Hi everyone,

Every year I have the same nightmare usually around the same date. This nightmare became precious to me over the course of the years so I decided to create a character named Siara after the girl that stars in that nightmare. I have a general idea of her appearance and also her character from these nightmares but off course a backstory is quite absent. I want to create a backstory worthy of the girl in my dreams but besides the fact that she wears a hospital bracelet with her name on and feels very disoriented and lonely I know nothing about her.

Do you guys have any suggestions or writing exercises that could help me flesh out her character further as well as create a fitting backstory? I'm sure that if I get a few nudges I'll be able to create a more statisfying reality for this character.

Thank you in advance for any advice you could offer me~

Hey ! My best advice to flesh out her character is to start keeping what I call a "character journal." Just carry around a little journal with you, and as you do things and go through your day to day life, write down how Siara would react. At the end of the day, write down why she reacted to everything the way she did. Did something that once happened to her cause her to hate peanut butter for example? Is she shy because she grew up an only child? Did she grow up spoiled, meaning she doesn't know how to clean up a house, much less be willing to sweep and dust? Live a day in her life so to speak, and see how it goes. Once you know who she is now, start deciding who she was. What medical condition put her in the hospital? Research the condition fully so you can find any obscure triggers you might want to weave into her backstory. Another exercise I often use when writing is I dig up some of the better RP character sheets (you can find plenty online or even in the forums here, just ask anyone and I'm sure they'll help!) and fill it out for her. I hope this helps!

Just from reading what you described I'd go with something typical but make the writing style truly upstanding to make it pop. I'd go with the angle of someone from another time and place reaching out to you through your dreams. Perhaps they are sick and dying and it's the last bit of their spirit looking for a connection that triggers the dreams. Maybe she is locked up someplace and is reaching out for a rescue. Could be she has telepathic abilities and you two have a connection. I kind of like the idea that even after she is gone/dead/ moved on that the dream recurs for you without her triggering it. Like the echo of a ghost. I think the connection between you and the character is really cool and I'd keep that and pick a story line. Once you do that you can fill in the gaps. And hey, maybe the gaps are lapses in her memory. And maybe you will never know what happened. That in itself can make for a haunting and interesting story.

hey! this blog here is all about character development. it has loads of prompts and the moderators often help with any writing questions you may have, plus they reblog writing-related things! i use it all the time and its really helpful. (:

This may sound odd, but when I need to get into character, I listen to music I think that character would like. Granted, my chars often have a "sound" quite similar to my own eclectic tastes in music, but that's a given. If I'm listening to a song I can imagine as being almost like a music video to the scene I'm trying to write out, events just fall into place. Listen to something that makes you think of her--that defines her.

Hey Novo, unfortunately your link does not seem to work.

As for the others, thank you so very much for your kind input. I'll be sure to try out all of your ideas. I hope I get to learn more about this girl very soon.