Anyway, I came up with a random exercise the other night (partially out of boredom and partially because I was having trouble sleeping) and I thought I'd share it. Give your characters a random situation and try and come up with the way they would respond or act in that situation. It'll tell you a lot about those character's personalities and how developed they are in a story. The longer it took me to come up with an answer, the less developed I decided that character was. It was a good indicator for me to see which characters I needed to work on, even if they didn't have primary roles. Here's the simple random scenario I came up with:
The WMRR characters are each placed alone inside a room containing a single, red button for a period of time. There is one locked door and no windows. What do they do?
Ash immediately presses the button.
Dedrad patiently waits, ignoring the button, for someone to retrieve him from the room.
Dan walks the perimeter of the room, checks the door, checks the walls, scans the floor, then, finally, presses the button.
Myra searches the room, tries the door, attempts to look under the door and waits next to the button without
pressing it.
Grypt attempts to dismantle the button to see how it works and what its function might be.
Jason is suspicious of the button, tries to break down the door and eventually breaks the button in defiance.
Virgil attempts to study the effect of the button, listening for noises when it is pressed, testing the ease of pressing, pressing it softly, forcefully, repetitively, with pauses and then makes mental notes (as he has no notebook) of the results.
Samille ignores the button and meditates in one of the corners of the room.
Navar seeks to use the button to further his needs (at that point, leaving the room) or to influence anyone that may be beyond the door.
Colonel Card knocks on the door, calls out to anyone that may be listening and threatens them in case the pushing of the button should result in adverse effects.
Jarvis thinks of ways to make money off the button, but is ultimately suspicious of it. He cannot decide
whether to press it or leave it be.
Jackie becomes frustrated with the button after she cannot figure out how to get out of the room or what the
button might do. She ultimately stomps on it.
Deena rapidly hammers the button after attempting to make conversation with anyone outside the door.
Kelly becomes bored in the room and begins her workout, completely ignoring the button.
