I invited my two main characters* to dine with me. To give us a chance to discuss their story. (Don’t worry, I do know that they aren’t physically real. 
) The purpose of this exercise is for me to get to know them better.
When you’re writing your characters are ‘trapped’ in their story. So your knowledge of them, to a certain extent, is based on how they deal with what you throw at them. How would they be in a “normal” setting?
This is how I picture it;
G1 has positioned herself on my sofa so that it’s impossible for anyone to sneak up behind her. Chop sticks in hand she’s picking out the sushi**-rolls because they are the easiest to eat.
G2 on the other hand is sitting cross-legged on the floor, with Merle (that would be the cat). Her back straight, and she has her selection of sushi on a separate plate. She’s being polite by not telling me this is supermarket sushi and inferior (I know this but I was to lazy to make any).
There are of course complaints about my story;
G1 is offended as to how whiney she sounds. (She’s got a fair point actually. I was just annoyed with her for keeping me up 3 nights on the trot.)
G2 finds herself too confusing, like she can’t settle on a personality (again fair point)
By the end of the evening I’ve learned that G1 is a lot more grown up then I gave her credit for and that G2 has a thing for gothic rock (completely unexpected, I had her down as the classical music type).
I doubt the gothic rock will make it into the story but this evening has given me a deeper insight, which will make writing about both of them easier.
If you feel quirky enough give it a go, try answering questions as your character – you might be surprised by what you learn 
* I will introduce them properly in another blog
**I love Sushi – it’s one of my comfort foods
