Write one scene and you’ll know whether your character works

You can know your main character inside out and still have them do nothing in your scene that shows it. And whether something on the page really shows who they are is the hardest thing for you to see yourself: you read the hesitation you meant, even when it isn’t there. This exercise shows you whether you’ve pulled it off in your scene.

You probably already know that a character reveals who they are through their choices. Give them something to want, let them act on it, and keep the narrator out of it. You’ll find that advice everywhere, and it’s right, but it tells you nothing about your scene. And that’s exactly where you get stuck.

Example: You made a point of never saying in so many words that your character is loyal. But is there anything in your writing that actually shows it?

You think so, but the reader may read it differently from what you meant, and you can’t judge your own writing objectively. Especially not while you’re still learning the technique. That’s what practice is for.

In the exercise below, you write one scene with one choice, and you never say what kind of person your character is. Then ViaScripta checks on the spot whether that works.

First you’ll find the instructions. Then you can do the exercise yourself and get feedback right away.

Just paste your text into the widget at the bottom of this page. You don’t need an account.

Intermediate exercise: The choice that makes your character give something up

Write a scene in which one character has to choose between two things. They want both, but they can have only one. By the end, let the reader know what kind of person they are, without ever naming a single trait. Make sure they give something up with their choice: if they give up nothing, it isn’t a choice, just an action. Start in the middle of the situation, with no warm-up.

• Length: 350 words
• Time: 1 hour

Learning Objective

• Practice characterization through action, with the character’s nature revealed by a choice under pressure rather than by description or narrator’s commentary.

Criteria

• Dilemma: two things the character truly wants are set against each other, and the character can have only one.
• Loss: in making their choice, the character gives up something they wanted, and that’s visible in the scene itself.
• Showing: who they are comes through in what they do, don’t do, or notice, and is never named as a trait.
• Stands Alone: the scene reads as a complete, self-contained passage, even for someone who doesn’t know the story around it.

Write your own scene for this assignment. Three hundred fifty words, your character makes one choice, and you don’t name their traits.

Paste your response below and see right away how your scene does on the four criteria. You don’t have to get it right the first time. No one’s looking over your shoulder.

Want more practice? Browse the full list of writing exercises.