As people grow and change, sometimes they wish they could be more like their younger self–be that because they miss the wonder they had in the world, or because they’ve lost their faith in people. Other times we wish we could get word from the future that things turn out all right. A popular way of expressing those wishes is in writing a letter to yourself–either past or future.
As an exercise: do just that. Write a letter to your character. Either to tell them about the things coming up in the future, or to remind them of the good stuff they came from. Perhaps you want to apologize to them for all the things they go through in the course of the story, or explain how you really feel about them.
Alternately, you can have your character complete the exercise. Think about things like if they’d want to write to their younger self, or to their future one. When writing to their younger self, consider the things they struggled to get through. When writing to the future version, what qualities do they admire in themselves currently?
The Written Vixen 
I’ve used this method (i.e., old letters written by my character) as a way to nail down backstory. Also a character’s old journal entries, or interviews with the character. Thanks for reminding me! I have a character in my WIP who is especially hard for me to get a bead on. This might help me break through.
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Ooh, journal entries are my favorite to do. I’ve honestly never had much luck with character interviews though. Let me know if you get that break through!
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