DIANA ORGAIN

Putting Yourself in the Characters’ Shoes

DIANA ORGAIN is the author of the Maternal Instincts Mystery series (Bundle of Trouble, Motherhood Is Murder, and Formula for Murder) published by Berkley. She holds a B.A. and an MFA in playwriting from San Francisco State University with a BA minor in acting. Diana has acted professionally in many theater roles and national commercials. She has written several plays that have been produced at San Francisco State University, GreenHouse Productions, and PlayGround in San Francisco. She currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and three children.

 

 

One of the most challenging parts about writing a great mystery is creating compelling characters. How does one create a believable killer when . . . er . . . hopefully . . . the author is not one! Fortunately, our imaginations can take us on exciting journeys, where one need not hurt anyone. One way to get into a character’s head is to put yourself into their shoes by acting out the story.

When you put yourself in the body of a character, when you physically get up and play, things start to open up. For instance, if the character is powerful, where does their strength come from? The legs? The stomach? The chest? Are they reserved or shy? What part of themselves do they hold back? How the character carries their body, how they walk and move effects what they say. And that, of course, effects what you write.

Acting out the parts can also help you edit and move the story forward. You’ll be able to understand not only what dialogue is necessary, but also what is motivating the character. Acting out different sections will help you with the conflict in the scene as each character should be moving toward their own objective while being blocked by another character or thing (obstacle).

And perhaps one of the most valuable aspects of running through this exercise is ensuring that each character is different and unique. That each character is serving your story. That each one is complex yet human and relatable.

Have fun with the following exercise. Let your imagination run wild and let go of your inhibitions as you step out from behind the page and onto the stage (even if it is only a stage in your own private living space).

EXERCISE

1. If you’ve written a scene with some dialogue in it, great: print it now. If not, move to step 2.

2. Get up on your feet! Select one of the characters to act out. If you are working with something you’ve written, read the lines and move as you say them. Find out how the character “feels” on his or her feet. (Yes, that’s theater-speak.)

3. Try the following:

a. Walking in character: Walk around as the character. What body part leads? Does the character walk on the balls of the feet or on the heels? Does changing that small detail change the feel of the character? Pick an emotion (e.g., anger, shame, fear, love, hope . . .) and walk around. How does that emotion feel in the body of the character? What emerges? Now pick a specific place to walk to or a reason for the walk. What happens in the body of the character?

b. Find a gesture: Connect a gesture with each character you play. The gesture need not end up on the written page, but it can be helpful to trigger for you different elements of your character’s personality. Does he or she fidget? Wring hands? Giggle? Repeatedly check the time? How does this gesture define this character and affect the other characters?

c. Slow it down: Try to move through your scene, whether written or improvisational, in slow motion. Look for a connection between the words as you speak them and to the character you’re working on. This will aid you with finding the character’s motivation.

d. Speed it up: If you speed through the scene, you will discover if the character’s motivation is sustained or if it alters. Hurrying through the scene can add urgency. Does that suit your character and his or her needs?

e. Whisper or yell the scene: Whispering or yelling will strengthen your character’s need to communicate and will intensify the emotions. When you return to a regular voice is the need to communicate retained?

f. Physical obstacle: Pretend there is a physical obstacle in between the characters in the scene (a door, a chair, a lake, to name a few). This should again intensify emotion. How does this affect your character?

4. Now you’re ready to rinse and repeat. You can use the various tactics above and others (feel free to create your own acting exercises) on various characters and scenes. Experiment to find out which tactic informs you most about each character, and understand that there may be different tactics for different characters, which hopefully will inform you even further about the character.