Legacy
Reader and Writer
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2009
- Messages
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Lesson 1: Creating Memorable Characters
Lesson 2: Creating Villains People Love to Hate
Lesson 3: Establishing the Right Point of View
Okay, so I had this idea.
I know this really helpful writing site, http://www.writing-world.com/. Basically it's a collection of really insightful and seriously helpful articles about a variety of different writing advice topics. They talk about everything: how to create charismatic and lifelike characters, how to handle the speed of your plot, etc. For example, some of the titles: "Do Werewolves Wear Shoes? Building Successful Horror Characters," or "Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid Stepping Out of Character." My point is, it's a really amazing sight, that I frequent quite a bit. And I'm sure there are many more like it out there as well.
The reason I started this thread is to hopefully create a place where we authors can come and have really quality and helpful conversations about any number of topics regarding writing and becoming better at it. I want this to be a place where all of the Bulbagarden authors come together and really help each other improve in all aspects of writing. It sounds cheesy as hell, but I think if we all work together, there is more than enough talent and passion on our team for us to become of the best sites around for Pokemon fan-fiction.
Here is my idea: Every week we introduce a topic and post the Writing-World article, then discuss it during that week. Each Sunday for instance, I could post a new advice article and throughout the week we have a sort of round table discussion about said topic, whether we agree or disagree with the authors' points, how we could incorporate what we learn in our own writing... the sky's the limit! It could be as great as we want to make it. It would be awesome if EVERY author here participated!! Just add your 2 cents, whatever that may be.
I think something like this would be really helpful to all of the Bulbagarden Authors. I call it 'The Bulbagarden Writing Academy' because it's like the articles we read are the teachers, and we the authors are the students.
Reading the articles is one thing, but discussing it with each other and bouncing ideas off one another would really help us to understand the concepts and hopefully implement them into our own writing. The less experienced of us would have the opportunity to ask the more experienced ones like Gastly's Mama and Aladar questions about the current week's topic.
____________________________________________________________
So to summarize, here is what I am proposing:
1. Every Sunday, or every other Sunday, I would post a new article from http://writing-world.com. (Or anyone could submit what they think a good article would be from a different site/publication.
2. Throughout the week, we would all discuss the week's topic on the thread. Things we agree/disagree with, what we can take away or learn from the article, other thoughts, general discussion, etc.
3. We all learn valuable advice and become better authors.
4. We make the Garden famous for how kick-ass our collection of talented authors is!!! :banana:
____________________________________________________________
So...just for starters, let's have the Bulbagarden Writing Academy's inaugural lesson be:
Before you begin your new story, take a little time to create fresh new characters that are your own. Using someone else's well-established formula will only brand you as a hack with potential editors.
Think of yourself as the Master Planner -- this is your story and only your characters are going to fit in it. Custom build them to suit your unique story-world. If you really must use real people you know, then try to disguise that person's identity as much as possible.
1) Begin by giving your main character (protagonist) a name that you are comfortable working with. Remember, you'll be with this character for a while, so you should choose a name you at least like.
The name must not only suit the character, but must also be easy on your intended readers. If you decide the name Xzgytgml is the only name that suits your character, bear in mind that the reader is forced to stop and stumble through the unfamiliar word, which means he is no longer engrossed in your story. Aside from this, you'll also have to write or type this name everytime your character appears.
2) Create a short biography for your new character. You'll need to decide which physical aspects best suit your protagonist -- height, weight, hair and eye color and age. But these alone will not be enough. Consider creating a personality outline as well. Include:
temperament
moral/ethical/religious beliefs
political stance
hobbies
habits
quirks or eccentricities
likes/dislikes
fears or phobias
short and long term goals
hopes and dreams
3) It sometimes helps to scour newspapers, magazines and even the internet to find a picture of someone that fits the character you are creating. Tacking an image onto a corkboard at your workstation with a brief bio beneath it can give you a wonderful visual image to work from.
So now you have a character to work with, but this information is not enough to bring him or her to life. Using the principle that all good stories are about unique, individual complex people, you'll need to map out a few more points.
When you are creating your character's personality description, decide what his great strengths are. Give him several strong traits and then add one major glaring weakness. Your character must still be at least likeable, but the glaring weakness must form the underlying tension that drives his behavior.
