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fandomhigh2011-05-19 08:00 am
sake-shinigami.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2011-05-19 08:00 am
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Creative Writing; Thursday, Third Period [ 05/19 ].
"Ahhh, welcome back, my little goslings ♥," said Shunsui as his little class got themselves settled in for another session of coffee and creation. He passed along the drink carriers of lattes and hot chocolate as he did last time, because drinking coffee was simply what was expected out of young authors. "I hope your week has been finding you excited and inspired ♥ I know I have been ♥! Today's lesson is going to be about developing character, which should be easy for any of you, surrounded as you are by such interesting characters every day ♥.
"Like plot, characters are essential to almost all stories ♥. You can't really have one without the other; sometimes the characters are created out of a necessity for the plot, and other times, a plot begins to develop around the creation of characters ♥. Essentially, characters are our people, our actors, our little critters and important objects, the actors and the players on the stage of our book ♥. There is usually a hero and a villain. Or perhaps an anti-hero. There may be a beautiful love interest that the hero and villain are combating over, or perhaps a wise old sage who dispenses helpful....or unhelpful!...advice ♥. There are roguish captains wooing sexy pirates; bookish or dreamy young girls dreaming of princes. Every day young men trying to discover who they are and what their purposes in life may be. When it comes to characters in fiction, just as with characters in life, there are no limits as to what there could be ♥.
"One of the easiest ways for a writer to write their stories is to really get their character ♥. Know them as well as you know yourself, probably better; get inside them, their heads, their bodies, their emotions and feelings ♥. Know why they do what they do, their motivations, their reasons, their thoughts and opinions ♥. The writer, when writing, will become their characters, just as an actor on stage becomes their character for the duration of the play ♥. Do you want the character of the story to be someone like you, someone you can relate to and use as a voice ♥? Or do you want them to be quite different, to live vicariously through a person who will get the chance for so many things different than what life hands you now ♥? Either way, through your character, you can be whoever you want and have them do whatever your heart desires ♥. The heroes in my own work tend to be dashing and charming, so, clearly, my art tends to imitate life ♥.
"So this is what we will be doing today ♥! I want you all to spend some time really working out a character ♥. I have some worksheets that may help you really get down to the details of a character, but you, as the writer, of course may determine what is important about them and what is not ♥. Feel free to bounce ideas off of each other, and, when we've all worked a little bit on our characters, we'll then put them into action, and I'll tell you more about that when we're finished ♥.
"Any questions before we begin ♥?"
[[ OCD has been fully developed! ]]
"Like plot, characters are essential to almost all stories ♥. You can't really have one without the other; sometimes the characters are created out of a necessity for the plot, and other times, a plot begins to develop around the creation of characters ♥. Essentially, characters are our people, our actors, our little critters and important objects, the actors and the players on the stage of our book ♥. There is usually a hero and a villain. Or perhaps an anti-hero. There may be a beautiful love interest that the hero and villain are combating over, or perhaps a wise old sage who dispenses helpful....or unhelpful!...advice ♥. There are roguish captains wooing sexy pirates; bookish or dreamy young girls dreaming of princes. Every day young men trying to discover who they are and what their purposes in life may be. When it comes to characters in fiction, just as with characters in life, there are no limits as to what there could be ♥.
"One of the easiest ways for a writer to write their stories is to really get their character ♥. Know them as well as you know yourself, probably better; get inside them, their heads, their bodies, their emotions and feelings ♥. Know why they do what they do, their motivations, their reasons, their thoughts and opinions ♥. The writer, when writing, will become their characters, just as an actor on stage becomes their character for the duration of the play ♥. Do you want the character of the story to be someone like you, someone you can relate to and use as a voice ♥? Or do you want them to be quite different, to live vicariously through a person who will get the chance for so many things different than what life hands you now ♥? Either way, through your character, you can be whoever you want and have them do whatever your heart desires ♥. The heroes in my own work tend to be dashing and charming, so, clearly, my art tends to imitate life ♥.
"So this is what we will be doing today ♥! I want you all to spend some time really working out a character ♥. I have some worksheets that may help you really get down to the details of a character, but you, as the writer, of course may determine what is important about them and what is not ♥. Feel free to bounce ideas off of each other, and, when we've all worked a little bit on our characters, we'll then put them into action, and I'll tell you more about that when we're finished ♥.
"Any questions before we begin ♥?"
[[ OCD has been fully developed! ]]
Work on your Characters - Creative Writing, 05/19.
