The Character Builder
Character Creation Questionnaire
1. Name
2. Age
3, Where does he/she live?
4. Marital status - attitude towards it
5. Family - brothers and sisters, children?
6. Occupations of parents
7. Physical details: height: weight: skin/hair colour:
other. Happy with appearance?
8. Voice - pitch, accent, idiosyncrasies
9. Style of dress (including nightwear)
10. Self image - worries, insecurities, pride
11. Education - successes, failures, hopes, mistakes
12. Occupation and attitude towards it
13. Political affiliations if any
14. Favourite food/drink. Smoker/non-smoker
15. Favourite relaxation
16. Favourite book/film/music
17. Best friend
18. Worst enemy
19. Best fantasy
20. Worst fear
21. Best virtue
22. Worst vice
23. Best kept secret
24. What do friends say about him/her?
25. What do enemies say about him/her?
26. What is his/her most pressing problem?
27. What person or thing would he/she die to protect?
28 What would he/she never do?
29. What does he/she most want?
30. Describe a typical day in his/her life.
Bad Words Checklist
Not 'rude words' but words which tend to be overused, ot have a weakening effect on your writing Use 'Find' facility to check how many times each one turns up in your piece, and if its use not justified - eliminate!
and but that just
very nearly almost really
seem appear great so
quite few rather might
stuff anyway well because
then even only thing
down/up felt/feel got/get
there is/are begin/began
there was/were would/should/could
ALSO
Take a close look at:
- all words ending in -ly (adverbs)
- overuse of adjectives (one per noun sufficient for most purposes).
- verbs in passive voice (e.g. I was hit by a bus)
Plot Generator
You know those time when you just can't seem to come up with any ideas? I have devised a way to kick-start the creative process. (It also works as a group exercise - I've tried it out on Tamworth Writers) I call it
THE GREEN PATENT PLOT GENERATOR KIT
To make
Take 9 cards (5x3 ins or A6 size). Cut each in half, then in half again.
Divide resulting 36 cards into 3 piles of 12 each. These are you Protagonist/ Antagonists/ McGuffins. Label back of each card accordingly.
On front of each card from P and A piles, write a possible character eg policeman, stepmother, lap dancer. You can give each one an attribute eg 'absent-minded balloonist'. This is not essential, but it makes things more interesting.
The third pile, the McGuffins, are things on which the plot turns. They may be actual objects - a car, a knife, a ring - or more intangible - a talent, a curse.
Below as an example, is my own general purpose kit. Obviously the characters can be adapted to idndividual requirements. (Also, there is nothing magic about 12 per category. I chose to start with 36 because it can be divded by 3 and 4)
Protagonist Antagonist McGuffin
unfaithful wife beautiful footballer bridge
undiscovered actress bullying boss promise
inefficient secretary mother-in-law fire
drunken sailor violent nurse house
deceived husband impatient patient bus
ungrateful child badtempered driver key
unwilling pupil sympathetic burglar gift
deceived wife frightened bishop door
unfaithful husband unsuccessful murderer will
envious gardener rude shop assistant ship
abandoned child bald hairdresser maze
frustrated writer incompetent judge threat
To use
Shuffle each pack and take a card from each. eg (P) unfaithful husband, (A) bald hairdresser (McG) key. Put them together, shake well and see what comes out.
Some people might like to combine the P and A categories in one, and simply draw out one card for P and a second for A.
Separate kits can be made up for genre plots. This is my Fantasy Kit:
Protagonist Antagonist McGuffin
prince dwarf cup
princess witch sword
knight dragon crown
wizard ghost mirror
poor girl stepmother ring
fairy/elf goblin stone
3rd son sorceror book
peasnt boy tyrant map
cat wolf tree
A Sci-Fi Kit could include - mad inventor, space explorer, aliens etc. while
a Crime/Mystery kit might need 4 categories: Crime; Perpetrator; Victim; Detective;
The permutations are endless - and the method does work . I've tried it!
