Choose a character from a story you have written or are in the process of writing, then write a scene or multiple scenes in which that character interacts with you, the author. One way to approach this exercise is to write with the assumption that the character understands that you, as the author, “created” him or her and are responsible for the things that happened to them in the course of the story; another is to write as though the character does not know these things and is simply interacting with the author as just another person that he or she has met. For a bigger challenge, do the exercise using a secondary or tertiary character from the story (as opposed to the main protagonist).

I read about this idea somewhere else too.  It’s a really good idea.  Plagiarism, on the other hand, is kind of lame.  You see I removed the links you added because they weren’t very useful.  Had you put your own mind into the body of the message, I may have left them.  Now don’t be lazy!  You can earn money at Litmocracy by writing, so give it a try.

Here’s an exercise I read about in a book I found in our bathroom (yes, we keep books in the bathroom…as well as fliers and extra rolls of toilet paper). Now forgive me for not remembering the exact title and author (I will come back and fix this post to reflect proper acknowledgments).

This author suggested having your character(s) interact with characters from books you’ve read - take their personality, their overall character, and have your own character have a conversation with them.

I found this exercise really helpful as it allowed me to develop dialogues in styles I might not have otherwise tried my hand at.

Just an idea for those of you who are looking to expand on your writing style, or who are trying to develop characters that are hard to get exactly right.

- Star

Edit: Ok, it looks like my brain did it again. I read something and made it into something else in the time it took me to walk from the bathroom to the computer. So the book is A Writer’s Book of Days by Judy Reeves, but the tip I read simply said that you should try to practice creating dialogues similar to those in books you read, using the book’s author’s style. It would seem I then made myself believe that what I read was to have your own characters have a conversation with characters you found in books you read. Either way, I think it works. Sorry if I’m more confusing than helping…