Writing For All

Write Your Story

One thing I don't think I mentioned before, another point in this is to provide knowledge of cultural/regional things that other might not know of. For example: someone may not know the particular name of something in a particular region (say they have a character from that region). You can comment or tell me and I can put it here. I just know that I stress a lot over getting cultural things correct because I love making characters from all kinds of different cultures.

Example of a regional thing. In NH, where I live, we have butter on bread. It's something we have with dinners, basically if there are bread rolls, there's butter to go along with it and spread on top. I told this to a friend who lives in Texas and they didn't like that idea at all. I kind of assumed it was an international thing, but apparently it's a northeastern thing.

...

I want to start this out with something I have to keep telling myself all the time. And that is, write your story, because no one else can tell it like you can.

Nowadays it seems like everything's been written, which isn't true but it sure seems that way sometimes. It's especially hard because people always seem to be comparing your work to other works that everyone knows. If you write anything with magic, you're taking from Harry Potter, if you're doing anything supernatural-like (vampires, demons, angels), you're taking from Supernatural or your pick of animes or other shows out there.

I think it's hard because we all use the same basic ideas, but we use them differently. If you're writing and your plot or character ends up having the same personality as a character in another series or they're going through the same trials, you may be subconsciously taking it from the series. There are times when it is purely coincidence (it's happened to me) and that's totally okay!

That's something else that we could discuss here as well. If you have a plot or a character that you're not sure about, just send an outline of them and we can talk about them!

Speaking of character development, here's an extensive character file that I have yet to completely fill out for any one of my characters.

(link to document for copy + paste https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wa0li3S82H_1zfqtZp4xODkGl2tNILW2nVmjMWlinH4/edit?usp=sharing )

BASIC INFORMATION
Full name:
Pronunciation:
Nickname(s) or Alias:
Gender:
Species:
Age:
Birthday:
Sexuality:
Nationality:
Religion:
City or town of birth:
Currently lives:
Languages spoken:
Native language:
Relationship Status:
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Height:
Weight:
Figure/build:
Hair colour:
Hairstyle:
Facial Hairstyle:
Eye colour:
Skin/fur/etc colour:
Tattoos:
Piercings:
Scars/distinguishing marks:
Preferred style of clothing:
Frequently worn jewellery/accessories:
HEALTH
Smoker?
Drinker?
Recreational Drug User? Which?
Addictions:
Allergies:
Any physical ailments/illnesses/disabilities:
Any medication regularly taken:
PERSONALITY
Personality:
Likes:
Dislikes:
Fears/phobias:
Favourite colour:
Hobbies:
Taste in music:
SKILLS
Talents/skills:
Ability to drive a car? Operate any other vehicles?
EATING HABITS
Omnivore/Carnivore/Herbivore (Vegetarian):
Favourite food(s):
Favourite drink(s):
Disliked food(s):
Disliked drink(s):
HOUSE AND HOME
Describe the character's house/home:
Do they share their home with anyone? Who?
Significant/special belongings:
CAREER
Level of education:
Qualifications:
Current job title and description:
Name of employer:
COMBAT
Peaceful or aggressive attitude?
Fighting skills/techniques:
Special skills/magical powers/etc:
Weapon of choice (if any):
Weaknesses in combat:
Strengths in combat:
FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FOES
Parents names:
Are parents alive or dead?
Is the character still in contact with their parents? Siblings?
Relationship with siblings?
Other Important Relatives:
Partner/Spouse:
Children:
Best Friend:
Other Important Friends:
Acquaintances:
Pets:
Enemies? Why are they enemies?
BACKSTORY
Describe their childhood (newborn - age 10):
Describe their teenage years (11 - 19):
Describe their adult years (20+):