Hi! This is the actual character sheet that I use for my main characters! (My side characters usually get a much shorter one.) I will normally do this character sheet, write a lot of drabbles (or the entire first draft of the book *cough LnD cough*) and then re-do the character sheet once I get a better feel for who the character is. Characters tend to develop themselves as you write them, and it’s nice to keep this kind of information handy (and accurate to the current iteration!) while writing.
These questions are kind of an amalgamation of questionnaires I’ve found online and questions I felt needed answering for my own characters. Feel free to copy/paste this into your doc or reblog and fill it out! (Under a readmore tag please, it’s a very long questionnaire lol)
THE BASICS:
Name:
Meaning behind the name (if any):
Age:
Gender identity:
Sexuality:
Role in story:
Hair color/texture:
Skin color/texture:
Eye color:
Scars:
Other notable features:
“Default” outfit:
EXTERNAL/OUTWARD PRESENCE:
How do they move and carry themselves? Pace, rhythm, gestures, energy?
How much physical space do they use, active and at rest?
How do they position themselves in a group? Do they like to be the center of attention, or do they hang back at the edges of a crowd?
How does their size or build influence how they use their body, if it does?
What are they like in motion -– in different environments, and in different activities? What causes the differences between these?
How do they physically engage with other people, inanimate objects, and their environment? What causes the differences between these?
Where and when do they seem most and least at ease? Why? How can you tell?
How are they vocally expressive? What kind of voice, accent, tones, inflections, volume, phrases and slang, and manner of speaking do they use?
How are they bodily expressive? How do they use nonverbal cues such as their posture, stance, eyes, eyebrows, mouths, and hands?
INTERNAL:
What is their greatest fear?
What are some misbeliefs about the world?
What is the best thing about their life?
What is the worst thing about their life?
What do they most often look down on people for?
What makes their heart feel alive?
What makes them feel loved, and who was the last person to make them feel that way?
How do they manage their energy, exhaustion, tension, or other strong emotions?
What energizes and drains them most?
What kind of inner life do they have — rich and imaginative? Calculating and practical? Full of doubts and fears? Does it find any sort of outlet in their lives?
Do they dream? What are those dreams like?
Are they more shaped by nature or nurture — who they are, or what has happened to them? How have these shaped who they’ve become as a person?
(Potentially ignoring the plot if it wouldn’t normally play into their life,) what kind of person could they become in the future? What are some developmental paths that they could take, (best, worst, most likely?) what would cause them to come to pass, and what consequences might they have? What paths would you especially like to see, and why?
Does their perception of who they are align with how other people see them? Why or why not?
Top three things they value most in life?
FUN:
What’s their favorite book, movie, and band? (Modernize them if it’s a fantasy setting)
Favorite color?
Least favorite color?
Favorite food/cuisine?
What associations do they bring to mind? Words or phrases, images, metaphors or motifs? Why?
Is there an object they can’t bear to part with and why?
Describe three typical outfits for them, top to bottom.
What names or nicknames have they been called throughout their life?
TWO FOR MIRTH - WEEKLY UPDATE
Current status: Outlining/Draft 0
Happy Friday, friends! This week I’ve been continuing my work on outlining and drafting TFM. Here’s my breakdown of the week:
Friday, March 11:
+500 Words to Draft 0
Yep, even though I’m in the outlining phase, I’m adding to my manu draft. I tend to outline in chunks, and then write out what I’ve outlined, and then go back and outline some more. Why? I don’t know! But 500 words is a great start, and my draft 0 manu is now at 1800 words into my draft. This may not seem like much, but I HATE writing the first couple chapters, so unfortunately we will be inching along through this first writing phase.
Saturday, March 12:
+588 words to Draft 0
Today was one of those days where the only reason I got out of bed was because my partner was cooking breakfast. Still, I’m pretty proud of myself for this!
Sunday, March 13:
+1,218 words to Draft 0
Today I am finally writing my first scene where Elaine does magic! I’m really enjoying writing Aphra as a character, she’s like a more serious version of Terry Pratchett’s witches and it just makes me smile to have her tutting and grumbling about all the time.
Also, this is random, but I remembered today that I wanted to include a scene where Elaine and Sauda are at a cemetery together (maybe on a date idk) and Elaine asks Sauda if ghosts are real or not. Sauda has no idea, but explains that it’s difficult for her to believe they don’t exist because of the phenomenon where humans in this world, even after thousands of years, continue to build cemeteries in the same places, as if they can sense it’s a place of death. I just really liked that idea. Have I written it yet? No. Will I? God I hope so.
