Monday, March 21, 2011

...cool characters

WOW! i just found a cool tool for helping get characters developed. for sure the plot of a story mostly has to do with character. what if little red riding hood was a selfish snotty brat and didnt care bout her granny. that could of changed up the whole story. yep! characters real important for sure.

everyones way different from each other and its just real important to be a good people watcher cause thats how you could get neat ideas for developing the character of your mc and all the characters in your story.

heres a cool tool from out of one of my writing books that called writing magic creating stories that fly by gail carson levine. its a character questionnaire! heres the questions:

Name:
Nickname, if any:
Kind of being (human, animal, extraterrestrial, fantasy or fairy-tale creature):
Age:
Sex:
Appearance:
Occupation, if applicable:
Family members:
Pets:
Best friend:
Describe his/her room:
Way of speaking:
Physical characteristics (posture, gestures, attitude):
Items in his/her pockets or backpack or purse:
Hobbies:
Favorite sports:
Talents, abilities, or powers:
Relationships (how she/he is with other people):
Fears:
Faults:
Good points:
What she/he wants more than anything else:

all you gotta do it answer the questions and youre on the way to making a neat character. WOW! how cool is that!

you could use this before you get started with you ms or when youre working on it. sometimes you got a character started and get stuck on what he or shes like. just do this questionnaire and it could be a big help. remember its only ideas and you dont need to use all of it just only the parts that work for your story and you could change your characters any time you want.

did you ever use a character questionnaire. if you didnt would you try it? how do you develop your characters?  

...hugs from lenny

34 comments:

  1. I love Writing Magic. One of the best writing books ever!

    I don't always fill out character worksheets. But when I do, it's usually after I've written a bit of my story and started to get to know the people in the book. The worksheets help me get to know them better. I hope they help you with your stories, too :)

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  2. So glad you like this. (That Red Riding Hood idea is so cool! Maybe I'll try it...;) Just kidding!) I love Gail Carson Levine; she's one of my absolute FAVORITE authors. I haven't read her writing book yet, but I guess I should, huh?
    Hugs,
    Riv

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  3. Lenny, this is a great post! I love to use character questionnaires when I'm writing because they really help me get to know the character before I even start writing. I like to do one for all my characters before I write even one word of the story.

    One thing I like in particular is to figure out what the character's greatest strength and greatest weakness is. Those two things help me understand why things go wrong in the story and why the character either succeeds for fails.

    Jai

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  4. Hi Lenny .. you're obviously endorsing a really great author with her book .. especially those of us who haven't heard of her .. thanks for letting me know about your "cool tool" - excellent resource.

    Have a really good week now that Spring is here .. longer warmer days .. bliss! Cheers to you and the family .. Hilary

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  5. Great stuff, Lenny! Thanks for sharing. I do have a questionnaire that I use while developing characters. I kind of combined it with one I found in a book and my own thoughts and questions. It's like a 'get-to-know-you' list. The best part about it, is finding out what makes my character's insides tick.

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  6. I do something like this, but not quite as organized. It's important to think about your characters more deeply than what you plan to have them do in your story, so you (and the reader) can understand exactly why they're doing it! And what they might do next... Seems like a great tool, Lenny.

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  7. Great idea, Lenny! I recently "interviewed" a character who was giving me trouble. I wrote some of the questions, and one of my critique partners who had read the draft wrote the rest. I worked really hard on his answers, and when I was done, I felt a whole lot better about going back and re-starting the draft from the beginning!

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  8. Hi, Lenny! Great character questionnaire. I like asking my characters questions. How else are you going to get to know them?

    Have a great week!

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  9. Very cool, Lenny! Thanks for sharing. I can see how this could be fun and useful too!

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  10. Great book, Lenny - I love that one, too! I'll definitely use the questionnaire with my characters. :-)

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  11. That's a very cool tool! I use a similar tool and find it helpful.

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  12. Hey Lenny! That is a great idea. It's a good idea to really get to know your characters like they are real people.
    Hope you have a splendiferous week!

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  13. I create a sheet similar to that. I like to know my characters before I begin writing the story.

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  14. Great character questionnaire, Lenny. I have done something similar before, and it really helps. I starred this in my Google Reader, so I can come back to it when necessary. :)

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  15. Hi Lenny! Thanks for sharing your character list ~ :) I've done these before. You're absolutely right. Your character, a good one, pretty much carries your whole story, so it's very important to know everything about them. And these lists help you keep those characters straight and consistent. Some great advice. Thank you!!!

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  16. That is a cool tool, Lenny! Thanks for sharing!

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  17. I wasn't listening to some Bob Marley last night Lenny, and it sure had me thinking of you, bud!

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  18. Great advice! Getting to really know your characters is so important :)

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  19. Oh my gosh! I love the questionnaire! What a great idea. =) Thanks for posting Lenny!

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  20. Yes, I used character questionnaires every time I plot a new novel. This sounds like a great one!

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  21. You. Are. A. Genius! I've been trying to flesh out a few characters and this will be the perfect tool to do it with. Thanks!!!!!

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  22. This is great Lenny! I'll print off this post and make it into a worksheet so I can use it when I'm writing. Thanks, so much for sharing!

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  23. I've never done this, but I think that I might just try. :) Thanks for the questionnaire!

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  24. I've never used one of these before but I'm going to try it out! Thanks for posting Lenny!

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  25. That's a very helpful character questionnaire, Lenny. Thanks for sharing. Maybe I should try that, eh? I love Gail Carson Levine's books, but I don't have her writing book.

    Usually I make notes about my main character and I always know their little quirks and what they eat for breakfast. Stuff like that. Even if it won't be in the story.

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  26. this is a fantastic tool Lenny! Might have to steal that list! ;)

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  27. Character worksheets are definitely helpful when developing a character...also handy to have when you get overwhelmed with details and forget which character likes horror movies and which character hates the taste of asparagus. ;)-

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  28. Hi Lenny :-)
    This would be a great idea for those so inclined. However, I would rather use my own concepts and thus, personally, it would not be of any help to me. I make my characters in my own way.
    Take care dude and have a great weekend.
    Hugs and smiles, Mr. Gary :-)

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  29. I have that book. I should give it to my kids. I'd forgotten about it. :)

    I love your version of little red riding hood. Oh, the possibilities. :D

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  30. Great list, Lenny! :o) I need to get that book--you always have so many great tips from it.

    Have a great night, my friend! Bigs hugs!

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  31. I'm working on some new characters right now, and this is the first time I've used something like your character profile. I also added in things like "conflicts" and "personal history." Gail Carson Levine is a cool writer - I heard her speak once! Very fun. :)

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  32. Very cool tool! I may have to "borrow" that!

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  33. Wow! What an extensive list. I've never made a list but I do think about various aspects of my character even if I don't use all of the information in the manuscript.

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Whatever wonderful, witty and wise words you manage to come up with!