Writing a Journal from your Character’s Perspective

by Kathleen Neely @NeelyKneely3628

I’m sharing tips with you on a strategy that I’ve only just begun using—character journaling. I know—journaling sounds like an age-old tool, but here’s how it differs. It’s not me writing the journal, but my character. I’ve discovered that the input of time is well worth the output. When I sit down and create a journal from my character’s perspective—what he/she is thinking, feeling, wishing, and doing, my writing dips deeper. 

Journaling is much more than a keeper of memories. By design, it’s private. Words that only the writer will see. A place to pour out your heart. It’s also quick. A five-to-ten-minute venue where neither spelling nor punctuation matter. It can be a place to vent frustrations, pour out anger, admit weakness. A safe place to dream the impossible dream. In my book Beauty for Ashes Nathan journaled to put words to his guilt, ending each journal entry by incinerating the page into a jar where he collected the ashes of grief. 

What do I get out of my character’s rambling? I get the WHY which is the heart of emotions. Characters aren’t one dimensional. Like real-life people, sometimes their actions appear to contradict each other. What causes fear in one chapter may bring excitement in another. WHY? In one scene he’s attracted to her; in another, he’s stand-offish. WHY?

As the keeper of the story, you know the answer. However, if you don’t adequately communicate this to your reader, your story may leave confusion. If you communicate it by telling instead of showing, your reader may stifle a yawn. I find character journaling to be the tipping point for providing that deeper look inside. 

Another benefit of character journaling is voice. Language patterns, cultural differences, generational gaps—they come easily when your character does the writing. All you have to do is to maintain that voice in your manuscript. This fall, you will have a chance to meet Charlotte in my time-slip novel Arms of Freedom. Her story is based on her old journals located 150 years later. I hope you enjoy this voice that changed with her coming of age. The journal helped me with layers of emotion that shifted with Charlotte the child, to Charlotte the young lady. 

To summarize, journals are: 

• Private – meant only for the character (and you, of course)
• Quick – minimal time spent 
• Safe – he or she may say anything they’re feeling 
• Real – even you, their creator, will come to know this character on a more intimate level 
• Authentic – a character will make their voice known; it cannot change who they are 

I’d love to hear from writers with their strategies for character development. It’s the heart of fiction. 

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Kathleen Neely resides in Greenville, SC with her husband. She is a former teacher and a retired elementary principal. She enjoys time with family, visiting her two grandsons, traveling, and reading. 

She is the author of The Street Singer, Beauty for Ashes, The Least of These, and In Search of True North. Kathleen is a blogger for Celebrate Lit and a member of ACFW, American Christian Fiction Writers. She currently serves on the administrative board of the local chapter, ACFW Upstate South Carolina. 

Kathleen continues to speak to students about writing and publication processes. She is a member of Association of Christian Fiction Writers. 

Website – www.KathleenNeely.com 

Facebook – www.facebook.com/kathy.neely.98

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NeelyKneely3628

Instagram – www.Instagram.com/KathleenNeelyAuthor