Sketch Out Supporting Characters

1. For each of the following protagonists, name what kinds of supporting characters they might have. Write up a short sketch about each one of them.

a. an aging knight

            b. a teenage Olympic athlete

            c.  a businessman who just lost his job

2. For each of the following antagonists, name what kinds of supporting characters they might have. Write up a short sketch about each one of them.

            a.  a cantankerous college professor

            b.  a disgraced wizard

            c.  a junior high bully

3. Write a scene between a protagonist and foil character. The hero has just suffered a major defeat at the hands of the antagonist.  Focus on revealing the protagonist’s thoughts and reactions in a natural way.

4. Look at your work in progress. Are there places or things that act as characters in their own right? How do you handle this?

5. Pretend you are writing your protagonist walking down a busy beach. Write a description using extra characters to set the mood of the scene.


6. Sketch out your supporting characters and explain the role that each of them will play in your story.

Sketch Out a Protagonist/Antagonist

1. Write out a character sketch for the following kinds of protagonists. Provide them with at least one character trait that the reader probably will not expect.

            a. an aging knight

            b. a teenage Olympic athlete

            c.  a businessman who just lost his job

2. Write out a character sketch for the following kinds of antagonists. Provide them with at least one character trait that makes them sympathetic.

            a.  a cantankerous college professor

            b.  a disgraced wizard

            c.  a junior high bully



3. Sketch out your protagonist and antagonist.

Plot the Remainder of the Story

1. The first and most obvious attempts have failed for the following problems. What do you do next?

            a.  In the first class of the day at high school, David’s girlfriend dumps him in front of the whole class.

            b. A ravenous dragon flew into town and scorched the entire village, leaving a sole survivor.

            c.  The bank is going to foreclose on the diner that is Mrs. Baker’s sole source of support if she can’t come up with enough money in one week.

2.  A violent gang is threatening to kill the mayor because of his crackdown on crime. How could you:

            a. deepen the conflict?

            b. broaden the conflict?

            c. bring the conflict to a climax?

            d. create a denouement?


3. Plot out your remaining try-fail cycles, the climax and the denouement.

Plot the Inciting Incident and First Attempt

1. Create an inciting incident for the each of the following beginnings that interrupts the routine of the character.

            a. Bob wakes up, gets ready and heads out in his car for his long commute to work.

            b. It is Kristin’s last day of school and she is going to a party with her friends.

            c.  Mr. Welker wakes up and set out to the mountains for a hike.

2. Think about the first attempt for a character who has the following problems.

            a.  In the first class of the day at high school, David’s girlfriend dumps him in front of the whole class.

            b. A ravenous dragon flew into town and scorched the entire village, leaving a sole survivor.

            c.  The bank is going to foreclose on the diner that is Mrs. Baker’s sole source of support if she can’t come up with enough money in one week.

3. Plot out your inciting incident and first try-fail cycle. 

Determining Time and Place

1. Think about a famous story. How would that story be different is you set it in:

            a…the distant future

            b. …the distant past

            c. …the current time.

2. What is the time period you chose for your work in progress? Why did you choose it? It is possible that there is a better a time period that would work?

3. What is the setting you chose for your work in progress? Why did you choose it? It is possible that there is a better a time period that would work?

4. Imagine that you have just stumbled through a portal into a fantasy world.  You whip out your notebook and want to record everything you see. Write down all the details you can think about, what the scenery looks like, what the people and animals look like, what the weather looks like etc.

5. Imagine that you’ve just been dropped of by a time machine into the distant future to go have dinner with an important person. During the dinner you are taking note off all the things that have changed over the years and what has stayed the same. What are the people wearing? What do they eat? How do they eat it? How do they speak? Etc.

6. Choose your time and place and explain why you chose it.