Questions to Help in Creating Characters

Creating the more complex round characters takes time -- time spent thinking about how your characters look, where they're from, and what motivates them, for instance. The questions below provide structure to this all-important thought process. While the reader will not need to know all the details, it's important that you do. The better you know your characters, the more realistic your story or novel will end up being. 1. Michael Adams ("Anniversaries in the Blood"), the novelist and writing professor, believes that setting is the most important element of any story. 2. In a similar vein, where did your character's life begin? 3. Though this might seem like an obvious question, it's important to make a clear decision about this before you begin writing -- otherwise, it's impossible to get the details right. 4. Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? 5. 6. As with real people, many things about your character's personality will be determined by his background. 7. 8. 9. 10.

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. The easiest way to flesh out a character is with a character profile, so get out a blank sheet of paper and follow the sample profile below. NAME: Put your characters full name - first, last, and any nicknames that he goes by. Make sure the name creates the right mental image of your character; a Bill causes a completely different image than a Byron. 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. EYES: Be specific about the color. TALENTS: Is she an expert artist?

Ancient Chinese Military China had a great need for a powerful military. Not only were armies needed to control the vast territories of China and to defeat internal rivals, but ancient China was also surrounded by potential enemies. Different Ethnic groups within ancient China such as the Qiang and Di vied for power. The settled nations around China resented the subordination, or outright annexation, that the Chinese attempted to thrust on them causing wars with groups like the Vietnamese and the Koreans. However it was the nomadic tribes to the West and North of China that caused the most problems. A seemingly endless stream of tribal confederations and ethnic tribal groups invaded china from the heart of Asia since the founding of the civilization. Early Chinese Armies & Xia Dynasty Warfare Earliest Chinese armies consisted of conscripted peasants armed with simple bows, spears and stone maces. The infantry fought in massed formations under the banner of their noble or the Shang king himself.

Creating an Original Character By Maisha Foster-O'Neal You've heard the old maxim before... 'a character can make or break your story.' 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 It's okay to not have any romance in your story, but if it's expected it can be sort of a letdown if nothing ever happens between any of the characters. Cheers.

History of China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Yellow River valley, which along with the Yangtze basin constitutes the geographic core of the Chinese cultural sphere. China maintains a rich diversity of ethnic and linguistic people groups. China was first united under a single imperial state by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC. A period of unity began in 581 with the Sui dynasty, which soon gave way to the long-lived Tang dynasty (608–907), regarded as another Chinese golden age. The 1911 Xinhai Revolution, led by Sun Yat-sen and others, created the modern Republic of China. After the Communist victory, Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, with the Republic retreating to Taiwan. Prehistory Paleolithic (1.7 Ma – 12 ka) Casts of the teeth of Yuanmou Man

Han Dynasty — Cultural Heights The giant panda lived for centuries in China's bamboo forests, and were regarded as semi-divine during the Han dynasty. They are now an endangered species. After the fall of the Shang dynasty in 1111 B.C.E., the succeeding dynasties of the Chou (1111-221 B.C.E.) and the Ch'in (221-206 B.C.E.) continued the great advances made by the early Chinese. Building techniques improved, and the use of iron became common. A system of hydraulics was used to dig riverbeds deeper, reducing the number of floods that destroyed farmland and endangered lives. However, during these dynasties there were also times of great disunity. The ancient Chinese healing systems of acupuncture and acupressure use diagrams of points, called meridians, to direct energy flow throughout the body. Although the Ch'in created needed change in China's government, they were harsh leaders. The Rise of the Han The Han dynasty immediately restored feudal lords to their positions of power. Westward Ho! Another Brick in the Wall

Life inside the Forbidden City The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government. Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 square metres (7,800,000 square feet). Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The emperor(right) at work The common English name, "the Forbidden City," is a translation of the Chinese name Zijin Cheng (紫禁城; literally "Purple Forbidden City"). The name "Zijin Cheng" is a name with significance on many levels.

Myth and Legends: The 4 Dragons: A Chinese Tale Once upon a time, there were no rivers and lakes on earth, but only the Eastern Sea, in which lived four dragons: the Long Dragon, the Yellow Dragon, the Black Dragon and the Pearl Dragon. One day the four dragons flew from the sea into the sky. They soared and dived, playing at hide-and-seek in the clouds.