7) Character Creation: Quirks and Hobbies

Alright, so one thing that I hear talked about a lot, is character creation and making characters that seem well rounded and not flat.

One interesting thing I have learned to do through the various books I have read on the topic, as well as the pod casts and videos I have watched is to give all of my characters interesting quirks or hobbies.

By giving a character a hobby, coin collecting for instance, you add a new dimension to that character. They aren't just existing with only the current happenings of the story to define them, but have something they care about besides the problems in the plot that add more depth. One I have used is dirt collecting. In my fantasy novels, the first mate of the ship -who is a dwarf- collects a little vial of dirt whenever he travels to a new location.

Now to you and me, dirt may seem boring or pointless. But it makes that character seem a bit more real. Why do they collect the dirt? Who knows, he just likes to do it. But I can relate to collecting and so can plenty of others. In real life I like to collect the squished pennies from the penny crushers whenever I travel somewhere new. It gives me something to look back on and remember fun trips I have gone on. My dwarf happens to keep all of his dirt vials in his cabin, on a rack, so maybe he likes to sit down and think about past adventures. Plus, dwarfs and earth (maybe a bit too cliche), am I right?

Besides that, you can use their hobbies to introduce new plot complications, or solutions. Maybe the dirt collector really knows his stuff, so if there's an issue where soil must be identified he can help out and still be believable. Maybe his collection goes missing - bam! new task for the characters to do. Time to catch the dirt-napper.

Anyway, that's just a quick little thought I had on the topic. Wanted to share it with you all, nothing earth shattering or revolutionary, but useful.

If you liked anything in this post, and enjoy the blog, go comment, share, and spread the word about our little community! We'd love to hear from you, follow us on Twitter! (@MattTaylor1776 @derekdyer_WF)

No go forth, and forge your story!

Matt

6) Midweek Madness! NaNoWriMo ALERT! /*Writing Prompt*/

As some of you may know, November is the National Novel Writing Month, or, NaNoWriMo!

The website is here: http://nanowrimo.org/ (go check it out.) (seriously...) (do it.)

The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words or more before November ends. This year, we here at Wordsmith's Foundry, will be taking up the challenge! (I will definitely, I'm pretty sure Derek will be too... go comment on his stuff and tell him he best be doin' it. Wow I sound bossy today.)

The website is cool because it will show you writing groups in your region, give you a progress tracker, and when you finish you get a little pat on the back and a rah rah rah email (something cheery and encouraging, like a, YOU DID IT!)

I recommend that as November approaches, you start world building, or any outlining, now. By getting all of that out of the way, you will make the job of actually throwing 50k words onto paper a hell of a lot easier.

If you are interested, you can join us in this challenge. Visit the website for more details. If you like this post and this blog, comment below, and share. Let's nail NaNoWriMo, get your friends involved, your dog, your hamster, your mailman, everyone.

Now go forth beloved readers, and forge your story!

Matt

(Follow Derek and I on twitter! @MattTaylor1776 @derekdyer_WF)

/*Writing Prompt*/

Start world building for your NaNoWriMo project!

5) Character creation!: Creating memorable characters *Part 1/4* /*Writing Prompt*/

Ahhhh character creation. Quite possibly my personal favorite stage in writing. There are a lot of different characters out there, and possibly almost all of the major archetypes appearing in one novel. Unfortunately, as writers, we have no character creation sheet that you may find in D&D or Pathfinder. BUT! This is a good thing. It keeps us from filling in all the same basic data for all of our characters, (major and minor) and the end result is a cast of characters that are completely unique! So how exactly do we create memorable characters? In this article, we will explore the first of four main criteria commonly used to create characters.

When arriving at the character creation stage, you should have some idea (or possibly already some writing done for newly introduced characters) as to what your story goal is. Your story goal is important! It is what is going to drive your story from beginning to end. And guess what? It is also the main organizing element for character creation!

Your characters should meet the needs of your dramatic functions. Usually this is something that is vital to the plot of your story playing out. There are a couple of ways of doing this. You can start your novel by first creating a group of characters (or players for the theater savvy) and try to imagine them in particular situations or when confronted by problems. Then you just have to force them to interact. This method usually will end up creating your plot and as some would argue, would result in extremely original characters.The other main method of attack is to choose a topic or theme you may want to explore. For example, one may choose rebellion against a religious monarchy as a theme and choose characters with opposing viewpoints and opposing goals. Whichever way you choose to attack it, you may want to consider each characters function and resolve their motivations early on (in your head, not your story) to possibly save time in revisions later. Especially when writing a very dense and complicated story.