But the guideline definitely can help:
Character NAME:
Nickname:
Meaning/History:
Notes:
Gender:
Age:
Age claimed:
Birthday:
Astrological sign:
Hair color:
Shape/style/length:
Eye color:
Vision:
Skin tone:
Marks (freckles, birthmarks, tattoos, scars):
Height:
Weight:
Build/Body shape:
Mannerisms:
Parents & Siblings:
Country:
State:
County:
City:
Street:
Type of Home:
Condition of Home:
Reason/History of Home:
Time in this Home:
Roommates/Housemates/Guests/Family In Home:
Grounds:
Outside Upkeep Habits:
Interior Design:
Furnishings:
Inside Upkeep Habits:
Character's Best Trait (to character):
Character's Actual Best Trait:
Character's Worst Trait (to character):
Character's Actual Worst Trait:
Character's Motto (to character):
Character's Actual Motto:
Hopes/Dreams/Desires:
Religion/Philosophy:
Politics:
Temperament:
Actions while Angry:
Actions while Happy:
Hates:
Reaction when presented with above:
Loves:
Reaction when above are threatened:
Vices:
Type of Self Rewards and When:
Type of Self Punishments and When:
Biggest Regret & Why:
Reaction to Adversity:
Reaction to Triumph:
Manners Alone:
Manners Around Same Gender:
Manners Around Opposite Gender:
Time of Story (past, present, future, era):
Occupation:
Occupational goals:
Occupational "lingo":
Awards/Recognition:
Emotional reaction to work:
Notes on "Work Personality":
Skills:
Income:
Income goals:
Saves or spends:
Favorite thing to purchase:
Wants to purchase:
Hobbies/Leisure pursuits:
Biggest accomplished achievement in life:
Awards/Recognition (non-work):
Current Relationship:
Relevant Friends:
How the character relates to each:
Current relationship with family members:
Politics:
Birthplace:
Religion:
Feeling About Childhood:
Childhood Trauma:
How trauma affects character today:
Education:
Best/Worst/Favorite subject:
After school activities:
Biggest influence/Mentor:
Friends/Teachers/Relatives/Pets from past that could influence plot (includes invisible friends/dolls/bears):
Childhood habit hardest to break and how it affects character today:
What did they want to be when they grew up?
Special childhood abilities:
Childhood hideout:
Event that will affect plot:
Past relationships that affect plot:
Last relationship:
How did it end & why:
The most bizarre thing about your character:
The very best thing about your character:
The very worst thing about your character:
Other Notes:
Re: Work on your Characters - Creative Writing, 05/19.
Nickname: Towelie
Meaning/History: He's a fucking towel.
Notes: None
Gender: Male
Age: 10
Age claimed: 30
Birthday: I don't know. May 19th?
Astrological sign: Taurus
Hair color: No hair
Shape/style/length: Noooo haaaaaair
Eye color: Black? Bloodshot?
Vision: Blurry.
Skin tone: Blue
Marks (freckles, birthmarks, tattoos, scars): White stripes?
Height: Two and a half feet
Weight: A pound
Build/Body shape: Like a towel
Mannerisms: Stoned
Parents & Siblings: Yeah, but he died.
Country: America
State: Colorado
County: Park
City: South Park
Street: What? That's lame.
Type of Home: An apartment.
Condition of Home: Crappy.
Reason/History of Home: He's too stoned to clean up.
Time in this Home: A month.
Roommates/Housemates/Guests/Family In Home: None.
Grounds: There's carpet?
Outside Upkeep Habits: How should I know? The landlord probably does that shit.
Interior Design: Stoner.
Furnishings: How should I know?
Inside Upkeep Habits: He's too stoned to care.
Character's Best Trait (to character): None
Character's Actual Best Trait: None
Character's Worst Trait (to character): Being Towelie
Character's Actual Worst Trait: Being Towelie
Character's Motto (to character): Wanna get high?
Character's Actual Motto: ...dude, it's the same thing.
Hopes/Dreams/Desires: What? That's stupid.
Religion/Philosophy: Stupid.
Politics: Way Stupid.
Temperament: Stoned.
Actions while Angry: Getting high
Actions while Happy: Getting high
Hates: I guess the government.
Reaction when presented with above: Getting high.
Loves: Getting high.
Reaction when above are threatened: Runs off to work at a summer camp.
Vices: Pot
Type of Self Rewards and When: Pot all the time
Type of Self Punishments and When: Nothing, weirdo.
Biggest Regret & Why: I don't think he has any.
Reaction to Adversity: Getting high
Reaction to Triumph: Getting high
Manners Alone: Stoned
Manners Around Same Gender: Being annoying
Manners Around Opposite Gender: Not puking
Time of Story (past, present, future, era): Present
Occupation: Unemployed
Occupational goals: Has none
Occupational "lingo": None, moron.
Awards/Recognition: Oprah Book of the Month
Emotional reaction to work: Getting high
Notes on "Work Personality": I think Oprah's ming got shot in it.
Skills: None.
Income: None
Income goals: More pot.
Saves or spends: Spends on pot.
Favorite thing to purchase: Pot.
Wants to purchase: Pot.
Hobbies/Leisure pursuits: Getting high.
Biggest accomplished achievement in life: What? He's a fucking towel, man.
Awards/Recognition (non-work): None
Current Relationship: Single
Relevant Friends: Butters
How the character relates to each: Asking if they want to get high.
Current relationship with family members: Non-existent.
Politics: What? Lame.
Birthplace: That government lab. Maybe.
Religion: None
Feeling About Childhood: Doesn't remember it.
Childhood Trauma: None
How trauma affects character today: I said there was none.
Education: He's. A. Towel.
Best/Worst/Favorite subject: TOWEL.
After school activities: TOOOOOOWEL.
Biggest influence/Mentor: Towel, man.
Friends/Teachers/Relatives/Pets from past that could influence plot (includes invisible friends/dolls/bears): Nooooooone.
Childhood habit hardest to break and how it affects character today: Getting high? Still does it.
What did they want to be when they grew up?: High
Special childhood abilities: Playing that dumb ass song on a keypad.
Childhood hideout: A bathroom?
Event that will affect plot: I don't know, I didn't pay attention. I was playing video games.
Past relationships that affect plot: I dunno. Maybe he was getting high.
Last relationship: His girlfriend who left him after he couldn't support their dishcloth.
How did it end & why: I just said it.
The most bizarre thing about your character: He's a towel that talks and gets high.
The very best thing about your character: Nothing.
The very worst thing about your character: Everything.
Other Notes: This was the lamest assignment ever. Seriously.