Now create a staggering problem that preys on that weakness. It must be a difficult or fearsome problem for your character to overcome, so that the story can recount his struggle to turn his weakness into a form of victory at the end. Above all, never let the protagonist know he is going to succeed. That way he can not win unless he surrenders something of inestimable value to himself.
4) Remain with your protagonist's point of view for as long as possible. If your character doesn't see it or hear it himself, then the reader shouldn't either. This builds a sense of empathy within the reader for each piece of information he uncovers through your story.
Remember to describe all five (six?) senses the character encounters. Telling your reader only what he sees and hears is not nearly so evocative as sharing what he tastes and touches and smells.
5) Your protagonist must have a complex set of problems. The primary goal must always be in sight, but giving your character a few obstacles along the way will highlight the character traits you have chosen to help or hinder him.
Secondary characters should only have one fundamental problem to solve. They need not be as in depth as your protagonist, otherwise your plot becomes overly convoluted. Minor characters need not have any problems at all. Think of them as 'stage-extras' -- they deliver a necessary line or piece of information, but their life history is not relevant.
6) Choose your crisis points. Give your protagonist an agonising decision to make. If he must make a morally wrong choice in order to succeed and survive intact, your protagonist will gain everything he wanted, but the price for this success must be high.
He could lose his (soul/conscience/freedom etc.) However, it must be clear in a scenario like this that choosing the morally right path would only result in his downfall or defeat.
Allowing your protagonist the reversed scenario is easier (choosing a morally correct path), but making the cost a worthwhile challenge is much more difficult.
If he does concur on the side of 'good over evil', be sure he is forsaking all he holds dear. He survives the struggle intact, but still must pay the price for making the right choice. Even though he is spared the downfall that threatened originally, he will ultimately lose all that he cherished/believed.
Finally, by the end of your story, your protagonist must have survived an enormous struggle, or moral dilemma, to arrive at the finale having undergone a fundamental change. He may have lost his beliefs, or his conscience. He may even have overcome that glaring weakness you assigned to him when he was created. Whatever the change, it must be noticeable.
When you have all these pieces in place, you'll have a complex, empathetic character that your readers will remember and hopefully come back for more!
Lesson 1: Creating Memorable Characters
Lesson 2: Creating Villains People Love to Hate
Lesson 3: Establishing the Right Point of View
Okay, so I had this idea.
I know this really helpful writing site, http://www.writing-world.com/. Basically it's a collection of really insightful and seriously helpful articles about a variety of different writing advice topics. They talk about everything: how to create charismatic and lifelike characters, how to handle the speed of your plot, etc. For example, some of the titles: "Do Werewolves Wear Shoes? Building Successful Horror Characters," or "Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid Stepping Out of Character." My point is, it's a really amazing sight, that I frequent quite a bit. And I'm sure there are many more like it out there as well.
The reason I started this thread is to hopefully create a place where we authors can come and have really quality and helpful conversations about any number of topics regarding writing and becoming better at it. I want this to be a place where all of the Bulbagarden authors come together and really help each other improve in all aspects of writing. It sounds cheesy as hell, but I think if we all work together, there is more than enough talent and passion on our team for us to become of the best sites around for Pokemon fan-fiction.
Here is my idea: Every week we introduce a topic and post the Writing-World article, then discuss it during that week. Each Sunday for instance, I could post a new advice article and throughout the week we have a sort of round table discussion about said topic, whether we agree or disagree with the authors' points, how we could incorporate what we learn in our own writing... the sky's the limit! It could be as great as we want to make it. It would be awesome if EVERY author here participated!! Just add your 2 cents, whatever that may be.
I think something like this would be really helpful to all of the Bulbagarden Authors. I call it 'The Bulbagarden Writing Academy' because it's like the articles we read are the teachers, and we the authors are the students.
Reading the articles is one thing, but discussing it with each other and bouncing ideas off one another would really help us to understand the concepts and hopefully implement them into our own writing. The less experienced of us would have the opportunity to ask the more experienced ones like Gastly's Mama and Aladar questions about the current week's topic.
____________________________________________________________
So to summarize, here is what I am proposing:
1. Every Sunday, or every other Sunday, I would post a new article from http://writing-world.com. (Or anyone could submit what they think a good article would be from a different site/publication.
