Currently Empty: $0.00
specifics, please
You wrote a backstory and a hair color and you called it character development.
I am gently informing you that you have a mannequin. Real characters have pet peeves. They have a brand of toothpaste. They have an opinion about the music you played at their funeral. The reason your protagonist feels flat isn't talent. It's specificity. We do specificity drills, the kind that turn cardboard into people, and I'll show you the three-question filter I use when a character isn't landing on the page. The filter takes nine minutes. Most flat characters become real ones inside one session of these questions, which is annoying because it makes the whole craft sound like a parlor trick. Sometimes it is.
Mannequin vs. person · the diagnostic
| Mannequin character | Real character |
|---|---|
| Has a backstory | Has a backstory and a brand of toothpaste |
| Has goals | Has goals and a weird small habit when nervous |
| Has hair color | Has a thing they touch when they lie |
| Speaks | Speaks in a rhythm you'd recognize blindfolded |
| Wants something | Wants something and is afraid of something specific |
The nine-minute specificity drill
- What is your character's most embarrassing minor opinion?
- What's the small habit they have when they're nervous?
- What snack are they irrationally loyal to?
- What's their relationship to punctuality?
- What music do they pretend not to like?
- What is the smallest possible thing that could ruin their week?
Backstory and hair color is a mannequin in a wig. A character is the small petty opinion she has about supermarket carts. Write that.
— L.A. Walton, The Book Maven
From the Maven Catalog
- Master Course — Specificity for Characters
- eBook — Pet Peeves and Toothpaste
- Toolkit — The Specificity Toolkit
- Planner — Character Depth Planner
Run the drill on your protagonist tonight. Write the snack. Write the small habit. Write the petty opinion. Watch the mannequin become a person inside an hour.