writeworld:

Anonymous asked: Hi there! I was wondering if you guys could help me with something. I’ve been having a bit of trouble writing character biographies for a story I’m writing. Do you have any tips on how to make them longer? My writing always seems to end up shorter than most. I just don’t exactly know how to work with that “filler” stuff… any tips? x

We wrote an article no too long ago on writing character bios for rps. Definitely check that out. 

Aside from that, you’ve got a lot to consider in terms of what to cover in a bio. Here are a few things to think about:

• Name: At least first and last. If your character has an alias, you may want to include that as well.
• Gender: This could be anything, really. Most authors stick to male and female, but gender is a heck-of-a-lot more complicated than that. For more on gender, check out What Is Your Gender Identity? by kerryg over on HubPages.
• Sexual Orientation: The importance of sexual orientation changes depending on the story you wish to tell. For instance, a character’s sexual orientation is extremely important in a Romance novel, but less so in an Action/Adventure story where no love interest is ever introduced.
• Age: You can fudge here by saying something like, “Fergus is in his early fifties” or “Jan had recently had her sixth 29th birthday in a row”. Age may change how relatable a character is to your readers and drive how they deal with the world. Make sure to include it.
• Class/Status: A character’s class or status will determine a lot of things about him or her, especially the way he or she feels about money and his or her customs, traditions, privilege, and treatment of other socioeconomic classes.
• Physical Description: Be sure to include things like skin, hair, and eye color. Mention scars or tattoos, piercings, clothing choice, height, weight, and overall physical attractiveness. If they are from a particular region with identifying characteristics, you may want to relay those as well.
• Quirks: Does he or she have a personal item that is always with him or her? Does your character have a nervous tick or else collect model trains? We have a whole list of quirks on our Character Quirks page, including habits, phobias*, hobbies, diseases*, and addictions*. Quirks make characters more rounded and are outward displays of their personality.
• Morality: A character’s morality often describes their role in a story. Lose morals may signal that the character is an antagonist, while right-mindedness is more of a protagonist trait. Signaling a character’s morality may be as simple as outright stating, “My character is moral” or giving an example like, “James would jump in front of a subway train to save a baby”. An article about morality can be found on our page Is My Character Moral? which may help you make decisions about your character’s morality.
• Personality Strengths/Weaknesses: We call these Virtues and Vices, and you can read all about what we think about them on our Character Virtues and Vices page. This is one of the more important things about a character to get right. Personality will determine whether or not a character is relatable to the reader on a much grander scale than age or gender ever could, and it is vital for characters to be multifaceted. For example, a character concerned with Justice (one of the Seven High Virtues) may also be stubborn and a bit outspoken. It is important to note the strengths and the weaknesses here, as no character is ever wholly good or evil.
• Skills: Basically, what is your character good at? Does he or she have any learned or inherent skills (like carpentry, firewood gathering, or magical ability) that separate him or her from the crowd? Even if many characters in your story have similar skills, make sure to describe how this character’s skillset differs from everyone else’s.
• Education: Education does not necessarily mean intelligence (intellect is a strength), but the kind of education, where the character got it, and why is often important to the story. For example, language plays an important role in a story with dialogue, as the character must speak and be understood. The language the character uses, whether he or she has a broad vocabulary or even if he or she is able to speak the same language as other characters, all derives from the education he or she received. Class may play a part in education, and a character’s skills will certainly be affected by his or her education.
• Likes/Dislikes: This is everything from how the character takes his or her tea to any prejudices he or she has. Where does he or she like to go? What does your character like to do? What sort of people does he or she prefer? Like and dislikes are heavily driven by everything else on this list. Keep the rest of your character’s bio in mind as you write about their likes and dislikes.
• Childhood/Backstory: Where is your character from? What language does he or she speak? What sort of parents does he or she have? What was his or her childhood like? Anything that got your character from birth to the beginning of the story is backstory, and you can toss in some family or cultural history as well.
• Profession: What does your character do to earn a living? If he or she does not work, address this. A character’s profession takes up most of their adult life, so it’s important that the reader knows what they do and how seriously they take it.
• Relationships: Relationships are complicated. Talk about your character’s relationship to anyone they come into contact with regularly and who has a large impact on their life at the beginning of the story. Ideally, you should mention someone your character gets along with and someone he or she definitely doesn’t get along with. Also, it’s a good idea to mention any romantic interests he or she has at the beginning of the story, his or her relationship with immediate family, and how he or she does with being alone and in crowds of strangers (this ties in with strengths and weaknesses).
• Location: Where is the character? If he or she was born there, mention this (“Lily had never been out of Toronto”). Is he or she starting out in a new place? The location of the character often tells the reader the location of the story. Don’t overlook this. Even if he or she starts out blindfolded in an undisclosed location, the character is still in a location. 
• Time Period: When does this person live? Time period and location are technically setting, but they weigh heavily on a character, so be sure to include them.
• Religious Beliefs: Whether or not a character’s religious beliefs play a huge part in the story, it’s often good to know what they feel about God(s) in their world. We’d also categorize superstitions under religious beliefs, even though these are usually defined as quirks (see above). If your character’s beliefs aren’t important to the story, feel free to omit them from the description; if they are, don’t forget to mention them!
• Fantastical Traits: Is this character magical? Can he or she time travel or do anything that normal human beings are scientifically incapable of doing? If we know at the onset (or it’s not a huge spoiler to mention) that your character is fantastical in some way, tell us! Like skills and quirks, fantastical traits set your character apart.
• Goals: This item is last, but it should really be first. More important even than a name, a character’s goals drive the plot. You should make at least one of his or her goals clear in your bio. 

