The Character Loft

There's an old saying that English teachers are overly fond of - "Write what you know." But if we only stuck to the familiar, how would we ever reach the fantastic? A mixture of what we know, and what we can imagine is often the best combination.

Author Tim O’Brien - speaking about his collection of stories, The Things They Carried - tells us about two states of truth -- the happening truth, and the story truth.


Here is happening-truth, I was once a soldier. There were many bodies, real bodies with real faces, but I was young then and afraid to look …

Here is the story-truth. He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay in the center of a red clay trail near the village of My Khe. His jaw was in his throat. His one eye was shut, the other eye was a star-shaped hole. I killed him.

Today's assignment is to take a real life experience you have had, and turn a happening truth into a story truth. Take one of your own real experiences, and figure out how you will turn it into part of a story narrative for one of your characters.

Leonardo da Vinci's famous last words were: "I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have." Does your character feel the same way?

As with other Quotation Saturdays, answer as you see fit - a drabble, a story, a character reaction, a picture, or anything else that comes to mind for your character.

New year, new you! 365 blank pages to be written in. What do you hope to accomplish or change this year?

List your resolutions -- and tell us how likely you are to keep them.

From zen to nihilism, Catholicism to Atheism , self-serving to giving - there are many ways to believe and behave in our lives. Characters are no different. Today we present a little survey on Philosophy and Belief. Answer as many or as few questions as you like!


1. What is your character's philosophy of life / personal beliefs? Have they ever had a radical shift in these beliefs?

2. How is it similar to / different than your own? Is it difficult to write someone of different beliefs? Have you ever changed one of your own beliefs because of a character's?

3. How open is your character about their philosophy and beliefs?

4. Would you say that writing for many characters with differing beliefs helps you to be more open minded?

5. What do you think would happen if world or religious leaders had to roleplay someone from a completely different belief system than their own? Would they learn anything from the experience?