Hey, just thought I'd reach other because I'm actually finding it super hard to cut down on Sid's bio because there's a lot of important movement in it. Any tips?
Hey! Hopefully this will help out some other members. I was actually having the same issue last night and figured this would come up. I think it’s difficult to take something really detailed and dwindle it down but do not feel like it has to be perfect. You’re already in the group, you know? Ideally, we figure the members (and possibly future members) can link a full bio on their page if they’d like to for plotting or just to have on hand for anyone to read. We don’t want current member biographies to go to waste by any means.
First and foremost, these summaries are just a little gallery to showcase the characters we have in this group. They’re a lot less overwhelming to look at than large blocks of text. When it comes to plotting, reading a quick Sparknotes version of a character takes more of a sudden interest. We feel that in terms of plotting and interaction, it’s going to make things a lot quicker and smoother. From there, you can then link your larger biography for even more insight. The only reasoning for these resubmissions is for the main page to be concise and not confusing. (ie. Old biography formats mixed in with new biography formats.)
But back to cutting down! We don’t have a very specific way we want anyone to be cutting these down. That’s why we just linked an example biography. That’s kind of the beauty of the summary too because it takes shape to your character a little bit. You’re just going to want to show the most important parts of your character, the “meat and potatoes” of your biography should do; the most impactful parts of their lives. What helped me was reading through my own bio and plucking the most important pieces of information and then stringing them together so they actually formed a sound paragraph. And if it needs to be two paragraphs then so be it!
We’re not expecting everyone to only submit one, clean-cut paragraph. We expect some give and take. We know some charas have gone through a lot more developing than others as well. If your character is more storyline based, focus on that. If your character is more personality based, focus on that. This is just a mere glimpse of your character. Like we said above, we don’t want to diminish the hard work that’s already gone into your first biographies so by all means, if someone wants to know more about your character after reading the short version, hand that biography link out like candy because it can only help you in the long run. For now, I wouldn’t stress too much about your summary and just try your best. What really matters is the interactions you’re having with other members and the writing!
- Erika
