Writing Outside the Story;

Have your main character do the following exercises as if he or she had his or her own notebook.  Remember, the character is doing the exercise and not you, the author.  As your main character:

? Make a journal entry for the time of the story
? Make a journal entry for the time preceding the story
? Write a letter to someone not in the story abut something that is happening in the story.
? Write a letter to someone in the story
? Write a letter dated at sometime way beyond the story to someone not involved in the story reflecting on that time of the story

Or you might explore places in the story you haven’t shown

? What events happened before the beginning of the story?  Try writing scenes of events that affect the beginning of the story
? Write past the ending.  What happens after the story is over?
? Have your characters avoided a confrontation.  Force them into one.
Write a journal entry from the point of view of a minor character.