2. Throughout the week, we would all discuss the week's topic on the thread. Things we agree/disagree with, what we can take away or learn from the article, other thoughts, general discussion, etc.
3. We all learn valuable advice and become better authors.
4. We make the Garden famous for how kick-ass our collection of talented authors is!!! :banana:
____________________________________________________________
So...just for starters, let's have the Bulbagarden Writing Academy's inaugural lesson be:
LESSON ONE: CREATING MEMORABLE CHARACTERS by Lee Masterson
Before you begin your new story, take a little time to create fresh new characters that are your own. Using someone else's well-established formula will only brand you as a hack with potential editors.
Think of yourself as the Master Planner -- this is your story and only your characters are going to fit in it. Custom build them to suit your unique story-world. If you really must use real people you know, then try to disguise that person's identity as much as possible.
1) Begin by giving your main character (protagonist) a name that you are comfortable working with. Remember, you'll be with this character for a while, so you should choose a name you at least like.
The name must not only suit the character, but must also be easy on your intended readers. If you decide the name Xzgytgml is the only name that suits your character, bear in mind that the reader is forced to stop and stumble through the unfamiliar word, which means he is no longer engrossed in your story. Aside from this, you'll also have to write or type this name everytime your character appears.
2) Create a short biography for your new character. You'll need to decide which physical aspects best suit your protagonist -- height, weight, hair and eye color and age. But these alone will not be enough. Consider creating a personality outline as well. Include:
temperament
moral/ethical/religious beliefs
political stance
hobbies
habits
quirks or eccentricities
likes/dislikes
fears or phobias
short and long term goals
hopes and dreams
3) It sometimes helps to scour newspapers, magazines and even the internet to find a picture of someone that fits the character you are creating. Tacking an image onto a corkboard at your workstation with a brief bio beneath it can give you a wonderful visual image to work from.
So now you have a character to work with, but this information is not enough to bring him or her to life. Using the principle that all good stories are about unique, individual complex people, you'll need to map out a few more points.
When you are creating your character's personality description, decide what his great strengths are. Give him several strong traits and then add one major glaring weakness. Your character must still be at least likeable, but the glaring weakness must form the underlying tension that drives his behavior.
Now create a staggering problem that preys on that weakness. It must be a difficult or fearsome problem for your character to overcome, so that the story can recount his struggle to turn his weakness into a form of victory at the end. Above all, never let the protagonist know he is going to succeed. That way he can not win unless he surrenders something of inestimable value to himself.
4) Remain with your protagonist's point of view for as long as possible. If your character doesn't see it or hear it himself, then the reader shouldn't either. This builds a sense of empathy within the reader for each piece of information he uncovers through your story.
Remember to describe all five (six?) senses the character encounters. Telling your reader only what he sees and hears is not nearly so evocative as sharing what he tastes and touches and smells.
5) Your protagonist must have a complex set of problems. The primary goal must always be in sight, but giving your character a few obstacles along the way will highlight the character traits you have chosen to help or hinder him.
Secondary characters should only have one fundamental problem to solve. They need not be as in depth as your protagonist, otherwise your plot becomes overly convoluted. Minor characters need not have any problems at all. Think of them as 'stage-extras' -- they deliver a necessary line or piece of information, but their life history is not relevant.
6) Choose your crisis points. Give your protagonist an agonising decision to make. If he must make a morally wrong choice in order to succeed and survive intact, your protagonist will gain everything he wanted, but the price for this success must be high.
He could lose his (soul/conscience/freedom etc.) However, it must be clear in a scenario like this that choosing the morally right path would only result in his downfall or defeat.
Allowing your protagonist the reversed scenario is easier (choosing a morally correct path), but making the cost a worthwhile challenge is much more difficult.
If he does concur on the side of 'good over evil', be sure he is forsaking all he holds dear. He survives the struggle intact, but still must pay the price for making the right choice. Even though he is spared the downfall that threatened originally, he will ultimately lose all that he cherished/believed.
Finally, by the end of your story, your protagonist must have survived an enormous struggle, or moral dilemma, to arrive at the finale having undergone a fundamental change. He may have lost his beliefs, or his conscience. He may even have overcome that glaring weakness you assigned to him when he was created. Whatever the change, it must be noticeable.
When you have all these pieces in place, you'll have a complex, empathetic character that your readers will remember and hopefully come back for more!
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