There are a lot of suggestions in the list above, but we have a caution for you: Be careful not to divulge too much in your character’s description. You want the reader to learn a lot of these things as they go, and while it’s important that the reader understands enough about the character to want to know more, we do not advise that you throw away the opportunity to relate details about the character in-story. The idea is to describe the character as they are on the first page of the book or in the first few paragraphs of the story. It is advisable to leave out anything they become later on.

Further reading:

• 10 Days of Character Building: Character Bio Sheets
• How to Write a Character Biography
• How to Create a Character Profile
• Building a Character Biography
• Character Bio’s: Why and How
• Develop Characters Without Worksheets

Thank you for your question!

Did we forget something? Let us know!

*No we don’t think these things are cute or for funsies, they’re just categorized under our Quirks for ease of navigation. 

thescriptor:

By Adrian B.

(Disclaimer: This article contains language that might be deemed offensive by some. It only reflects the opinions of the author)

Lurking through the internet, I found an article on women characters and how “classic literature” is “sexist” because of their lack of strong women. 

It also criticised Twain and called him a “racist asshole” for using the word “nigger” 219 times in Huck Finn, citing it as the reason why many writers refrain from writing non-white characters.

I still laugh, and I don’t know if I should cry, too. 

When the Civil Rights movement came into the public eye as something important, diversity and equality were starting to be valued, and, in some way, celebrated. Years after, being a Civil Rights advocate became something chic. In fact, being any kind of advocate or philanthropist is now considered fancy and fashionable. Today, talking about sexism, oppression, gay rights and marriage, etc, automatically makes you fall in the “rebel” category. Somehow, being loathed by conservatives and backed by artists and personalities makes you “cool”

But if you don’t know shit of what you’re talking about, it also makes you a prick.

Criticising the role of women in 18th century literature is just the same as criticising the  role given to black people in early 19th century American literature. It’s idiotic to do so without acknowledging and studying the sociopolitical and historical context they were  living in.  

It is true that most bestsellers nowadays have strong, white, male lead characters, or are plagued with whiny teenage girls. Many of these, such as Twilight’s Bella, are heavily criticised and preyed upon by feminists and many other kinds of “activists”, calling the works “sexist”.

But likewise, you should look at the kind of women/homosexual/coloured main characters in the books, such as Mexican WhiteBoy’s Danny, they seem to perpetuate an extensive list of stereotypes, which is not healthy at all. Mexican WhiteBoy was banned in AZ for its “threat against American values and identity”. What identity? You guys also portray mexicans with all the stereotypes in the book, so… I’m not for the banning of any book. You should read whatever the hell you want, but after reading Mexican WhiteBoy, I think that you could learn a lot more about Mexican culture, lifestyles and the joys and woes of being a mexican in America by just dropping by a taquería and speaking for five minutes with the cashier.

