Right. I’m back and determined to FINALLY get my first draft finished. It’s 2020 cOME ON STELLA ITS BEEN 7 YEARS

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Right. I’m back and determined to FINALLY get my first draft finished. It’s 2020 cOME ON STELLA ITS BEEN 7 YEARS
Your Character’s Personality
Personality is the most important thing about your character.
So, whenever I see character sheets, most people just put a little paragraph for that section. If you’re struggling and don’t know what your character should say or do, what decisions they should make, I guarantee you that this is the problem.
You know your character’s name, age, race, sexuality, height, weight, eye color, hair color, their parents’ and siblings’ names. But these are not the things that truly matter about them.
Traits:
pick traits that don’t necessarily go together. For example, someone who is controlling, aggressive and vain can also be generous, sensitive and soft-spoken. Characters need to have at least one flaw that really impacts how they interact with others. Positive traits can work as flaws, too. It is advised that you pick at least ten traits
people are complex, full of contradictions, and please forgive me if this makes anyone uncomfortable, but even bullies can be “nice” people. Anyone can be a “bad” person, even someone who is polite, kind, helpful or timid can also be narcissistic, annoying, inconsiderate and a liar. People are not just “evil” or “good”
Beliefs:
ideas or thoughts that your character has or thinks about the world, society, others or themselves, even without proof or evidence, or which may or may not be true. Beliefs can contradict their values, motives, self-image, etc. For example, the belief that they are an awesome and responsible person when their traits are lazy, irresponsible and shallow. Their self-image and any beliefs they have about themselves may or may not be similar/the same. They might have a poor self-image, but still believe they’re better than everybody else
Values:
what your character thinks is important. Usually influenced by beliefs, their self-image, their history, etc. Some values may contradict their beliefs, wants, traits, or even other values. For example, your character may value being respect, but one of their traits is disrespectful. It is advised you list at least two values, and know which one they value more. For example, your character values justice and family. Their sister tells them she just stole $200 from her teacher’s wallet. Do they tell on her, or do they let her keep the money: justice, or family? Either way, your character probably has some negative feelings, guilt, anger, etc., over betraying their other value
Motives:
what your character wants. It can be abstract or something tangible. For example, wanting to be adored or wanting that job to pay for their father’s medication. Motives can contradict their beliefs, traits, values, behavior, or even other motives. For example, your character may want to be a good person, but their traits are selfish, manipulative, and narcissistic. Motives can be long term or short term. Everyone has wants, whether they realize it or not. You can write “they don’t know what they want,” but you should know. It is advised that you list at least one abstract want
Recurring Feelings:
feelings that they have throughout most of their life. If you put them down as a trait, it is likely they are also recurring feelings. For example, depressed, lonely, happy, etc.
Self Image:
what the character thinks of themselves: their self-esteem. Some character are proud of themselves, others are ashamed of themselves, etc. They may think they are not good enough, or think they are the smartest person in the world. Their self-image can contradict their beliefs, traits, values, behavior, motives, etc. For example, if their self-image is poor, they can still be a cheerful or optimistic person. If they have a positive self-image, they can still be a depressed or negative person. How they picture themselves may or may not be true: maybe they think they’re a horrible person, when they are, in fact, very considerate, helpful, kind, generous, patient, etc. They still have flaws, but flaws don’t necessarily make you a terrible person
Behavior:
how the character’s traits, values, beliefs, self-image, etc., are outwardly displayed: how they act. For example, two characters may have the trait “angry” but they all probably express it differently. One character may be quiet and want to be left alone when they are angry, the other could become verbally aggressive. If your character is a liar, do they pause before lying, or do they suddenly speak very carefully when they normally don’t? Someone who is inconsiderate may have issues with boundaries or eat the last piece of pizza in the fridge when they knew it wasn’t theirs. Behavior is extremely important and it is advised you think long and hard about your character’s actions and what exactly it shows about them
Demeanor:
their general mood and disposition. Maybe they’re usually quiet, cheerful, moody, or irritable, etc.
Posture:
a secondary part of your character’s personality: not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Posture is how the character carries themselves. For example, perhaps they swing their arms and keep their shoulders back while they walk, which seems to be the posture of a confident person, so when they sit, their legs are probably open. Another character may slump and have their arms folded when they’re sitting, and when they’re walking, perhaps they drag their feet and look at the ground
Speech Pattern:
a secondary part of your character’s personality: not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Speech patterns can be words that your character uses frequently, if they speak clearly, what sort of grammar they use, if they have a wide vocabulary, a small vocabulary, if it’s sophisticated, crude, stammering, repeating themselves, etc. I personally don’t have a very wide vocabulary, if you could tell
Hobbies:
a secondary part of your character’s personality: not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Hobbies can include things like drawing, writing, playing an instrument, collecting rocks, collecting tea cups, etc.
