Memorable Characters Exercise & Star Wars

I recently became one of the last to discover this absolutely hilarious, kind of twisted review of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace on YouTube. This guy skewers episodes 1-3. He also makes some fantastic points about characterization that could just as easily be applied to writing.

One of the things in this video that most suck out was an exercise of sorts. It’s as follows:

Without saying what the character looks like, or what the character does– describe Han Solo?

Pretty easy, right? He’s roguish, mercenary, charming, he has a heart, but he can also do some ruthless things when he has to, etc.

Now:

Without saying what the character looks like, or what the character does– describe Queen Amidala?

If you’re like me, crickets.

How many times have you read a story where the love interest is defined solely by his or her good looks, or their role in the story (love interest #2, girl’s protector, etc.)? In this exercise, those are both gone, and you’re left only with the substance of the character. This is a great exercise. I’ll do a couple on some memorable teenlit characters:

Without saying what the character looks like, or what the character does– describe Rose from Vampire Academy?

She’s brash, she’s aggressive, she states her mind, she’s fiercely loyal to the people she loves.

Without saying what the character looks like, or what the character does– describe Hermione Granger from Harry Potter?

She’s extremely intelligent, hard-working, a bit neurotic at times, she’s level-headed, she’s devoted to her friends, she’s a perfectionist, etc.

You can try it with your characters, or if you’re critiquing for a friend, give a shot to theirs.

The Star Wars review is below, and it’s seriously funny in a dark way if you’ve got some time to kill. The guy does a good job adopting a character persona of his own, which you’ll see if you watch. (Warning: it is a bit twisted).

Review