Not every Mexican or Southern/Central American identifies as “Latino”. I don’t consider myself latino at all, and although I’m part racially Hispanic (Judeo-Iberian/Sephardi), I’m not culturally hispanic at all. What’s the point in writing every Mexican/Latin American the same?   

The same goes to women in literature. Women are humans, and they have a wide array of positions, points of view, feelings, ideas and beliefs, so, what kind of female characters are OK and what kind of characters are wrong? 

Is Pa Joads wrong because he’s a weak male character? Is Ma Joads OK because she’s a strong female character? They are both OK, and most important, their development and personalities convey to the message Steinbeck was trying to give. 

About black and other coloured characters, seems that the norm is to portray them in a extremely positive and strong way, portray them as overwhelmingly oppressed, or not to include them at all. Personally, I think that making heroes or protagonists coloured just for the sake of “diversity” is the stupidest thing a writer could do. 

And for those complaining about the use of slurs: Do you really think Mark Twain or John Steinbeck were trying to give a racist message with their use of the word “nigger” in many of their works? If you said yes, I sincerely advise you to shut up and read them again with a critical mind. 

In my personal opinion, I think Twain wanted us to feel really bugged every time the word “nigger” showed up. To see the ignorance about the subject that people of the time and place had, and to show us that they were also human. Huck is an innocent character. Strong, but naïve. Born and raised in rural Missouri, do you think he, being he local drunkard’s son, knew what implications using the word has today?

What makes Twain’s works extremely credible is the way he characterised humanity. He wrote no “strong” nor “weak” characters, but human ones. Huck helped setting Jim free from slavery, although he believed he’d go to hell for his actions. Is Huck a strong character for helping a slave attain his freedom or a weak and stupid racist for calling him a “nigger”? None. Huck is human.

Readers who only read books with strong male/female/gay/transgender/black/white/whatever characters with the excuse that they enhance the portrayal diversity are no different than cardboard “christians” (they don’t even deserve capitalisation) who attack kind non-believers and hinder their efforts just because they don’t go around shouting and judging who’s going to hell. So biased they don’t realise their own arguments are backfiring. 

Characters are characters. I’m not a racist for writing some coloured characters as criminals, or sexist for writing some “weak” women. They are (mostly) humans. Thieves can be black, asian, inuit or white, as CEOs can be male, female, transgender, etc.

So, you’re planing to write a female, gay, black or “unconventional” character. A little advice (it also works for white males and “conventional” characters:

• Treat them like shit, discriminate them, or praise and glorify them. 
• Make them extremely “weak” or ridiculously “strong”.
• Use as much slur as you want. It doesn’t matter how offensive it gets. 
• Recognise their rights and treat them properly. Or not. 
• Give them lead roles, or minor roles, maybe insignificant ones, or don’t write them at all. 

Now, assuming you’re an intelligent being and not a blatant, stupid racist/sexist, the three Golden Rules:

1. Do your research, or at least give the character a convincing background if you’re going to incur in a cultural or ethnical oddity. Otherwise, you’ll be using your character just to add diversity and no depth, and that’s damn wrong, son. 
2. Does a black wife-beater add something worth telling to your story? Write it and don’t think about “respect”. What if the wife-beater were white? Does it work for your story? If not, just write it the way it’s supposed to be. Corollary: If pointing the race, ethnicity and even the gender of the character is not necessary, just don’t do it. That counts as trying to add diversity, and sometimes as giving pointless information.  
3. Respectfulness is good, but never try to change your story to be respectful with anyone. You’re a writer, and if you do fiction, you’re just creating that, fiction. Do you think every novel is autobiographical or portrays the feelings and ideals of its writer? 

