[x]

Getting to Know Your CharacterGetting to know your character(The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)

As mentioned in the filled-out character sheet, the first best way to get to know your character is to write down everything you can about them in a character sheet.

This includes, but is not limited to, their personal history (whether it will appear in the story or not), the names of their family members, their physical looks, their personality, and so on and so forth.

The second best way is to write about them. Put them into all sorts of little-bit situations so you know how they’d react to something. For instance, my Character Milan is an in-training scientist. We know,

Show, Don't TellShow, Don't Tell
(And Other Do & Do-Nots)

(Okay, so there aren’t really any other Do or Do Nots because I’ve covered a lot of them already and there will be more to come in the other tutorials.)

I’m sure you’ve heard/read this before and now you’re reading it again: Show, don’t tell.

What this means, of course, is that when writing your story, you need to give detailed description on what is happening.

For instance, let’s say Milan has graduated and been given control of her very first team of archaeologists. They’ve been researching where to find a lost civilization that’s as famous as Atlan

Tips for Writing Writers 1

1. How to Make Great Characters
How do you create great characters? Well you have to make us sympathize with them; give us a reason to care when they are in danger. There are many ways of doing this, but here is just a few:

Help them stand out:
No they do not need to be a super hero or have the weirdest clothes, but it is good to have something that makes them...well...them! For an example you could have a cheerleader who practises kickboxing, a guy bad tough cop with poor people skills who has a kitten, or maybe the girl who is forced to be perfect by her parents has a secret comic book collection under her floorboards.

Habits are anothe

Personalities and AppearancesPersonalities and Their Outer Appearances
Or
NEW WAYS TO TALK ABOUT CHILDREN
by Kathie Spitzley
“Bobby is so hyper. He is all over the place. It’s no wonder I can’t teach him anything!”
How many times have you heard teachers or associates making negative comments about children or other adults? They seem to infer that by describing the child it should be obvious why the situation would seem unworkable. Sometimes a child’s qualities are only a problem because we chose to see them that way. In fact, what seems to be Bobby’s “problem” is often Bob

What if Your Character-

Answer these to better get to know your character. You can answer these in story format, or just say something like "he would do this _____." Story format would be better practice though.

Character Name:
Gender:
Age:
Appearance:

1. Your character sees someone close to them be murdered. Do they chase after the murderer? Stay with the victim? Or maybe run for help?

1.5. A murderer is going to kill someone close to your character and your character knows they are next, what does your character do? Try to stop the killer? Cry? Feel hopeless? Run?

2. Your character is faced with a situation where they have to kill someone who is

How to Write About VampiresHow to Write About Vampires

There are a lot of stories out there about Vampires. But not too many of them make their characters “touchable” or “human”. The characters are usually so out of touch with their humanity that the reader really cannot connect with the character. That happens to be one of the main sticking points.

How can I make my Vampire more human?
Well for the Vampire, don’t make them too into themselves. Vampires cannot see themselves in a mirror, so how can they be vain? Believe me, if you ever read any of the classic horror novels and do you see any vampire with the ability to see themselves in the

Character Creation - Tips

Note: I wrote this after reading a similar article in The Writer magazine about a year ago. Hope it's helpful!

Not all characters are created equal. Here are some steps to make yours superior.

1) Desire

Figure out what your character wants, needs, desires. A closer relationship with God? A place to belong? Just to survive? Figure it out. You can’t move on to number 2 until you have.

2) Fear

Now that you know what your character most desires, you should be able to figure out what he/she most fears. Doing the wrong thing, being alone, death? They are the polar opposites of your character’s desires.

3) History

Go back i

Tips for Writing Writers 2

Writing Guideline
Step One: Coming Up With a Plot line
Ever wanted to write a story but have not known where to start? Or have you had to write one for class and been completely lost of words? Well than here is a few tips that might help you.

1. Think of one thing. That thing could be a large final battle, a dragon, a clue to a murder, or even a lamp. Once you have that one thing, you have to think of reasons why that one thing is so important. Maybe that lamp is special and can transport you places when you turn it on, maybe that dragon is stealing treasure from all the nearby kingdoms, or maybe that clue is the murdered mans DNA, proving

Brainstorming - The Short Guid

Got nothing to write?  Stuck in the middle of a story?  Just getting your mind wrapped around a new idea?  Asking yourself, "Where do I go from here?"

