Writer Wednesday- main charaterizing

Yes I do know I'm a day late, but here's my post!

Character, character, character - what really makes a character?  I believe that a character can be anything from a human, to an alien,  to an animal, to a dandelion (that one’s my friend Serena’s creation). A character is anything or anyone  that can move your story forward. It also gives your story humor, enlightenment, intelligence, darkness, grievance (like when your dandelion died (actually idk if the dandelion dies yet. I’m just preparing myself)), etc.

Back to the original topic: A character is something or someone that has an attitude, and might interact with your other characters. Hopefully your readers will relate with your characters, draw fanart of them, and want to make fanfics with them. Your characters might be the thing that makes your story flourish, your never know.

        What is one thing every story has? If you said an author, technically you would be correct; but the answer I am looking for is a main character. Main characters are probably the most crucial aspects of your story. A story plot usually revolves around your main character(s)-their choices, their problems, their mistakes, their enemies, their friends and their acquaintances. Without a solid MC (main character not Minecraft) you can hardly begin writing, although you usually learn and grow with your MC throughout your writing process.

        You still need to know the basics about your character(s). What are their inside and outside personalities? Is your MC (or MC’s) known for being  peppy? Rude? Happy? Sad? What do your MC(‘s) closer acquaintances (if any) think of your MC? Are they quiet? Crazy? Scary? Sweet? Questionative? Monotone? All the above? Does your character wear their heart on their sleeve or do they keep everything bottled inside?

        Now on to appearances: What does your MC(s) look like? What is the first aperial impression they make? For fantasy, do they have wings? Horns? Talons? Fangs? For steam or cyberpunk, do they have bioelectronic limbs or parts? Do they have a fake eye? For contemporary or contemporary fantasy, does your character have tattoos ? If so, do they have a purpose or are they just there for looks?  Do your characters have piercings? If so, are they just ear peircings or like Peter from Divergent who was said to have “his face pierced in so many places I lose count”(the movie obviously got it wrong!)

          Does the species of your MC change their look? Is your MC a fairy? If so, do they have organic wings or mechanical ones like the LEPrecon? Is your fairy short or young child height? Does the species change the color of their skin? For example, Dragon-fe might have colored scales while androids or cyborg would have mostly metal colored skin or parts. If your characters have powers, does that alter their appearance? A shapeshifting character of mine has golden cat-like eyes that flash when he morphs. There are also things like material tattoos. If your characters draw on themselves or get a tattoo, do they get a new power? Does your character’s hair change based on their mood or health/stability?  Do their eyes change color like Piper from Heroes of Olympus?

        One of my favorite bases for characterizing is a character sheet.  The first character sheet was released in 1975. Character sheets are  usually used for role-playing games, but they also help a lot with writing. Most character sheets for role-playing games have strength, dexterity and stuff like that. Of course, I don’t know how to use that stuff because I don’t play any tabletop role-playing games… or any role-playing games for that fact. So instead I’ve modified a character in a way that I can use for writing. I include simple stuff like appearance (which we’ve covered), personality (which we’ve also covered), likes and dislikes (also covered), and probably some other things I'm missing… (which I might have covered… or not. I lost track) Now before I end this magnificently long post imma leave you a “small” character sheet that I use most of the time!

P.S. Also if you want to check out my friends’, Serena and ​Kamama’s, blog you can find the link here.

Character sheet:

Overview~

Name:

Age:

Species:

Gender:

(Expand if necessary)

Appearance~

Skin:

Eyes (if applicable):

Hair (if applicable):

Extra features:

(expand if necessary)

Personality~

Likes:

Dislikes:

Agitations:

Make happy:

Main personality:

Hidden personality:

Fears:

Strengths:

Weakness:

Goals:

Difficulties:

Powers (magical or stature):

(expand if necessary  )