And no, I’m not apologising for writing a Christian serial killer.

buttgenie:

writeworld:

Instead of whispered, consider:

• murmured
• mumbled
• muttered
• breathed
• sighed
• hissed
• mouthed
• uttered
• intoned
• susurrated
• purred
• said in an undertone
• gasped
• hinted
• said low
• said into someone’s ear
• said softly
• said under one’s breath
• said in hushed tones
• insinuated

aye lil mama let me insinuate in ya ear

aneira-hailey:

1. Absent: preoccupied
2. Agonized: as if in pain or tormented
3. Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire
4. Appealing: attractive, in the sense of encouraging goodwill and/or interest
5. Beatific: see blissful
6. Bilious: ill-natured
7. Black: angry or sad, or see hostile
8. Bleak: see grim and hopeless
9. Blinking: surprise, or lack of concern
10. Blissful: showing a state of happiness or divine contentment
11. Blithe: carefree, lighthearted, or heedlessly indifferent
12. Brooding: see anxious and gloomy
13. Bug eyed: frightened or surprised
14. Chagrined: humiliated or disappointed
15. Cheeky: cocky, insolent
16. Cheerless: sad
17. Choleric: hot-tempered, irate
18. Coy: flirtily playful, or evasive
19. Crestfallen: see despondent
20. Darkly: with depressed or malevolent feelings
21. Deadpan: expressionless, to conceal emotion or heighten humor
22. Dejected: see despondent
23. Derisive: see sardonic
24. Despondent: depressed or discouraged
25. Doleful: sad or afflicted
26. Dour: stern or obstinate; see also despondent
27. Downcast: see despondent
28. Dreamy: distracted by daydreaming or fantasizing
29. Ecstatic: delighted or entranced
30. Etched: see fixed
31. Faint: cowardly, weak, or barely perceptible
32. Fixed: concentrated or immobile
33. Furtive: stealthy
34. Gazing: staring intently
35. Glancing: staring briefly as if curious but evasive
36. Glaring: see hostile
37. Glazed: expressionless due to fatigue or confusion
38. Gloomy: see despondent and sullen
39. Glowering: annoyed or angry
40. Glowing: see radiant
41. Grim: see despondent; also, fatalistic or pessimistic
42. Grave: serious, expressing emotion due to loss or sadness
43. Haunted: frightened, worried, or guilty
44. Hopeless: depressed by a lack of encouragement or optimism
45. Hostile: aggressively angry, intimidating, or resistant
46. Hunted: tense as if worried about pursuit
47. Impassive: see deadpan
48. Inscrutable: mysterious, unreadable
49. Jeering: insulting or mocking
50. Languid: lazy or weak
51. Leering: see meaningful; also, sexually suggestive
52. Meaningful: to convey an implicit connotation or shared secret
53. Mild: easygoing
54. Mischievous: annoyingly or maliciously playful
55. Moody: see sullen
56. Pained: affected with discomfort or pain
57. Pallid: see wan
58. Peering: with curiosity or suspicion
59. Peeved: annoyed
60. Petulant: see cheeky and peeved
61. Pitying: sympathetic
62. Pleading: seeking apology or assistance
63. Pouting: see sullen
64. Quizzical: questioning or confused
65. Radiant: bright, happy
66. Roguish: see mischievous
67. Sanguine: bloodthirsty, confident
68. Sardonic: mocking
69. Scornful: contemptuous or mocking
70. Scowling: displeased or threatening
71. Searching: curious or suspicious
72. Set: see fixed
73. Shamefaced: ashamed or bashful
74. Slack-jawed: dumbfounded or surprised
75. Sly: cunning; see also furtive and mischievous
76. Snarling: surly
77. Sneering: see scornful
78. Somber: see grave
79. Sour: unpleasant
80. Stolid: inexpressive
81. Straight-faced: see deadpan
82. Sulky: see sullen
83. Sullen: resentful
84. Taunting: see jeering
85. Taut: high-strung
86. Tense: see taut
87. Tight: see pained and taut
88. Unblinking: see fixed
89. Vacant: blank or stupid looking
90. Veiled: see inscrutable
91. Wan: pale, sickly; see also faint
92. Wary: cautious or cunning
93. Wide eyed: frightened or surprised
94. Wild eyed: excited, frightened, or stressful
95. Wistful: yearning or sadly thoughtful
96. Withering: devastating; see also wrathful
97. Woeful: full of grief or lamentation
98. Wolfish: see leering and mischievous
99. Wrathful: indignant or vengeful
100. Wry: twisted or crooked to express cleverness or a dark or ironic feeling

writeworld:

by Ali (With thanks to Michael Pollock for the article suggestion and title.)

I’ve been writing, on and off, since my early teens – but it’s only in the last three years that I’ve really taken my writing seriously.

It’s made a dramatic difference. I write far, far more. I write better. I finish things – something which, at one point in my writing life, was pretty much unheard of.

