Creating a character profile When you get an idea for a short story or a novel you probably get the basic idea of the characters with it. But in order to build believable characters you need more than just a basic idea of them. You need to really them. NAME: Put your characters full name - first, last, and any nicknames that he goes by. BIOGRAPHY: Write a description of your character's life; past and present. AGE: If you don't know the exact age of your character then you can put it's approximation, such as late thirties, mid-twenties etc. HEIGHT: How tall is your character? WEIGHT: You probably won't know your character's exact weight, but I'm sure you can guess its approximate one. BODY TYPE: Is he wiry and agile, or does he work out and his body is the proof? FACE TYPE: Is your character baby faced, or does he have a sharp, chiseled bone structure? COMPLEXION: Is she ivory white or does she have more of a cream and coffee color? EYES: Be specific about the color. HAIR: Put not only the color, but also the style.
Questionnaires for Writing Character Profiles - Creative Writing Help - StumbleUpon Enter your e-mail to get the e-book for FREE. We'll also keep you informed about interesting website news. "I have searched the web and used different worksheets, but none have come close to your worksheets and descriptions of (what to do and what not to do). Both courses I have taken have with Creative Writing Now have been amazing. Each time I have learned something new. The one thing I love, you take everything apart and give examples." - Katlen Skye "As usual - I already love the course on Irresistible Fiction, rewriting a lot and improving greatly even after the first lesson. “Essentials of Fiction proved that I could indeed write and I wrote every day, much to my boyfriend's dismay (waa sniff).” - Jill Gardner "I am loving the course and the peer interaction on the blog is fantastic!!!" "I'm enjoying the weekly email course, Essentials of Poetry Writing. "Thank you for all the material in this course. "Thanks very much for this course. "I'm learning so much. "Thank you so much!!
Writing The Perfect Scene Having trouble making the scenes in your novel work their magic? In this article, I’ll show you how to write the “perfect” scene. Maybe you think it’s impossible to write the perfect scene. After all, who can choose every word perfectly, every thought, every sentence, every paragraph? Honestly, I don’t know. But structure is pretty well understood. The Two Levels of Scene Structure A scene has two levels of structure, and only two. The large-scale structure of the sceneThe small-scale structure of the scene This may seem obvious, but by the end of this article, I hope to convince you that it’s terribly profound. Before we begin, we need to understand how we keep score. Your reader is reading your fiction because you provide him or her with a powerful emotional experience. If you fail to create these emotions in your reader, then you have failed. Large-Scale Structure of a Scene The large-scale structure of a scene is extremely simple. A Scene has the following three-part pattern:
Creating an Original Character By Maisha Foster-O'Neal You've heard the old maxim before... 'a character can make or break your story.' Okay, okay, so you want to write an interesting character. Ah yes, such is the desire of all writers. Enough already! Before we dive into Creating Original Characters, I'd like to offer a disclaimer. Disclaimer: I don't claim to know everything about writing. Note: There is already an excellent tutorial about writing the Villain, so I won't make specific references to writing an antagonist. The Basics of Characters The first thing about characters - They are just one facet of a good story. Character Creation: Little Exercises Open up a phonebook and pick out a name, and write a description of that person based only on their name. Types of personality flaws These are just a few of my favourites to give you an idea of what you can add to a character. Sarcastic or cynical. A note on Romance A note on Character Death '...and they lived happily ever after.' Clichés: What NOT to do Patricia C.
Omniscient Person Point of View — The Writer’s Craft Basically, omniscient point of view means that the story is told from an all-seeing God-like, omnipotent viewpoint. You would use third person pronouns in the writing, but you can choose to dip into the head of any of the characters and reveal things that have occurred in the past or will happen in the future. This was once a very popular method of storytelling. The trouble is that each character must have a distinctive voice so that the reader is never at a loss as to whose head he is in at the moment. Limited Omniscient Viewpoint As I mentioned, true omniscient viewpoint is very rare, but limited omniscient is often useful for modern writers. Limited omniscient basically means that while you have a God-like perspective of the story, you limit yourself to being in one character’s head at a time. Also, with limited omniscient viewpoint, the head hopping is made easier on the reader by anchoring us firmly in one head;then show the transfer of POV by physical contact. Considerations
Character Trait Chart Character Trait Chart and Personality Components It can sometimes be helpful to make a Trait Chart for each character. This is especially helpful during the early stages of character development, before the character becomes as real to you as your mother. There are several charts of this sort available, some extremely detailed and some containing only facts and figures. I've tried to make one that includes the most important traits to help you visualize your character, both physically and emotionally. To use this chart, print it out and make a copy for each of your characters. Full name - a character's name is very important. Besides the character's official name, we also need to know what he is called (and, perhaps, what he prefers to be called). Date of Birth/Age - we should carefully consider assigning our character a birthday. Height - this doesn't need to be specific. Hair - keep in mind the character's ethnic background in assigning hair and eye color. Smell - everyone has a smell.
How to Write a Character Sketch: Learning More About Your Characters’ Motivations and Personalities Regardless of the type of writing you are doing, knowing who your characters are and knowing them well will add greatly to your work. Understanding your characters’ personalities through a character sketch helps you to understand where they are coming from and what motivates them. This, in turn, helps you understand what drives all of the action in your work, and the clearer this is, the easier your audiences will be able to connect with your writing. But how do you go about writing a character sketch? Interview Your Characters Perhaps the most straightforward way of getting to know who your characters are and what drives them is by asking them outright in an interview. It may seem like a very obvious or banal exercise, but even minor details will help you understand who your character is. Write a Character Monologue Another fantastic and highly effective way of getting to know your character is by writing a monologue as your character. Write a Day-in-the-Life Character Sketch
How to Create Good Personalities for Your Characters Edit Article Sample Character DescriptionsCreating Personalities for Your Own Characters Edited by Secretive, Julia Maureen, Flickety, Ben Rubenstein and 19 others You're on a plane to a distant country to visit some weird old relatives you are somehow related to. Ad Steps Sample Character Descriptions Creating Personalities for Your Own Characters 1Start with a simple profile including these categories: Name, Age, Gender, and Occupation. 6Continue developing characters until your story is finished. Tips Keep the characters true to themselves. Warnings Don't copy off other characters in different, already well known books, such as Harry Potter.