When I am writing a novel I am constantly trying to get better acquainted with the characters that populate it. Often I will do writing prompts that help me get to know my characters better. These writing exercises never make it into the manuscript, but they help improve the overall quality of the manuscript.
Choose one of the main characters in your novel, perhaps one that you are struggling to understand. Now imagine what his or her bedroom looks like.
What if they don’t have a bedroom? Perhaps he or she is homeless, or in the army, or in some other situation where they do not have a bedroom at the moment. Instead imagine the room that is most important to them. Perhaps it is a public library, or their childhood bedroom, or their parents dining room.
Write about whatever room is most important to your character. Describe this room in great deal. Where is it positioned in the building? Is it part of a house or an apartment? What is hanging on the walls? How messy is the room? Is their a desk? What kind of bed is there?
Give yourself fifteen to twenty minutes to write down all the details. By the time you have described the room, you should have grown to understand that character a lot better.
