Friday, April 10, 2026

Characterization - Two Questions to Spark Discussion


I saw a quick interview video clip of author Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl) talking about character creation. He has the ability to create rich characters and supporting characters that feel like they have their own stories independent of the protagonist. He was asked how he does it and his reply is two questions - ones that I think our students would benefit from when analyzing characters:

  1. What do they want?
  2. What are they afraid of?
He says once he knows those two things about a character, it informs everything they do - whether it be shopping or fighting. 
If you've read the book, you get why the cat is wearing a tiara, sunglasses, and is riding a velociraptor. 


I will be using this today in my discussion with my students on the characters of Brave New World. Two simple questions that should spark quite a bit of discussion. Or maybe it won't. Who knows?

Here is the clip if you want to use it in class (it is less than a minute long): https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQk2M7IDOv2/

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