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Publishing Guidelines: This article is available for free reprint provided that the author bio is left intact and the article is published complete and unaltered. If you are using this article on a website or e-book, please make sure that the link in the author bio is live or clickable.Email notice of intent to publish is requested: bcarrphillips@yahoo.comWord Count: 520In the Flesh: Three Tips to Journaling Believable CharactersBy Barbara Carr PhillipsWriters are natural observers. We note characteristics about people that others miss. How many times have you observed someone, and then revealed that observation to a friend who said, "Yes, yes, that is exactly right! I could not put my finger on what impressed me about that person before." Here are three journaling tips that will develop your skill of observation. Tip #1: Choose a Character of the Week You might not describe your characters physical appearance at the beginning of your novel, but knowing what he or she looks like will open opportunities to you as you write. Every day we are in contact with others, whether its our family, the grocery store clerk or the woman sitting in the car ahead of you at the stoplight. Choose one real person every week to write about in your journal. Write a page about this person, as though you were looking at her through a one-inch picture frame. Include every physical detail: clothing, jewelry, hairstyle, skin tone, fingernails, facial expressions and mannerisms. If you dont know her name, give one to her. You may discover a character who is ready to bump into the main character of that novel you are working on! Tip #2: Create your Characters Goal LogSelect one character of the week (from Tip #1). Its time to develop this characters motivation. Step into your characters shoes and write a personal goal log. It will be similar to a goal log that you would write for yourself. Write about both long-term goals, (saving a million dollars, retiring to Tuscany) and short-term goals, (losing weight, learning to play guitar). Write about why these goals are important to your character. Include all the steps your character will have to take to achieve his or her goals, along with the obstacles he or she may encounter along the way. Some of the goals should be very difficult to achieve or open-ended, just like they are in real life. As you log your character through a difficult goal, which challenges will she or he overcome? Which ones will cause them to give up? Tip #3: Interview a CharacterLeaf through a copy of an old magazine. Cut out a picture of an interesting character. Tape it in your journal. On the opposite page, write interview questions to this person. Answer the questions with your imagination. Having a picture of the person to focus on will help you do that. Write detailed questions, in the present, that relate to the setting of your story. For example, if your story unfolds in Biloxy, Mississippi, but your character looks like a New Yorker, dont ask him, "Were you born in New York City?" Ask, "How did you end up here, at the Whistle Stop Caf, with one beat-up suitcase and no money for a return ticket?"Your writers journal can help you create characters for your short stories and novels that readers will understand and enjoy. If your reader believes your character, he or she will also believe your story.

About the Author

Barbara Carr Phillips, journal instructor, believes dreams come true when you learn to journal your way to success. Visit http://journalworkshops.net to orderyour one-on-one journaling session or to sign up for her free e-zine.