In Real Life
🎨

In Real Life

image

🎨 Your Challenge, Should You Choose to Accept it ...

Choose something your character does in your story that you can try out in real life. Maybe your character bakes a cake, or goes for a walk, or plays a board game. Even if you can't do the exact same thing your character does because you don't have an ability they have, or because the setting is a place you don't have access to, try out one activity that shows up in your book in real life.

STEPS:

  1. Do the activity and let yourself fully dive into it. Set aside any expectations for what you'll experience or what you'll be able to take away and add to your story.
  2. After the activity is done, make a list of specific details you noticed. Be specific, and have fun with your descriptive choice of words.
    • Maybe you enjoyed the billow of warm air against your cheeks as you opened the oven to slide a knife into the center of your cake to check whether it was done.
    • A drama between a tiny, sweater-wearing Chihuahua and a Great Dane may have unfolded as they passed one another, pulling on the ends of their leashes. Movement might have caught your eye, and you might have seen a cat watching from atop a neighbor's fence, her tail twitching smugly.
  3. Once you're done with your list, try to add a couple more details. It's always a good idea to push past the first thoughts that come to mind. Further down the list you often find the really good stuff.
  4. Look back over your list and transform your specific experiences into ones that might happen in your character's world. How might some of the sensory or surprising details show up in your fictional scenes? Choose at least one to include in an upcoming scene and notice how this real-world connection makes the imagined scene feel even more real to you. (It will feel more real to your readers, too!)