Fun Character Development Lessons For Middle School Creative Writing Workshops
- Mar 28
- 4 min read
When facilitating creative writing workshops for middle school students, you might find that students have great ideas for books and stories that they want to write, but when it comes to actually sitting down and writing the story, they get stuck. They stare at the pages and have a hard time deciding what they want their characters to do in a particular scene, or where they want their story to go. This block usually stems from one of two problems. Either they need to spend more time outlining their plot, or they need to spend more time getting to know their characters.
The Importance Of Character Development Activities
One of the main reasons why writers get stuck and have difficulty writing scenes is that they don’t know their characters well enough to know how they will act in any situation. Think about a close friend or relative in your own life. If you know them well, you will have a pretty good idea of how they will act when they are insulted, or when someone tells a joke, or when they are nervous, or when confronted with danger. You can make accurate guesses about how they will act in most situations because you know them.
It is the same with our characters. If we know them well enough, we know exactly what they will say when they are surprised. We know whether they will run away from danger, or run towards it. We know how they will act when they are scared, or excited, or suspicious, or confused. When we write our scenes, the characters’ actions flow from our fingertips with ease because we know them.
However, if we do not know our characters, writing can be a chore. We second guess every action, and rack our brains trying to figure out just how we want our characters to respond. Often, we get stuck, and stare at the page, unsure of what to write.
The good news is that we can get to know our characters. Character development exercises can help writers get to know their characters almost as well as they know themselves. One of my favorite character development activities for middle school creative writing workshops is the character interview activity.
Character Interview Lesson Plan
The character interview activity is a fun, no-prep lesson that does not require any handouts or materials. This activity helps the students build background knowledge about their characters. Most of what they discover in this interview process won’t actually make it into their final stories, but it will help them know their characters better and know how they will act and respond in each scene.
First, tell the students that one of their characters has been invited to a podcast for an interview. Have each student open their notebooks to a blank sheet of paper and write a character’s name on the top of the page. They should write down the name of their main character, or they can choose a secondary character who they are struggling with.
Then, tell the students that you are going to act as the interviewer. You will ask them a series of questions, and they will have two minutes to write down the answer to each question from the point of view of the character. If the students get stuck and don’t know the answer to the questions, remind them that they can make up answers on the spot. They are the authors, and they are creating the background for their characters in real time.
Next, set a timer for two minutes and ask your first question. Let the students use the time to write down their answers as if they are the character on the top of their paper. When the timer goes off, ask the next question and restart the timer for another two minutes. I like to ask about seven to ten questions depending on the amount of time we have. Here are some of my favorite questions:
What would you do if you were gifted ten million dollars (or the equivalent of that in your world)?
What is your biggest regret?
What are you most self-conscious about?
What is your earliest memory?
What is your greatest strength or talent?
What quality do you most admire in others?
If you could achieve one great accomplishment in your life, what would it be?
What is your biggest fear?
What is your closest relationship?
What moment in your life are you proudest of?
After going through the interview process, the students should have a stronger grasp on their characters. If there is time, I like to follow this up by having the students write a diary entry from the perspective of the character they just interviewed. The dairy should take place a day or even a few weeks before the events of their story take place. This helps the students get into the minds of their characters. Students usually find that these diary entries come a lot easier to them once they have gotten to know their characters through the interview activity.
Final Thoughts
If you find that your students are getting stuck when they try to write their scenes, try using this character interview activity to help them to get to know their characters better. A deeper understanding of their characters might be just what they need to help their writing flow.
If you are looking for more fun creative writing activities, check out my Narrative Writing Bundle. It has lessons on creative writing workshop essentials such as dialogue, word choice, setting, and more.
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