EXERCISE: Character Questions! (1 of 5)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 24 February 2010

Writer's Digest, May 2006, page 41 has a sidebar suggesting that we think about some of these questions concerning the ancestors and descendants who influenced the life and motivations of your characters. Feel free to expand on these with your own ideas.

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• was there equality between the mother and father, or was there a definite head of the household?
• were children expected to follow in the family occupation -- farmers, doctors, police officers, bankers?
• what was the role of education in family? Were children expected to go to college?
• what were the favorite family activities -- sailing, hunting, playing basketball in the driveway?
• were there any divorces, resulting in stepparents and stepchildren?

Just what kind of a household did your characters come from? How does that influence them? Incidentally, those of you who are doing science fiction and fantasy or historical works may want to consider what changes in the background of your world.

What was their home life like? What do they expect or want because of it?

I have to admit, I find the questions kind of interesting in their assumptions. E.g., we're talking nuclear family, just mom, pop, and the kids...not an extended family, as was common in many regions. Family occupation? I guess Dad did the same thing all his life? Education, with the question about going to college -- some parts of the world, high school is unusual? Family activities... And apparently if you divorce, you remarry. None of those single parents, or other arrangements. And no orphans, abandoned children, and all that stuff.

Anyway, somewhere to start thinking about your characters...