December

Announcements 

So my vacation is over and Im back. November was filled with NaNoWriMo like usual which was a blast and I highly recommend it for all those who enjoy writing.

Also, another announcement, for any other highs coolers interested in writing Schoolastic is doing a wonderful competition right now for art and writing. Look into the below link for more information!

http://www.artandwriting.org 

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Week One: Advice on Characters

Characters are very important to a story. A plot may be your backbone, but the characters are what bring the entire thing to life. When someone is reading a story the plot line is very important, but if they care enough about the characters the reader will read to see what happens to them even if the plot sucks because THEY LIKE THE CHARACTERS.

So if the key to a story is characters, than how do you make a character able to become interesting? Well, they have to be like actual people. Not that you have to watch someone and make your character THAT person, but more like you have to make your character three-dimension. They have to have ups and downs, negatives and positives, friends and foes.

I believe, that the key to make your characters 3D can be achieved by getting to know your own character. When you’re writing, let the character decide what happens next. As a writer you shouldn’t have to force any of the events in a story, the characters should push for things to happen the way they do. Now, for a character to guide a story accurately the author /does/ have to know them very well which goes back to the beginning. 

To get to know my characters I have learned multiple methods. The first is a character skeleton. I picked up this method through a lot of Role Playing that I used to do on some websites. Before someone could join into a role play they would have to post a skeleton on their character so that everyone else knew the basics. Each skeleton was unique, but I put together my own. When I got serious about writing I went to Rick Riordan’s site and found what he used.

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Rick Riordan's

Name: ________________________________

Height: _______

Age in story: _________

Birthplace: ____________________

Hair color, length, style: ________________________________

Race/nationality: _______________________________________

Regional influences: _____________________________________

Accent: (include voice, style of speech, slang, signature phrases or words) _______________________________________________________________________

Religion: __________________________________________________

Marital status: _____________________________________

Scars or other notable physical attributes: _____________________________________________________________________

Handicaps: (emotional, physical, mental) ____________________________________________________________

Athletic? Inactive? Overall health? ___________________________________

Style of dress: _____________________________________________________________

Favorite colors: _____________________________________________

How does the character feel about his/her appearance? ____________________________________________________________

Brothers/sisters: _____________________________________________________________

Relationship with parents: _____________________________________________________________

Memories about childhood: _______________________________________________________________________

Educational background: (street smart? Formal? Does he/she read?) _______________________________________________________________________

Work experience: _______________________________________________________________________

Occupation: _________________________________________________

Where does the character live now? Describe home (emotional atmosphere as well as physical) ________________________________________________________________________

Neat or messy? _____________________________________

Sexual preferences/morals/activities: _____________________________________________________________

Women friends/men friends: ____________________________________________________________________

Pets? _______________________________________________________

Enemies? Why? _____________________________________________________________________

Basic nature: ________________________________________________________

Personality traits (shy, outgoing, domineering, doormat, honest, kind, sense of humor):

______________________________________________________________________

Strongest trait: _____________________________________________

Weakest trait: _____________________________________________

What does the character fear? _____________________________________________________________

What is the character proud of? _____________________________________________________________

What is the character ashamed of? _____________________________________________________________

Outlook on life (optimistic, pessimistic, cynic, idealist) _____________________________________________________________

Ambitions: __________________________________________________

Politics: _____________________________________________________

How does the character see himself/herself? ____________________________________________________________

How is the character seen by others? _____________________________________________________________

Do you like this person? Why or why not? ____________________________________________________________

Will readers like or dislike? __________________________________

Most important thing to know about this character: _____________________________________________________________

Present problem: ___________________________________________

How it will get worse: _____________________________________________________________

What is the character’s goal in the story? _____________________________________________________________

What traits will help/hurt the character in achieving this goal? _____________________________________________________________

What makes the character different from similar characters? _____________________________________________________________

Why will readers remember this character vividly? _____________________________________________________________

My Skeleton

Name:

Age:

Geographically located:

Personality:

Fears:

Wishes:

Appearance:

Marks:

Family:

Friends:

Power:

Biggest Memory:

Motivation:

Extra:

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Mine is much shorter, but I have some other things I do as well to get to know my characters. I do something a friend taught me entitled a “Character Conversation”. It’s simple really! It requires one or two sheets of paper. On the top I pose a question and then let my characters debate it out.

For example: How do you think “The Dream Prison” should have ended? Or What would you change in “The Dream Prison”?

The conversations that start get very interesting.

Now, organization is another key point because keeping it all up in ones head is impossible. So actually physically write out the skeletons and write out a conversation from time to time. Get to know your characters and break away from the stereotypical tropes.

More next week!

Natasha Rayne