Here is the two-step guide to story development.  It works every time, 100% guaranteed.

Step one:

Ask yourself this simple question: "What if?"

Staring at a blank page?  Ask "What if . . . ?"

Stuck in the middle of a story?  Ask "What if . . . ?"

Don't know how to end your story?  Ask "What if . . . ?"

Don't think your story is going in quite the right direction?  Ask "What if . . .?"

Step two:

Writing Tips: Characterisation

Characterisation: Avoiding the Dreaded Mary Sue

The characters you write are arguably the biggest part of your story. They’re the vessel through which the reader is able to identify with the themes and ideas that you’re trying to share. But creating brand new lives from thin air can sometimes be rather difficult. You have to find their voice, their needs, their personality; it’s a rather delicate balance, really.

Rather tempting, and often encouraged by teachers, is to do a “Character Profile” to help come up with some of the details. These are often pre-made sets of questions ranging from the mundane (eye colour, h

Character Motivation

Everyone's heard that characters should have goals, something they want and must strive for, overcoming obstacles and antagonists in order to obtain. Because, well, a story is the record of your character's journey toward achieving a goal.

While all of this is true, I think a lot of writers lose sight of an even more important aspect of character. That is, motivation. Sure, you know what your character wants.

Why?

That's the gist of motivation. What is the psychology and reasoning behind your character's goal? If your character is driven to make money, is his motivation greed? To pay off a debt? To support his family?

Motivation is your c

Browse More Like This

Download File
HTML, 4.0 KB more ▶

More from ~WritersArchives

Writing The StoryWriting The Story
(How Does That Go Again?)

Detail is always an important factor when writing your story. For instance, if we have Milan digging out an ancient vehicle, we’re not going to simply say: Milan was digging up an ancient vehicle.

Readers like to know what things look like. The more detailed the description, the better the mental image. However, you don’t want to make it so long it’s boring. You want the detail to be short, but effective. This means you need to use as few words as possible to give an exact description of what people are looking out. Sometimes, this requires a bit of research.

There’s that wo

ResearchResearch
(The Fundamentals)

As has been mentioned in a couple previous tutorials, researching what you're writing about is extremely important. Vital, even.

If you're going to be writing a science fiction book with time travel and/or space travel, I'd read some books on relativity, as well as take some physics classes. Study what research has gone in to time travel as well and what they've discovered. Don't just write it off the top of your head. A lot of readers with scientific backgrounds prefer realism when it comes to seeing stuff about time travel in novels. Stuff that has been proven or theorized about.

Also, the hyperdrive for spac

Coming Up With the StoryComing Up With the Story
(The Idea)

Once again, this step is combining all of the knowledge we have gathered about our character so far. Some of you may already have a story idea, even. Perhaps you created your character based upon the story idea you came up with.

Either way, if you want to be a writer, it's obvious you need a story.

The majority of authors outline their stories so that they can remember vital details. It also helps them from straying from the main track of the story and can serve as motivation or a muse to help you in times of writer's block. Oftentimes, if you don't know what to write next, it helps to look at your outl

Choosing Your GenreChoosing Your Genre
(It's More Than Just Fantasy)

The first most important thing about choosing what genre you want to write in is deciding which genre you like the most. As we all know, the two main categories of genres are: Fiction and Non-Fiction. Inside those two are multiple choices of sub-genres which you can write in; autobiography, biography, fantasy fiction, science fiction, historical fiction, romance, mystery, thriller, comedy, horror, adventure, etc.

After you have chosen which genre you are going to write in (which you most-likely already have), the next important step is to research it.

Yes, you need to research it.

I'll sa

View Gallery

Featured in Groups:

Not currently featured in any groups.

Details

Submitted: October 7, 2008
File Size: 4.0 KB

Link

Thumb

Statistics

Comments: 13
Favourites: 121 [who?]
Views: 3,611 (1 today)
Downloads: 67 (0 today)

[x]

Character Flaws

by ~WritersArchives, Oct 7, 2008, 2:13:52 PM
Resources & Stock Images / Tutorials / Writing

Character Flaws
(How Perfect is Too Perfect?)

Character flaws are an integral part of making your character likeable to your readers. Believe me when I say, the more perfect your character is, the more your readers are going to be turned off by him or her and the more likely they will be to drop the book and never read it or another one by you again.

