Voice Journal

I found this great blog post at www.alanrinzler.com called: The writer's toolkit: a voice journal for character development. So I thought I'd spend a minute or two (well, ended up to be more like 30) to sit down and do this exercise.

Wow did my pen fly across the paper! What a great way to really get to know your character! I found out things about Sophie that I didn't know before and she really laid it all out for me. I would recommend this to every writer out there, whether you have just started or are on your fifth rewrite, take a moment to ask your MC some questions. This may never have anything to do with your story but it's your baby and you have to believe in them so much that they become a real person and have real stories.

Here's a little of what came out in mine:

I wanted to know just a little about Sophie, this is what she told me. My name is Sophia Layne, everyone calls me Sophie. I'm 17, but I'll be 18 in June. A gemini. I'm not a typical gemini though. I don't do the whole split personality thing.

I'm a Senior at Sandy High School, soon to be done with it(not soon enough). My bestie, Renee and I are moving to Cali after graduation to go to UCLA. We made a pact when we were 7 to move away from this rain-soaked town. So naturally, California seemed a good choice. My grammy lives there, right by the campus. She is absolutly my fav person(beside Renee and my other bff Brandon), even though I don't get to see her much. She was my main comfort after Matty died.

I still wonder if I will ever truly get over that. He was so young and promising and the best brother any one could ask for. I never knew depression before I lost him. In fact, I never know loss of any kind. My small bubble that I lived in had never experienced death, not even a fish (that's because my parents refused to let me have a pet).

There was more, but I don't want to bore you too much ;)