Brainstorm #4: Main Character, Part 1

Ready to write your novel?
Grab a journal or your computer and follow along. Each week a new group of prompts will be posted from the book "Brainstormers: Outlining Your First Draft." When finished you will have brainstormed the outline of your novel including the details of each chapter.Show more

On average each prompt is given about 3 minutes to complete though some are shorter and some are longer as needed. If a prompt inspires you and you need more time, pause the video until you finish or simply keep writing and go back and finish the rest of the prompts later. (A list of the prompts is provided here in the description box as well.) If a prompt doesn't fit your book or doesn't inspire you, spend the time writing down other details about your story. Ask yourself questions about your characters and setting and write down the possibilities. Also if you have music that you prefer, simply hit mute and play your own music as you brainstorm. Just make sure to check for the new prompts.

Short writing exercises will be posted a few days after the brainstorms when one is provided in the book. Sometimes you may have no idea what to write. Just keep trying to picture some area of your story. Write something even if it is just a simple description of your character or a short scene from your story. And don't get bogged down in details. If you don't yet know a name, place, or other detail just put in an "x" for now and keep writing.

List of prompts
What kind of character might be found in this setting?
What talents, skills, knowledge, connections, job, or ability might your main character need? What kind of character might have these skills?
What kind of main character might be challenged by this setting?

Choose your top three ideas for a main character and for each ask:
What kind of goal might this character have?
What kind of problem might this character run into?
What kind of mystery might this character be interested in?
What kind of challenge might this character take on?

Chose the best character for your story.

Enjoy the brainstorming process. The goal is to come up with ideas and possibilities. What you put down is not written in stone. Don't worry if you are not certain of an idea or if some of your ideas conflict with each other. During the brainstorm let the ideas flow. At the end of each brainstorm, you will go back over your ideas and choose the ones that are best for your novel.

Have a free weekend or the perfect writing day and can't wait for the next prompt vlog? Or if you want more information on the prompts along with some examples to help clarify, you can download the free e-book "Brainstormers: Outlining Your First Draft" from Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1094599