The reason is they won't be able to identify with the character. No one in this world is perfect. If you make a perfect character, your readers are going to feel inferior to that character and hate him/her. They're not going to like the fact that s/he is always right, always wins, always knows everything, always says the right thing, etc., etc.

You need your character to get in arguments, to be wrong in arguments and to, ultimately, admit that they were wrong and to apologize, thus having a growing experience.

This doesn't mean they have to be wrong in every single argument. But have a big argument, possibly a moral one, and have your main character be completely wrong. Then, have something happen that proves the truth to your character so that they go back and admit that they were wrong.

Also, if you're doing a series with this character, that's all the better. Not simply because people will excitedly buy the next books, but also because it gives your character more opportunities to grow. The more flaws you give them, the more chances you have throughout the series, to bring the character to his/her final maturity.

Don't have an idea of what you can use as character flaws (also called weaknesses in the Character Sheet)? Here is a list to get you started:

CHARACTER FLAWS
1. Pessismistic (the belief that the worst thing is going to happen in every situation)
2. Cynical (distrusting the motives of everyone and everything)
3. Sarcastic (always mocking the comments people make)
4. Feeling Pride (the opinion that oneself is better than someone/everyone else)
5. Showing Pride (the act of verbally/physically expressing one's pride/arrogance)
6. Blind Stubborness (unreasonably inflexible, not giving in when it is obvious to everyone else a better alternative can be reached later)
7. Selfish (hoarding things to oneself)
8. Dishonest (tending to lie a lot about everything)
9. Need to Be Right 24/7
10. Playing the Victim
11. Control Freak (needing to always be in control of everything)
12. Greed (wanting everything and then some for yourself)
13. Laziness
14. Traitor
15. Cowardice
16. Fear of Something (heights, spiders, death, etc.) to the point where it can get others hurt or even killed
17. Ignorance/Stupidity
18. Concern only for oneself
19. Indecisive (inability to make decisions)
20. Slow-thinking (inability to come up with/respond to something immediately)
21. Disability in one form or another (mental/physical i.e. needing to wear glasses)
22. Inability to Adapt to situations
23. Folds under pressure
24. Angry (quick to anger/angry all the time)
25. Cold hearted
26. Refusal to let go of things, even when there have been apologies (i.e. let go of past quarrels/wrongs made against him/her, etc.)
27. Desire for the Unrealistic (i.e. wanting something they can never have/fantasizing about having something they never can like the way 'things used to be' in some odd time or another or a certain person, etc.)
28. Inability to move on (dwelling on things)

There are more character flaws than these, of course. These are just to get you started.

A character should always have at least two flaws. Especially a main character. This way, your reader can watch them grow and grow with them.

Character Flawsby ~WritersArchives

Resources & Stock Images / Tutorials / Writing

...

~PetLoverSpy Jan 30, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

... My character has half the stuff on that list x'DDD I tend to create very flawed characters, but still, this list is useful!

!Lauren-Eliz Jun 28, 2010

Thank you! Will use.

~Aracely Mar 26, 2010

Sweet! I can use this for my story.

Thanks for posting this!

~admiral-squee Dec 13, 2009

Flaws are fun! I should show this to one of my friends...

~nickynamo Oct 6, 2009 Hobbyist General Artist

Oh god. I've been saved from the evil Mary Sue!

I've been having real issues with finding flaws for my currently "perfect" character. But now, it's time to make her more human.

Thanks a million!

~Ciel-Hedgehog Sep 12, 2009

Not only is this a good point, but there are a lot of examples I never even thought of! Great job! ^^

~Miyo-sama Mar 7, 2009

Twilight is bad at flaws, This is helpful Thank You!

~WritersArchives Apr 24, 2009

You're welcome.

~SimpleBend Apr 17, 2009 Hobbyist

LOL. Good observation.

~Ankh-of-chiaroscuro Jan 1, 2009

Okay, I would REALLY like to thank you for this tutorial. When people talk about realistic or perfect characters, physical appearance has always come up. At least until now. (For the love of God, ugliness is NOT a character flaw!)
Thanks for focusing on what REALLY matters in making a character.

More from ~WritersArchives

Featured in Groups:

Details

Statistics

Character Flaws

Character Flawsby ~WritersArchives

The Journal Portal

Polls

What is your preferred drawing software?

deviantART [dee·vee·un'nt·ART]

Keep in Touch!

Deviousness

Add Media

Style