Creative Writing; Thursday, Third Period [ 05/19 ].

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"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! ]]

Comments

Sign In - Creative Writing, 05/19.

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Like another character!

Listen to the Lecture - Creative Writing, 05/19.

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It's a very quick overview of character, because Shunsui certainly doesn't want to bore anyone with too much lecturing.

Work on your Characters - Creative Writing, 05/19.

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The worksheet can provide a general guideline, but feel free to develop your character in whichever way works best for you, and don't hesitate to work with each other, either.

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:

Class Activity - Creative Writing, 05/19.

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"Alright, ducklings ♥," said Shunsui, after giving the kids a good portion of class to start developing the characters, "now let's see how well you've gotten to know your characters, because you're about to become your characters ♥. Our setting is simple: I, King Hobart the Romantic, am having a grand party here in my palace, and I have invited you all to attend ♥. You are to assume the personality of your character; there is a chest of costumes and props here should you wish for something to help you get a little deeper into your character, as well ♥. Become the character you've just created, and interact with everyone else's character ♥! I'll give a few minutes to get yourself into character, and then off you go, mingle, get to know your character through your interactions with other characters ♥!"

And with that, he let the students prepare and hoped he wouldn't need to do too much prodding to get their new personas talking!

Talk to Shunsui - Creative Writing, 05/19.

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Or is that King Hobart the Romantic?

OOC - Creative Writing, 05/19.

[sake-shinigami.livejournal.com]

Why, yes, I rather do like the meta of having characters that are being played by us play characters that are created by them. It makes me all warm and happy inside.