16 Personality Factors The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (or 16PF),[1] is a multiple-choice personality questionnaire which was developed over several decades of research by Raymond B. Cattell, Maurice Tatsuoka and Herbert Eber. Beginning in the 1940s, Cattell used the new techniques of factor analysis (based on the correlation coefficient) in an attempt to try to discover and measure the source traits of human personality (Cattell, 1946)(Nevid, 2009).[2][3] The questionnaire measures the 16 primary traits, and the Big Five secondary traits,[4][5] which have become popularized by other authors in recent years. From early in his research, Cattell found that the structure of personality was multi-level and hierarchical, with a structure of interdependent primary and secondary level traits (Cattell, 1946, 1957).[2][6] The sixteen primary factors were a result of factor-analyzing hundreds of measures of everyday behaviors to find the fundamental traits behind them. Outline of Test[edit]
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.
Top Questions for Fictional Characters -- 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.
Character Chart If you're a fiction writer -- whether you're working on a novel, short story, screenplay, television series, play, web series, webserial, or blog-based fiction -- your characters should come alive for your reader or audience. The highly detailed chart below will help writers develop fictional characters who are believable, captivating, and unique. Print this page to complete the form for each main character you create. IMPORTANT: Note that all fields are optional and should be used simply as a guide; character charts should inspire you to think about your character in new ways, rather than constrain your writing. Fill in only as much info as you choose. Have fun getting to know your character! If this character chart is helpful, please let us know! Looking for more character questionnaires / charts?
Story Questionnaire – Development 1. Who is your main character? Hero? Anti-hero? 2. Why should we be interested in them? 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100.
Character Chart FAVORITES Color: Music: Food: Literature: Expressions: Book: Quote: Expletive(s) (swears): Mode of transportation: HABITS Smokes: What? How often? Drinks: What? How often? Worst bad habit? SELF-PERCEPTION One word character would use to describe self: One paragraph description of how character would describe self: What does character consider best physical characteristic? Immediate goal(s): Long range goal(s): How does character plan to accomplish goal(s)? How character react in a crisis (calm/panic/etc.)? Jewelry? Owns a computer? © (c ) copyright 1990-2011 Rebecca Sinclair ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Authors Note: I worked hard on this.
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:
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.
Barnes & Noble.com - Tom Perrotta - Books: Meet the Writers My Ántonia by Willa Cather -- Cather is the most underrated stylist in American literature, and My Ántonia is her masterpiece -- simplicity itself. What are some of your favorite films, and what makes them unforgettable to you? I'm a big fan of the great American movies of the '60s and '70s -- The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, The Last Detail, Chinatown, Taxi Driver, et al. -- the realistic, dark-hued, character-driven movies that were pushed aside by the flashy, soulless blockbusters of the '80s. You can feel their influence in the work of great new filmmakers like Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways), Todd Field (In the Bedroom), and David O. What types of music do you like? What are your favorite kinds of books to give -- and get -- as gifts? Do you have any special writing rituals? Many writers are hardly "overnight success" stories. What tips or advice do you have for writers still looking to be discovered?
Creating Archetypal Characters by Glen C. Strathy* The process of creating archetypal characters who perform specific dramatic functions in your novel is the least understood aspect of characterization. It is important that each of your major characters plays fulfills an important dramatic function -- a function that is common and vital to most stories. Many writers don't understand the importance of dramatic functions, or the usefulness of archetypal characters. Of course, the downside is that you can grow very attached to your characters before your plot has gelled. Other writers start with a topic or issue they want to explore. If you use either of these methods, you may not choose a main character or Story Goal until fairly late in the development process. We think you can save yourself a lot of time by working out character functions early on. Here's how this approach works ... Archetypal Characters and the Dramatic Functions They Perform An orphaned boy. A powerless uncle. An old but powerful wizard/warrior.
Plotting Made Easy - The Complications Worksheet Want to create a book readers can't put down? A book you'll itch to write? A protagonist you'll love? Like many writers struggling with the question of how to create a good book, I've spun my mental wheels researching and experimenting with different methods of plotting: outlining versus free writing versus turning points versus notecards versus snowflake method etc. It works equally well in developing a first draft and in checking that the draft you've written has enough story behind it to hold together. Try the Complications Worksheet as a thinking tool. ACT ONE – Separation (Adult, Long YA: 30 to 35K Words/YA: 20K Words/MG: 6.5K to 13K) 1. What is the opening image that will stick in the reader’s mind? ACT TWO - Descent (Adult, Long YA: 25 to 30K Words/YA: Words 16K Words/MG: 5.5K to 11K) 1. Who are the following characters:Additional Allies? (Adult, Long YA: 20 to 25K Words/YA: Words 14K Words/MG: 4.5K to 9K) 1. What does the protag do to prepare herself? 1. Martina About the Author
Dialogue Dos and Don’ts By Erin In the post Show, Don’t Tell, I mentioned dialogue as one of the ways you can “show” your reader what’s happening in a scene. Effective dialogue is an essential part of both fiction and creative nonfiction writing. Good dialogue can be tricky. It needs to move the story forward and reveal important character information without seeming artificial. It needs to seem realistic without actually being realistic. Confused? It should follow some simple grammatical rules. And here are a few dialogue don’ts: Don’t get too crazy with dialogue tags. To give you an example of what dialogue should look like here’s the opening of a short story I wrote, titled Me: “What do we do now?” The words exchanged between Kristy and Heather let us know something about their respective moods and character traits. So how can you improve your dialogue? Read. You’ll be writing dialogue like a pro before you know it! Subscribe to Receive our Articles and Exercises via Email 14 Responses to “Dialogue Dos and Don’ts”
First Person Point of View — The Writer’s Craft When you tell a story through a viewpoint character using I or we, you are using first person point of view. Example: The banging on my door reverberated within my skull like a giant church bell in an empty hall. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, pulling the pillow over my head. Every detail of your story must be filtered through the storyteller. First person point of view is the most reader friendly. This can be a comfortable point of view as it allows the writer to get right into the character’s head; however, beginners often find first person challenging because you really need to understand your character and his role. The most common problem when using first person POV is that it is difficult to resist the urge to tell the reader everything rather than show it. Even if you choose another point of view in the end, I always find it helpful to write a couple of scenes in first person as an exercise to really get into my main character’s head. Considerations: • Short stories
How to Use Archetypes in Literature When Creating Characters As writers we are often concerned with creating characters: characters that seem realistic, characters that are likeable or that readers can at least relate to and understand their motivations. But creating characters isn’t easy. There’s a lot to consider: how they talk, how they look, how they act. A tool that can help you as you think about all of these aspects is the character archetype. What are character archetypes? Character archetypes are basically character profiles that outline the motivations and behaviors of different types of characters. Different kinds of archetypes Archetypal characters can be based on different things from personality profiles to archetypes in literature that exemplify different types of heroic journeys or character arcs. There are some great resources available to help you use archetypes to create characters for story. You might also like: No Related Posts