In the past few years, I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside all sorts of great writers, during my MA in Creative Writing, and in my freelancing. I’ve noticed that serious writers – people who finish novels, who publish ebooks, who run successful freelancing businesses – typically have most of the following seven habits:

Keep reading

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment:

About the swear words – I’m not a native English speaker. In my language, words like shit or fuck are used more ‘commonly’. They don’t have the same value and I have a lot of trouble understanding the difference. Do you have any tips for me?

 Anonymous

Ooh… okay. Right, I forgot about that! 

(Faint of tongue, get out now)

Here, have an American English expletive guide.   

Dang – very mild expression of disappointment or surprise, not censored… anywhere(?) in media (suitable for all ages)
Damn – varies based on how religious you are/how much you think spewing damnation is a bad thing. I drop them like pennies into a couch.
Crap – ‘excrement,’ most people are fine with it if you’re older than 12 and not in a formal setting
Shit – harsher form of ‘crap’ (bullshit is a variant, used to mean that something is fake or stupid rather than just bad, and shithead is a way of calling people when they cut in front of you with their car and you don’t have kids in the backseat), most people want you to save ‘shit’ for badly stubbed toes/slicing your finger with an Xacto  
Bitch – technically, a female dog. Traditionally used to denote a catty or mean woman, more generally used now than ever (includes inanimate objects and males). Varies- If I say, “Ugh, that test was a bitch,” to Pen, she’ll probably be sympathetic. If I call Pen a bitch, she’ll probably be annoyed with me. My best friends are all fine being called bitches, but I would never, ever call my boss a bitch in any place where s/he could hear or see it
Ass – Buttocks, an idiotic person, or a type of equine. Equine’s totally fine, idiot is allowable, and ass for buttocks is often bleeped 
Piss – #1 Urine, not used in polite conversation, also 
#2 Pissed off- irritated. 
Ex.#1 Is that piss on the floor?! Bad Fido! 
Ex.#2 I’m okay, I’m just kind of pissed because Covert ate all of the pizza. 
Dick – Penis, stupid male, or short form of Richard. A shade more polite than bitch. 
Cock – Male bird, verb, or harsher form of dick. Used for the anatomical part or standalone, not usually used to describe a person
Balls – Testicles. Nobody really cares, cause it sounds a little British and Americans think everything’s more proper with a Brit accent. 
Boobs – Mild slang for breasts. Immature but not terribly offensive. Also technically can mean a stupid person.
Tits – Less polite form of boobs- females will usually only say boobs, males in (esp in groups) boobs or tits. Nothing to do with titmice. 
Asshole – Someone who not only cuts you off but gives you the finger on the freeway (no kids in car to hear)
Bastard – Illegitimate child, also used interchangeably with asshole 
———

Now, using me as a barometer, none of the above bother me much (with a little variation) in a causal, nonprofessional setting with no kids around. (I’m not religious, didn’t have strict family rules about it, and a lot of my friends were drama kids back in the day). 

Fuck – To fornicate. From the old english word meaning to plow a field. Referred to as the F Bomb in high schools. Because it is actually illegal to swear on the airplane radios, during the war it was incorporated into acronyms such as FUBAR and SNAFU (Fucked Up Beyond All Reason, Situation Normal, All Fucked Up). Unless you have cable, it’s bleeped on tv. Teenagers, truckers, and sawmill folks use it about every other sentence, but it tops the chart of the previous list for level of rudeness. Most people would never utter it in an office or in front of their granny. You get a free pass if you’ve broken a bone, facing impending doom, or protecting a child.

Cunt – female genitalia, or ‘also used as a derogatory epithet referring to people of either sex’. Very vulgar, unless you’re Toni Morrison, it’s one of those words that you just do not use. Don’t call someone that unless you want to get slapped. 
 ———-

Of the above, I will use ‘fuck’ but never ‘cunt.’ Fuck I wouldn’t use away from my peer group, if possible, and if I used it where I worked I would probably be reprimanded or fired. 

——-

Further reading/listening: Here is a link to a famous skit about what words are commonly censored on tv, based on the FCC guidelines.  

——-

I hope that that helped answer your question! If you or any other followers still have questions, feel free to ask. 

–Evvy