Writingtowne discussion

Do you want help or advice on absolutely anything? I love giving advice to people, no matter what your problem is!

Pie wrote: "Do you want help or advice on absolutely anything? I love giving advice to people, no matter what your problem is!"

I am working on my first novel and one of the most intimidating aspects of the process is creating the characters.

I've written what I think is a pretty detailed profile of each character (there's only 3 basically) but I'm not sure if it is enough since I've primarily been writing essays up until now.

Do you have any suggestions for characterization?

First off, congrats on starting your first novel! I'm there with you.
For characterization, you can find some great templates online. Here's one: http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/j...
When I create my characters, the first thing I do is make sure I know their heart's desire. This drives the story even if they are side characters. You might already know that, but it's good to keep it in your memory :)
Another thing I like to do is figure out their personality type. Take a personality type test from the site "16 personalities" from each character's perspective.
Hope this helped. Let me know!

Personally, I come up with an idea about the character. This idea can be anything. It can be a name, a line, something that happens to them, anything. Then I just write. It's not a perfect system, since it can cause some problems with characterization if you're not careful. But, that's what revisions and drafts are for.

Thanks for the replies! I didn't think about the personality tests, but I'll definitely try that out.

Also, I don't really know if this is what goes on here (I'm new to the site and to this page) but if I post an analysis of one of my characters could you give me some feedback? I would really appreciate it.

You can always post it here :) and I would be willing to take a look! One thing to be very careful of is to make sure each character has somewhat unique personalities that are not too similar to each other .

Alright so I wanted to just post the word document but it looks like it's not going to go?

Here is a copy pasted version
Chloe Thompson: Chloe is our protagonist. She is 17 when she leaves earth to live in space with her father and lives there until she is 23. Chloe has had a very difficult life; her older brother died when she was just 6 years’ old, she was bullied in school due to her intense passion for technology, she hardly saw her father due to his intense workload, never saw her mother, and, shortly after finding the love of her life, she is taken away from him due to the war. Chloe will only be content when she returns to earth to reunite with Joseph, everything else is secondary to her. Chloe will develop a terminal illness which would leave her 2 years to live. She spends one year repurposing her space craft in order to return to Joseph. As she gets back to earth she is video chatting Joseph and the landing gear fails. Joseph watches as she plummets to the earth and is killed.

I think this falls in line with Eli's suggestion but I'm curious to see what people think about my process so far

Well, it looks like an intense novel (that I would like to read) ! Anything about the character's personality traits (ex: brave, loyal, determined,) or appearance (ex:hair, skin, eyes,) might be important as well. Especially her personality, which would strongly influence her different actions .

Alright, so would this be considered a profile or just a series of events that happen to the character?

It sounds like instead of focusing on what happens to them and how they react, you're suggesting that I move away from the story and focus specifically on the psychology of the character that leads them to act. Is that it or are you trying to point out something else?

There aren't any strict guidelines for a character profile, but that is generally what I am saying .
However , this is not my story and it is yours , and however I might do mine is probably not exactly the same way you write and plan yours. If this is what helps you, totally go for it ! It has potential for a good novel .
Chloe also sounds like an interesting character, as does her lover. Will Chloe be the only main protagonist , or will she be accompanied by any teammates ? Is she an introvert or an extrovert?
I wish you luck with your novel :)

Does anyone else need advice about life in general? Not that I want you to have problems, but I love solving them :)

I think I'm good. All is well with me for the moment. I'll be starting school is less than two weeks and I'm so excited! All of my friends are dreading it but I can't wait to meet my teachers and see all my friends again :)

Laura wrote: "I think I'm good. All is well with me for the moment. I'll be starting school is less than two weeks and I'm so excited! All of my friends are dreading it but I can't wait to meet my teachers and s..."

Haha yes I think I am a mix of both attitudes towards school.