A good writer wants autonomous characters. That is, each character acts of their own, not as puppets that the writer controls. Characters should not be props within a story, but real beings. They have desires and knowledge. They are alive in all senses of the word. They have complex lives and intense emotions.

Your task is to imagine a character that might fit well in a story you are contemplating writing. Give her a name, age and residence. Then fill in these blanks:

1. She would never consider doing/thinking/saying ________________________
2. He knew this about his father, but not that _____________________________
3. Her most prominent ambition is _____________________________________
4. He would prefer to ___________________ over ________________________
5. In terms of politics, she votes for ____________________________________
6. He dislikes _________________________so intensely that he _____________
7. His favorite recreational activity is ___________________________________
8. Every day he drives to/buys/eats _____________________________________
9. Her greatest fear is ________________________________________________
10. She yearns to ____________________________________________________

Which of these appeals to you? Write a story in which at least one of these traits comes to fruition.

Have fun with this one.