Send Your Characters to Therapy: A Writing Exercise

Many authors speak on “getting to know” their characters. Their characters are people they sit with, talk to, or assume the role of. 

For some authors, characters are based on people they know or a plan that they’ve developed. Not all authors can be expected to have or conceive of the same relationships with their characters. 

That said, many authors endeavor to make their characters as believable, relatable, authentic, or something as possible. This is an exercise that I use with fiction clients who find it difficult to picture their character’s next action or reaction to a situation. They want to be able to get to know their characters on a deeper level. 

The exercise is called “Send Your Character to Therapy”. For this exercise, however, the “therapist” can be replaced with anyone your character might include in their support system. Anyone, characters included, might resist a support system and be more content in their own company. So, some writers responded to this exercise by having their characters speak to themselves.

This is a writing exercise. This is not meant to be an incentive to replace professional help in any way. As amazing a support system as you might have already with your friends and loved ones, please seek professional medical or mental health advice when it is necessary to do so. 

What can “Send Your Characters to Therapy” do?

1. This exercise can allow you to practice and improve upon dialogue. Many writers struggle with crafting dialogue that sounds natural and individual. Some authors unintentionally make all characters sound like themselves, not giving other characters unique patterns of speech. Some authors reject strategies like non-linear dialogue and incomplete sentences, both of which often happen in real life and make for believable conversations.
   

2. This exercise offers a chance to get to know your characters on a personal level. When you create a character, you don’t just create words on a page. Ideally, you create a person who is as complicated as we are. They are full people who live rich, inner lives. They have fears or insecurities that stem from somewhere. What about their unique goals for themselves? What might those goals be and why might they have those goals? When authors create a setting for their characters to speak freely in, what happens?  
   

3. This exercise gets us into problem-solving. Every story has its own conflict. Your characters will have some attachment to that conflict and either wish to solve or further that conflict in some way. Maybe, your characters will be more attentive to some problems than others. In therapy, people work on managing their mental health, getting back to themselves, challenging negative or harmful thought patterns, attitudes towards change or productivity, a lot of things. Conflict management, with oneself and others, often comes up in relation to these topics. This exercise can help you to better understand how your character usually approaches problems and how they could be expected to interact with those problems. 

Wait! Do I need to know more about how therapy works before doing this exercise?

Without painting every therapist with the same brush, this writing exercise will be more helpful if you know what to expect from a session. You aren’t “treating”, “fixing” or “diagnosing” your characters. In this exercise, your character will be encouraged to speak openly. The person on the other side, the “therapist” figure, will ask open-ended questions to improve understanding and to encourage further open communication. 

How Do I “Send My Character to Therapy”?

First, decide how open your character would be about going to therapy. Your character will have an open, honest, personal conversation about themselves. It’s possible that you, as the author, wouldn’t expect your character would be open to therapy. In these situations, try giving your character a friend who might have a conversation with them or a copy of themselves. 

Next, decide why your character might be sitting down and talking with someone. How are they feeling? Are there things that they’re struggling with right now? Are there things that they want to unpack? Get into what might be bothering them or what they might be open to talking about. Now, it’s time for the questions stage. The other person that your character is speaking to will be asking open-ended questions about what your character has chosen to discuss. Here are some examples of common questions asked in a therapy setting:

•  “When you tell me you feel [this] about your situation, what other feelings come up for you?

• “What do you think made this problem feel worse?”

• “What have you done in the past that helped with this problem?”

• “What do you usually do to help yourself feel better about this situation, if anything?”

• “How do you usually handle situations where you aren’t in control of the outcome?”

• “What do you think about change?”
  

Take your time with these questions. Either allow your character space to answer or deeply consider how your character would approach questions like these. These are only example questions. It’s possible that, depending on the situation your character speaks about, other questions would be more appropriate. 

This exercise is meant to be a productive conversation that will allow you to understand your character beyond the story that you have planned for them. You will likely understand your characters at a level that your audience will not, and that’s a good thing. The better you understand your characters, the more natural their choices will feel to you. 

Do you want to learn more about how to write believable characters? Let’s talk! Schedule a free consultation with me so that we can nerd out about your story.