S2 Exercise 14: Making A Character (2)

This exercise looks slightly longer than the others but have no fear! We just want to give you as much information as possible to help you.

CREATE YOUR OWN CHARACTER – PART 2

Working your character into a story

Look at the example which gives information about the characters, taken from the novel ‘The Adventures of Captain Underpants’ by Dav Pilkey.   Consider how the writer gives clues about each character’s appearance, personality and behaviour as they work them into the story.

The extract describes how the characters get up in the morning and their day at school.

“Meet George Beard and Harold Hutchins.  George is the kid on the left with the tie and the flat- top.  Harold is the one on the right with the t-shirt and the bad haircut.   Remember that now....

At six o’clock in the morning, George and Harold dragged themselves out of bed, walked over to Mr Krupp’s house and began washing his car.   Then, while Harold scrubbed the tyres, George roamed around the yard pulling up all the weeds and nettles he could find.   Afterwards they cleaned the gutters and washed all the windows on Mr Krupp’s house.

At school, George and Harold sat up straight, listened carefully and spoke only when spoken to. They didn’t tell jokes, they didn’t pull pranks – they didn’t even smile.   Their teacher kept pinching   herself.  “I just know this is a dream” She said ....

After school, George and Harold mowed Mr Krupp’s lawn, tended his garden and began painting the front of his house.   At sun-set, Mr Krupp came outside and handed each boy a stack of books.

“Gentlemen”, he said,” I’ve asked your teachers to give you both extra homework.   Now go home, study hard, and I’ll see you back here at six o’clock tomorrow morning.  We’ve got a busy day ahead of us”

“Thank you sir,” moaned the two boys.  George and Harold walked home dead tired.

   “Man, this was the worst day of my entire life,” said George.

   “Don’t worry,” Said Harold.   “We only have to do this for eight

   more years. Then we can move away to some far-off land where they’ll never find us.  Maybe Antarctica”.

By describing what they do (BEHAVIOUR) and say (DIALOGUE) the reader can clearly picture what the two boys are like.  Now it’s your turn ...

Here is your chance to give some more information about the character you have created.

TASK

Write at least three or four paragraphs describing how your character gets up in the morning and prepares for what the day has in store for him/her.

Use the checklist to help you think about the following as you write your story;

• □ From your description the reader should be able to gain a good idea of the character’s appearance, personality and behaviour
• □ Do you want to use first or third person narration to describe your character and what he/she does and thinks?
• □ Is it a normal day for your character? Think about where your character wakes up, is it an unusual place? Or is it an ordinary place but they are expecting something exciting to happen?
• □ Try to use descriptive language, similes and metaphors to explain your character’s actions, thoughts and feelings?

REMEMBER! The description of your character should be able to hook the reader’s interest from the start