escription
1 Describe an unusual and eccentric character, (It may help to lyase the
character on someone you know, but you can, of course, add or me
up details. It doesn't have to be a human being - it could be a petos
Exercise: Character and place
Write iwo longer paragraphs in which you:
another animal.)
2 Describe the place in which this character lives, You should
concentrate on creating a description of a place which matches the
eccentric nature of the character you have described in the previous
paragraph.
Speaking and listening
Answers
Answer:
The same way you describe any character.
Or do you mean, how do you come up with an unusual and/or eccentric character to be described?
Yes, that’s a method. I mean, taking something you wouldn’t normally associate with a character. Look around the room, and find something…oh, look, here’s the shaving brush I use to brush the eraser dust off a drawing. Obvious, but Mr. “Only Appearing in This One Scene” can have a glorious full beard and a healthy full head of hair, both carefully groomed.
And I have…harm, what about this drawing compass. Let me introduce you to Sheila, who is sarcastic and prickly with a sharp tongue and has a temper that can snap like a spring.
But really, it usually works the other way. As you are going through life, you run into a wheezing but game old bus, a dependable but boring hammer, taxis that only seem to travel in herds, scattering from certain neighborhoods at any sign of trouble. Objects often have personalities, and of course often remind us of faces or even people.
And then there are real people. I’ve got a character in a scene coming up who is based on a grocery clerk near me. She has a habit which is endearing…and also gives me a hook for my protagonist to do some Deep Thoughts about their own personality and habits.