Dramatica Theory recognizes 16 basic character functions. To make your novel feel complete you should include a character who...

1.) Pursues the goal and ...
2.) one who avoids the goal.
3.) one who helps someone's efforts and ...
4.) one who hinders someones effors.
5.) one who tries to get someone to consider a course of action and ...
6.) one who tries to get someone to reconsider a course of action.
7.) one who seeks a course or explanation that feels emotionally fulfilling and ...
8.)one who seeks a course or explanation that is logically satisfying.
9.) one who exhibits self control and...
10.) one who appears uncontrolled
11.) one who makes an appeal to conscience and ...
12.) one who makes an appeal to temptation.
13.) one who supports any effort and ...
14.) one who opposes any effort.
15.) one who expresses faith or rather confidence in something being true despite lack of proof and ...
16.) one who expresses disbelief.

Make a consideration of these 16 basic character functions, and you may soon have your own special set of characters! And don't get too attached to them, killing them can be interesting.... muahaha! Now go forth and forge your story!

-Derek

/*Writing Prompt*/

Consider the first four of the basic character functions and create characters to fill those four roles. Write as many scenes as you wish to exercise these new characters!

Was this information helpful? Don't forget to like, comment and share! Let's open up the discussion in the comments section!

*Guest Article* 4) Outline writing versus dynamic writing: A brief introduction /*Writing Prompt*/

Is good writing discovered or created? A simple question, perhaps, but one worthy of our time and consideration. I am of the belief that consciousness and intent are what separate the act of merely scribing words onto a page from true literary creation, “true writing” so to speak. Thus, it follows that to know yourself as a writer is to know your own process. How do you create a story? You would be surprised how often this quandary is so quickly glazed over. Today, we will explore just one of the many dimensions of story creation: outline writing versus discovery writing. While this is hardly the end-all-be-all of creation methodology, it will serve as a good base for figuring out how that word factory in your noggin operates, and by extension, help you know yourself as a writer better. In broad terms, everything can be broken down into what is planned versus what is inspired. First, we will take a look at outline writing. If nothing else, anyone who has gone to grade school has some experience with outline writing. It is the standard method that every K-12 school teaches as part of their English curriculum, and it applies to just about every writing process from kindergarten to corporate office. Essentially it involves planning out the course of your writing from beginning to middle to end, point by point. It is a static and calculated process that is thought out and set up, so when it eventually reaches the page there are no surprises. You know exactly what you are saying, how you are going to say it, and how it will be presented. It is the classic model of “intro-body-body-body-conclusion” that is generally used to teach paragraph and essay writing. You may have also seen it as it pertains to plot, in which it reads more as “exposition-rising action-climax-falling action-resolution.” The visual model you have probably seen before looks something like this:

In contrast, discovery writing is more dynamic and spontaneous. Some degree of prior planning can be involved, such as laying out the overarching topic or theme, but the main body of this style of creation is not thoroughly thought out like outline writing is. Rather, it is determined as it is being written; improvised, if you will. The specific points and structure of the writing is not pre-planned; the writing is allowed to take its own course and relies more on the on-the-spot thinking and creativity of the writer. It is a case of “the piece writing itself,” whereupon the writer acts merely as a vessel or physical expression of the idea unfolding and developing in the heat of the moment or within the spark of inspiration.

You can think of this process as those 5-minute “quickwrite/freewrite” exercises that most middle-school to college-level courses forced you to do when class started. So which one is more preferable? It’s a matter of taste, really. Do you operate better when you draw out a plan and figure out what you want to say before committing pen to page? Do you like brainstorming and researching and gathering information? If so, then outline writing is for you. Do you find that thinking on the fly and throwing yourself into the thick of things yields the best results for you? Do you like running with ideas and seeing where they go without confining yourself to a set form and or pre-determined content? If so, then discovery writing is more your forte. Of course, we’re merely scratching the surface with these two styles of writing. There is more, much more, we can learn about outline and discovery writing; we’ve merely introduced ourselves to each, and have taken the first of many steps towards becoming more informed. For now, the only thing you should concern yourself with is, in general, which category do you think you lean more towards? Maybe one, or both? Maybe different aspects of each?

Work those beautiful minds of yours! Go forth and forge your story!
Please feel free to comment below, and follow/share! Justin

Twitter: @LaTorreStory //
Website: LaTorreStory.blogspot.com

 ***Writing prompt***

Pick a point of view you don’t normally use in your writing, such as first-person limited or second person, and write a brief but complete scene using that point of view.