What do your characters know about each other?

There is much written, including blog posts on this site, about really getting to know your characters. However, what do your characters know and think about each other?

It is a really useful exercise to write descriptions about your characters from the viewpoint of each of your other major characters. You could free write a description or use question and answer.

Ask your hero a number of questions about your villain and then repeat this exercise for other characters. You could ask:

• Describe them physically
• What do you know about their background?
• What do you like about them?
• What do you dislike about them?
• What do you think they would order for lunch?
• If you were to get stuck in a lift together what would you talk about?
• What do you think their goals are?

You can add questions as you plan and write your book and need to understand more about your characters and how they view each other.

You could do the same exercise for significant people that do not appear in your book, for instance question the mother of your hero. Whilst the mother may not be a character in your book, and may not even be referred to, she might be able to provide an intriguing insight into your character’s motivations.

Have fun with this – the results will help you develop characters with real depth and also work out the intricacies of the relationships between characters.

Happy writing.