What do you do when you are nervous?
Do you
or do you
Do you...
Or do you need...
Maybe you look at....
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| photo credit |
or...
Maybe you do this...
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Or this...
Or eat a lot of this...
Or have an extra cup of this...
And now that you've identified what you do when you're nervous...
(whether I've named it or not)
Think about...
What do your characters do?
Oh, Elspeth, I love this question! What a great way to think about characters! Of course people do different things when they're nervous, so I try to make sure my characters do too. In one of my novels one, for instance, won't make eye contact. Another blusters. Another one has a way of being fakey-nice. But underneath it's all the same - nerves!
ReplyDeleteIt's important to remember everyone reacts in a different way, isn't it?
DeleteGreat post. I saw three things on there that I'm guilty of :) And a couple of things for my protagonist, too!
ReplyDeleteNo guilt involved - just think of yourself as highly observant!
DeleteInteresting question. One of my characters, a thug, pulls at his clothes and swears. Another, an 11 year old girl, tells lies and uses a remote to constantly flip through TV channels. These are the things that make our characters come alive.
ReplyDelete