. Favorite smell? 
21. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? 
23. Hair color? 
24. Eye color?  
25. Favorite food to eat? 
26. Scary movies or happy? 
27. Last movie ? 
28. What color shirt are you wearing?
29. Favorite holiday? 

Of course, not all of the questions are applicable. If you’re writing a historical, you won’t answer the ones about the last movie they watched or who they last spoke with on the phone.  Others might not work for various reasons, but if you answer at least a portion of these for your character(s), it seems to me like it would help to make them more real, more well-developed. And, for some of the questions, you might want to expand a little. If your character has been in the back of a police car, what’s the story there? For me, the answer is ‘yes’ but not because I was arrested. I attended a Citizen’s Police course where we had the opportunity to ride in the back of a police car while an officer took us through the obstacle course. Your character might have a MUCH more interesting experience. 🙂

So…the next time you see a post asking you to share intimate detail about yourself, consider answering them about your character instead, or in addition to, it’s your life. 🙂

Until next time…Happy Writing!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

ONLY 99 cents!! 

(Click on the cover to be taken to the Amazon Buy Page)

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*** If you would like to send me a few sample pages (around 7500 words or so, even though I will not edit that many on the blog. It just gives me more to choose from) for me to edit and share on an upcoming blog post, please do so in the body of an email to AliciaMDean@aol.com. Please use the subject line: “Blog Submission” This is for published or unpublished authors. In the email, please include whether you would like me to use your name or keep it anonymous, and whether or not you would like me to include any contact info or buy info for your books. Also, you can let me know if you would like for me to run my edits by you before posting on the blog. Please keep in mind, this is for samples to use for blog posts. I will not edit or use samples from all the submissions I receive, but I will use as many as possible. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

How to write a novel? That is the question. There are probably as many answers to that question as there are people who ask it.

Wanting to write and actually doing it are two very different things. I am well acquainted with the sometimes grueling process of churning out a story. Over the years, I have tried many methods for creating and completing manuscripts, and have tweaked and honed it down to a workable (for me) process.

Using specific examples from one of my own novels, Without Mercy, I share my method in this mini how to book. The first eight steps actually deal with plotting while the last two are designed to help expand your outline into a well-developed draft. There is no one, perfect way to create a story, but there will be a method, or methods that work for you. I’m not sure if this is the one, but it works for me. Only you can decide if it also works for you. Fingers crossed that it does!

*** Warning – Please do not purchase without reading a sample. (This is solid advice for any book, fiction or non. If you are not intrigued in the sample, you will likely not enjoy the book)

Amazon: Click Here