Why I Interview My Characters
Pulling Humanity out of Abstract Ideas
How do I make good characters for a story?
Take your concepts or ideas of characters and interview them.
Background
I looked like an absolute idiot.
During one of my psychology classes in college, we learned about the psychological evaluation process and how we could interpret statements and mannerisms as the symptoms of various disorders. The teacher then split us into groups of two to interview each other.
She then told us to take a different identity than our own and act like we were in therapy. The other guy let me go first. Big mistake.
I should have just pretended to be depressed (since I secretly was), but my crazy mind decided to do something else- impersonate one of my characters. Unfortunately, the only character that came to mind at the time was an air-headed, spoiled, upper-west-side girl with vocal fry who determined her well-being on a test from her favorite podcast.
My poor interview partner looked like he was on a date with a hurricane. I remember seeing him nod with the blankest look in his eyes. It’s almost like he had never seen an over-energetic Jewish guy impersonate the vocal fry of a teenage girl before. But, in that moment…
