The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting: March 12, 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.

Politics and Religion

• what were the family's religious practices?
• what were the family's political affiliations?
• was there anyone who rebelled against the family's religious or political affiliations?
• did any family member ever run for political office or join the clergy or a cult?

Religion and politics are often hot button issues, whether it's because the family was strongly for or against things. So how did your characters' families and their own beliefs stand in these arenas?