Expanding the Foil
Writing Exercise: Working on Character (60 min.)
Developing Character
When we know our main character inside and out, and have fallen in love with them enough to put them through Hell, it’s time to look at the other characters that you’ve put in their life. Do they also have full lives of their own? Dreams? Struggles? Or are they just a foil for your main character?
This exercise is designed to help you “flesh out” the supporting roles in your story/play. For each step, set a timer for no more than 8 minutes.
Think about a character—a protagonist—that you are currently working with, or invent one for this exercise. Be sure you know:
A. What they want in a general sense, and what they want specifically in this scene you will write?
B. What is in their way?Choose a setting for the scene. Your protagonist is alone here. Write a page of stream of consciousness about their immediate want.
Introduce a supporting character you already are working with, or invent one for this exercise.
A. How does your protagonist believe this supporting character can help them?
B. Is there some reason this other character might not want to—or can’t—help?
C. List 4 tactics that your character may use to get what they want from the supporting character.
Using the stream of consciousness text you just wrote as subtext (that is, what the character is thinking but may not dare to say directly), have your protagonist speak to this character. This supporting character does not speak back.Now create a full life for your supporting character, considering their wants, obstacles, and underlying motivations (as you did for your protagonist). It would be good if their own want somehow clashes with that of your protagonist. Why is this character in this space with the protagonist right now? What keeps them from leaving? Do they want the main character to leave or stay?
Write a stream of consciousness for this supporting character in this situation. What are they thinking as the main character speaks? Note any places that your character would want the main character to stop speaking. Or to say more.
Now you have two subtext scripts. Use 20 minutes to write (not polish) a dialogue between the two characters, consciously switching from one point of view to the other. Let yourself be surprised by what they say, and let the characters be surprised—without losing sight of what they want out of this encounter.
Take 5 minutes to reflect: Did the dialogue reveal something unexpected about either character? Were there moments of genuine surprise or emotional truth?
If you have time, it can be worth it to repeat step 6 several times. Have your characters change tactics to see what happens. Move the location of the scene to see how that affects the way they speak to each other.
I hope you’ve found the exercise helpful. I would love to hear about any little twist you may have added, and what you discovered! Please leave a comment, or join the chat.
Thank you for reading!
Warmly,
Ren
Very helpful! Thanks.
I appreciated this exercise, Ren. Even though my posts and narratives tend to be in the one page range, I am trying to say a lot with a little, and the exercise of discretion in terms of what to include and exclude is a constant. Thanks.