Quirks:
a secondary part of your character’s personality, not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Quirks are behaviors that are unique to your character. For example, I personally always put my socks on inside out and check the ceiling for spiders a few times a day
Likes:
a secondary part of your character’s personality, not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Likes and dislikes are usually connected to the rest of their personality, but not necessarily. For example, if your character likes to do other people’s homework, maybe it’s because they want to be appreciated
Dislikes:
a secondary part of your character’s personality, not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Likes and dislikes can also contradict the rest of their personality. For example, maybe one of your character’s traits is dishonest, but they dislike liars
History:
your character’s past that has key events that influence and shape their beliefs, values, behavior, wants, self-image, etc. Events written down should imply or explain why they are the way they are. For example, if your character is distrustful, maybe they were lied to a lot by their parents when they were a child. Maybe they were in a relationship for twenty years and found out their partner was cheating on them the whole time. If their motive/want is to have positive attention, maybe their parents just didn’t praise them enough and focused too much on the negative
On Mental and Physical Disabilities or Illnesses
if your character experienced a trauma, it needs to have an affect on your character. Maybe they became more angry or impatient or critical of others. Maybe their beliefs on people changed to become “even bullies can be ‘nice’ people: anyone can be a ‘bad’ person”
people are not their illness or disability: it should not be their defining trait. I have health anxiety, but I’m still idealistic, lazy, considerate, impatient and occasionally spiteful; I still want to become an author; I still believe that people are generally good; I still value doing what make me feel comfortable; I still have a positive self-image; I’m still a person. You should fill out your character’s personality at least half-way before you even touch on the possibility of your character having a disability or illness
Generally everything about your character should connect, but hey, even twins that grew up in the same exact household have different personalities; they value different things, have different beliefs. Maybe one of them watched a movie that had a huge impact on them.
Not everything needs to be explained. Someone can be picky or fussy ever since they were little for no reason at all. Someone can be a negative person even if they grew up in a happy home.
I believe this is a thought out layout for making well-rounded OCs, antagonists and protagonists, whether they’re being created for a roleplay or for a book. This layout is also helpful for studying Canon Characters if you’re looking to accurately roleplay as them or write them in fanfiction or whatever.
I’m really excited to post this, so hopefully I didn’t miss anything important…
If you have any questions, feel free to send a message.
- Chick
How do you work on one of your WIPs without stressing about finishing all of your other WIPs?Staying focused is just impossible.
I was talking to someone today about writing, and I was surprised by how amazed they were by writers’ ability to create a story. They couldn’t understand how JKR was able to create the world of Harry Potter–how she came up a world so far removed from our reality.
It made me realize something; not everyone can come up with worlds on a whimsy. Not everyone can create characters that they grow so fond of that they’re like real people in their eyes. Not everyone has gone through the experience of a character derailing their story and swearing it wasn’t them typing those words in that document. Not everyone can just envision a story and then just write it.
I’ve been making stories since I was a small child–it’s something so ingrained in me that to imagine not being able to write (no matter how much I agonize over writing woes) is such a foreign concept to me. Writers, cherish your ability to create stories. Because not everyone can create stories. Because there isn’t anyone in the world who can write the stories you are writing. Because you don’t know when or where there might be a person in the world who needs to hear your story.
Novel Structure
your speed doesn’t matter, forward is forward
Does anyone have any like writing goal checklists or sheets that help with making progress?
I don’t have any checklists or anything but I use two different ways to achieve my writing goals.
The first is my kanban board, which you can just use post it notes in a notebook or folder. Three sections- to do, doing and done. (Yeah, I have four but that’s personal reasons.) Then stick your tasks on post it notes and move across as you get them done. I’ve seen people do ‘write chp1,’ ‘edit chp7,’ etc. This helps me remember what I next need to do, and what I am doing.
The other way is just writing a (small,) goals list and crossing it off as I do them.
I have a small notebook where I keep a lot of my notes (from my own observations, from betas, etc) and in the front, I write a projected timeline for when I want certain aspects of a project done by. I don’t specify “500 words a day” or “edit 5 pages today” or anything like that because I know it depends on the day!
It is okay to rest or slow down. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself to be constantly productive. You deserve to have a break
Does anyone have any like writing goal checklists or sheets that help with making progress?
I can’t believe it. It really feels strange. Two years ago, as a slight joke, I decided to create a comedy kind of musical that was never finished. After what seems like endless stress and headaches, I finally finished it last night. This picture means so much to me. My first properly finished piece of writing. I feel inspired and proud. And even tho it began as a sort of joke, it’s amazing to see it in my hands as a finished piece of work. Just proof that I can do it.💖x
does anyone else suddenly get hit with flashes of dialogue or scenery or characterization that would be perfect to use if you actually had a plot you could incorporate it into
“For The Plot,” I whisper, deleting a rad detail that no longer works as tears fall from my eyes
I did a stupid thing
if you wanna get your first draft done, you need to learn to let yourself type out some Absolute Bullshit idc if it only vaguely makes sense as long as it’s there you’ve got SOMEthing to build off of later
Not all character development is positive. Characters can, and in my opinion, should, develop both negative and positive traits throughout the course of their story. As the story goes, they shouldn’t be perfected, they’re people, not artpieces, and so there shouldn’t be a stage where they’ve improved/changed exclusively for the better, to the point where they have no negative traits at all.
NKATF - The Characters
(The main cast anyway)
Julianne ‘Jules’ James
Jimmothy ‘Jim’ James
Alice Rodgers
Randall Rodgers
Miles Rodgers
Corene Geving
Camila Ogdon-Wilkinson
Richard Merton
.
I’m really starting to fall in love with these characters
Little self-plug :))))))) pls follow @aliceyoursonisapotato