Monday/Tuesday, March 14 + 15:
+0 words to Draft 0
Monday/Tuesday are my “weekend” days, so I spent them catching up on chores, getting my car repaired, and doing a lot of cooking!
Wednesday, March 16:
+583 words to Draft 0
I almost didn’t want to get back to writing this week, but then I came across @ashen-crest talking about how she received some motivation after receiving a nice compliment from her copyeditor, and it inspired me to get back into it! So thanks for that!
I’ve also been reading The Priory of the Orange Tree this week, and I can feel the writing style seeping into mine, which I am Very Happy about. I’m really, really enjoying this book.
Thursday, March 17:
+781 words to Draft 0
I’ve been working on a scene this week where Elaine does her first proper necromancy lesson with Aphra, this is still in chapter one. The scene wasn’t in my outline, but the prose kind of naturally flowed towards this scene, and I thought it would at least be a fun thing to write so that I could figure out the specifics of this magic system, even if I ultimately cut the scene later.
Today I’m finishing up that scene, and I’m realizing that it is VITAL to setting up a few clues for later in the book. We learn how completely exhausting this type of magic is for a new mage, we see the relationship dynamic between Aphra and Elaine, and we learn a few interesting details about how magic in this world works. It’s honestly kind of the perfect opening to the book. I accidentally did it right!
TOTAL: +3670 words to Draft 0
Y’all. That is probably the most words I’ve written all year. The combination of my word find challenge and my adding to this post everyday helped SO MUCH!
My goal next week is to... Hit 6k? Double this week? I used to write 10k or more a week so we’ll see how I do I guess. Now that I’m getting into the meat of the story I think it’ll be easier.
TFM taglist below the cut!
taglist: @writing-is-a-martial-art @bentypes @viskafrer @ashen-crest @ellierenae @drippingmoon send an ask/reply to be added <:
Finally started writing Two for Mirth tonight, randomly. This is the very opening of the book, possibly a prologue. Enjoy! Taglist under the cut at the bottom, ask to be added/removed!
There exists in this beautiful world many, many types of love. There is the love of two young children, hands clasped, running along the dirt path that wanders delicately away from their houses and towards a small copse of trees, where they will whisper secret spells to each other, dirt smudging their faces and fistfuls of dewy grass in a pile before them.
There is the love of a young woman, clear-faced and wild-eyed, looking into the eyes of another, feeling her heart catch in her throat for not the first time in her life as shaky hands grasp at layers of rusty linen clinging to skin she’s still learning how to touch.
There is the love of a mother, of course, her eyes just beginning to settle into tired bones and her fingers just starting to ache as she scrubs dirt and grass and dew from little blouses and little dresses.
Everything is magic, her heart muses in her chest. Even the simple act of scrubbing clean your child’s clothes fills them with a protection energy that no witch can replicate. She whispers these words to her husband as they lay awake at night, holding each other. And that love, too, is yet another kind. The love between two people who fit together like puzzle pieces. Even when the frantic young lust has softened, they simply can’t help but stay up at night, tired as they may be in the morning, looking at each other in wonder. Wonder that they found each other, wonder that they had been born into the same world at the same time. But then, that in and of itself was magic, too.
Two for Mirth taglist (send an ask to be added/removed): @writing-is-a-martial-art @bentypes @viskafrer
I consider this my happy place, where I can be alone with my thoughts without them being oppressing. The view on the lake is one of the most relaxing thing I can imagine. Sitting on the bench, with a bunch of flowers near me and an half finished flower crown in my hands, the wind blowing softly through the branches, the grass gently dancing in the breeze, that's what I call Happiness.
I usually bring sheets of paper or my notebook, to catch every little fragment of poetry in the wind, but sometimes I just like to lay down in the grass and breathe. Think about the good things in my life, every accomplishment I have reached in my relatively short life (21 years can be a short time to be alive but sometimes each year weight like 5).
I don't consider myself a sad person, not at all, indeed I am a very active person, always talking and chattering away on every topic. But sometimes I just need to be left alone and remain silent, my self-consciousness taking a toll on me and making me became wordless.
I mostly use this blog as a diary, one where I can write everything I am thinking, without the risk of someone reading it and asking me about it.
So, to each person who reads my blog, you have became my silent confident and far away friend.
