CHARACTER DOSSIER (Kercheval)

(Source: Jesse Lee Kercheval, BUILDING FICTION)

1. Give your character a name.

2. Give your character one telling item of clothing. (A black leather coat, for example, or a pink,
plaid jacket.)

3. Give your character one small, revealing gesture or movement. (He may bite his nails.)

4. Write down one expression or line of dialogue that your character says regularly, such as a
favorite curse or bit of slang.

5. Think of a smell to go with your character, like cigarette smoke or baby powder.

6. Give your character a favorite possession small enough to be carried.

7. What is your character’s earliest memory?

8. Happiest memory?

9. Most painful memory?

10. If your character were dying, what would her last thought be?

11. What’s he afraid of?

12. What’s his secret?

13. What does he want?