Post by !sarah on Jun 26, 2013 5:19:34 GMT
.. and keeping them diverse!
HOW TO; Successfully write many characters- and keep them diverse.
You’ve finally finished. Every character biography for your roleplay has been written, and now all that’s left to do is send your hard work off into the universe to be appreciated by the rest of the roleplaying community- except… well, except for one thing. Oh, no. As you’re reading over your characters, you realize they’re all clones of each other. Their names are too similar, their backgrounds are near-identical, and their personality traits are all just synonyms. How are you possibly going to remedy such a catastrophic event in time to open your group?
That’s exactly what I’m here to assist you with today.
I’ve assembled here a list of steps for you to take into consideration when writing your characters. Please don’t take these as me saying that this is the only way to write biographies- the steps are merely suggestions, and you may pick and choose through them as much as you like.
STEP ONE; Map out your characters.
One of the biggest mistakes I see admins make when they begin writing characters is not making a plan for them beforehand. Without a quick sketch of how your characters are going to intertwine with each other- and that depends on the genre of your roleplay- things can get messy quickly. While pre-set romantic relationships/endgames are usually frowned upon by most roleplayers, pre-set friendships and connections can be very helpful- especially for some of those shier roleplayers who are more hesitant when it comes to approaching another member of the group.
STEP TWO; Design a bio format.
It’s going to bother you in the back of your mind for ages if you don’t come up with one; not to mention that having sections (History, Early Life, Personality, Secret, etc.) depending on what type of roleplay you’re creating will prepare you for knowing exactly what it is that you have to come up with for each character. This tutorial is helpful for coming up with bio layouts, and this one explains the process of writing bios themselves a bit more.
STEP THREE; WRITE.
This is my favorite part. Make yourself a cup of hot chocolate (or tea, if that’s more what suits your fancy), grab a warm blanket, and let your heart spill into your characters and out and onto the pages. Er, screen. Sorry, that was really cheesy, but it’s true. If you don’t truly care about your characters, nobody reading your bios is going to care about them either. You can find a helpful list of writing tips in general here.
Make sure you write about interesting characters that you would want to play yourself, and that all of their positive traits come across easily. Of course, you shouldn’t forget the negative ones, though. No one likes a Mary Sue. Just make your character understandable. If they’re coldhearted on the outside, give them a reason for acting that way. If they’re always bright and optimistic, give them a reason.
Roleplayers are so much more likely to audition for a character with rich undertones than a flat, lifeless one without them. ｡◕ ‿ ◕｡
And just to mention a point I think I forgot earlier on, there is one thing that bothers me that some people say about writing biographies…
MYTH; You always have to choose a faceclaim before you start to write a character.
Completely false. In some cases, it’s better to forget about faceclaims entirely while you’re writing up a role. This method may not work for all admins, but I find that choosing a faceclaim after the role has been written prevents me from automatically writing a character around what that face is usually like in other roleplays- or, in some cases, trying too hard to avoid what they’re typically written as- and it takes so much of the fun out of writing characters.
Remember this: if you aren’t having any fun writing, you should probably step back and do something different until it stops becoming a chore. Take breaks, get up and stretch every once in a while (It’s good for you!), and most importantly… don’t procrastinate.
Whatever you do, don’t leave writing your characters until the last minute. When you’re anxious, tired, and being pressured into releasing your roles early, you aren’t going to be as thorough with your characters as you could be if you’d just written them earlier.
However, if you do unfortunately find yourself in that situation someday, phnx has already written a brilliant guide that’s a million times better than anything I could tell you to help you through it.
Stay strange, my lovelies. (◡‿◡✿)
HOW TO; Successfully write many characters- and keep them diverse.
You’ve finally finished. Every character biography for your roleplay has been written, and now all that’s left to do is send your hard work off into the universe to be appreciated by the rest of the roleplaying community- except… well, except for one thing. Oh, no. As you’re reading over your characters, you realize they’re all clones of each other. Their names are too similar, their backgrounds are near-identical, and their personality traits are all just synonyms. How are you possibly going to remedy such a catastrophic event in time to open your group?
That’s exactly what I’m here to assist you with today.
I’ve assembled here a list of steps for you to take into consideration when writing your characters. Please don’t take these as me saying that this is the only way to write biographies- the steps are merely suggestions, and you may pick and choose through them as much as you like.
STEP ONE; Map out your characters.
One of the biggest mistakes I see admins make when they begin writing characters is not making a plan for them beforehand. Without a quick sketch of how your characters are going to intertwine with each other- and that depends on the genre of your roleplay- things can get messy quickly. While pre-set romantic relationships/endgames are usually frowned upon by most roleplayers, pre-set friendships and connections can be very helpful- especially for some of those shier roleplayers who are more hesitant when it comes to approaching another member of the group.
STEP TWO; Design a bio format.
It’s going to bother you in the back of your mind for ages if you don’t come up with one; not to mention that having sections (History, Early Life, Personality, Secret, etc.) depending on what type of roleplay you’re creating will prepare you for knowing exactly what it is that you have to come up with for each character. This tutorial is helpful for coming up with bio layouts, and this one explains the process of writing bios themselves a bit more.
STEP THREE; WRITE.
This is my favorite part. Make yourself a cup of hot chocolate (or tea, if that’s more what suits your fancy), grab a warm blanket, and let your heart spill into your characters and out and onto the pages. Er, screen. Sorry, that was really cheesy, but it’s true. If you don’t truly care about your characters, nobody reading your bios is going to care about them either. You can find a helpful list of writing tips in general here.
Make sure you write about interesting characters that you would want to play yourself, and that all of their positive traits come across easily. Of course, you shouldn’t forget the negative ones, though. No one likes a Mary Sue. Just make your character understandable. If they’re coldhearted on the outside, give them a reason for acting that way. If they’re always bright and optimistic, give them a reason.
Roleplayers are so much more likely to audition for a character with rich undertones than a flat, lifeless one without them. ｡◕ ‿ ◕｡
And just to mention a point I think I forgot earlier on, there is one thing that bothers me that some people say about writing biographies…
MYTH; You always have to choose a faceclaim before you start to write a character.
Completely false. In some cases, it’s better to forget about faceclaims entirely while you’re writing up a role. This method may not work for all admins, but I find that choosing a faceclaim after the role has been written prevents me from automatically writing a character around what that face is usually like in other roleplays- or, in some cases, trying too hard to avoid what they’re typically written as- and it takes so much of the fun out of writing characters.
Remember this: if you aren’t having any fun writing, you should probably step back and do something different until it stops becoming a chore. Take breaks, get up and stretch every once in a while (It’s good for you!), and most importantly… don’t procrastinate.
Whatever you do, don’t leave writing your characters until the last minute. When you’re anxious, tired, and being pressured into releasing your roles early, you aren’t going to be as thorough with your characters as you could be if you’d just written them earlier.
However, if you do unfortunately find yourself in that situation someday, phnx has already written a brilliant guide that’s a million times better than anything I could tell you to help you through it.
Stay strange, my lovelies. (◡‿◡✿)
Guide by Kazza