Photo Credit: “Pick Me” by Phil Roeder,\u00a0https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/axkFzk<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The class I had signed up for was called \u201cSix Characters In Search of A Plot,\u201d a play-on-words of Luigi Pirandello\u2019s 1921 play, Six Characters in Search of An Author. <\/i>On the first day, we were presented with six pages of black and white eBay pictures, circa 1920. Based on intuition and how a picture \u2018spoke to us\u2019 (as pictures are wont to do to us writers), our homework involved choosing a protagonist, antagonist, supporting characters, a love interest, a busy body, and a wise owl. Focusing on the main character for the first night, we were set free to be in \u2018daydream mode,\u2019 cogitating on the desires of the character, his\/her background and childhood. It\u2019s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, because suddenly, an entire plot-line full of scandal, revenge, love and loneliness, disaster and reunion came together.<\/p>\n Next, it was time to add depth to our characters. As my instructor, Carolyn Lieberg<\/a>, put it, think of an iceberg. Floating on top of the water is the amount of information about your character that will be present in the specific story you are telling. But under the surface exists the rest of the character. Millions of scenarios and behaviors lurk in the depths of the character\u2019s ocean, a place that only the author herself has dared to travel. But how do you go about learning about your character?<\/p>\n Enter: the personality test.<\/p>\n Long used by psychologists to understand their patients\u2019 mental composition, the personality test can also be an invaluable tool for a writer to delve into the minds of their made-up characters and develop them into well-rounded people.<\/p>\n There are hundreds of tests online that I am sure are all varieties of the same ideas. WARNING: These tests are addictive!\u00a0<\/strong> Take this quiz<\/a> or this one<\/a> or this one<\/a> and you will see why. In my class, we were asked to take these once as if the main character was taking it him\/herself. This was particularly interesting, because even if you (the author) know that your character is a very untrustworthy sort, the character might see himself as honest, or lie to cover up his smarminess. The second time we took the test, we took it as a supporting character, commenting on the personality of the main character. Again, the results were quite different, because other characters may see the main character differently than the main character sees himself.<\/p>\n If you are a writer struggling to create believable and realistic characters, try the personality test! There are no wrong answers. You will be surprised how the character will come through and pick the correct answer for you!<\/p>\n *For an extra challenge, try to journal entry in your main character\u2019s voice about taking the personality test. Devise a reason for his or her having to take it, and write about their reactions to the questions. Happy writing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As I sit here today, grading the fabulous work of my first year students from the one-credit Honors Seminar I’ve been teaching this semester, I can’t help but think of the origins of the unique activity that I have assigned them and that they have indeed excelled in the highest degree. It all started two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2177,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[809,811,808,812,810,420],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6844"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2177"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6844"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6849,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6844\/revisions\/6849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Pick](\"https:\/\/farm7.staticflickr.com\/6036\/6261862545_72b5c44e98_z.jpg\")
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We arrived the next day in class to share our unique results of our individual journeys to the Dreamlands. Many of us had chosen the same pictures to represent a different character in each story. The studious man with the curly hair and the fitted vest was the proud, vain protagonist of one classmate\u2019s story, while he happened to be the neighbor\u2019s stuttering cousin who comes to visit one summer and falls in love with my main character. No two stories were alike, even when we used the same pictures!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/media0.giphy.com\/media\/6uaAv66B7Wopi\/200.gif\")