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DEEP CATACOMBS - Have you been trying to write stories for a long time, but
your characters just don’t seem right? Well, if so, you’re in luck, because
I’m here to show you how to write up an ideal character. You all know the importance
of having a good, realistic character when you write stories for the Neopian
Times, or anywhere for that matter. So, let’s get started on making that character,
shall we?
First of all, you need a reason to make your character. Is it for roleplaying?
How about a character you will use in many short stories? Whatever the reason
for your character is, you need to write down some information about him or
her, and then stick to it.
For example, if you make a character who’s afraid of heights, she’s not going
to climb down a cliff just because her friends are. But lets say that her petpet
is stuck on a ledge of the cliff, and its life is in danger. She’s going to
climb the cliff to rescue it, right? In most cases, of course!
So, let’s start making a character now that I’ve shared my wonderful wisdom
with you. *coughs* Note: You don’t necessarily need to write up all your
characters, just the main characters, or characters that you will use more than
a few times. For example, don’t write up a character description for a character
you mention once in your story.
Let’s get to work and learn how to write up character descriptions! First you
need a list similar to this one--
Name: (How will you be referring to your character?)
Species: (Is your character a human, or neopet?) Gender: (Is your character
going to be male, or female?)
Age: (How old is your pet?)
Appearance: (Is your character skinny, or fat? Bald, or lots of hair?)
Health: (Is your pet handicapped in any way? Does it have a disease?)
Family and Friends: (Names of family and friends, possibly a one sentence description
of them.)
Hobbies: (What does your character like spending his or her time doing?)
Fears or Superstitions: (Is your character afraid of the dark, or do they have
silly superstitions?)
Favorite Foods: (What does your character like eating?)
Location: (Where your character lives.)
Add as much information to this list as you need, or can think of, to make
your character just right. Remember, when you write a character, stick to its
personality. It would seem silly to have a person (or pet) who doesn’t like
water constantly going to the lake.
OK, now I’m going to make my own character as an example. I will be using all
the information above, as well as adding some of my own.
Name: Kit
Species: Yellow Aisha
Gender: Female
Age: Nobody is quite sure, because she was abandoned by her former owner.
Appearance: Silky, smooth fur, bright blue eyes, and slightly large paws.
Health: She rarely gets sick, because of her *cough* healthy rotten fish diet.
Family and Friends: She doesn’t have a family, and she only has one close friend.
Her best friend’s name is Rose, a pink Kacheek.
Hobbies: Wood carving and reading.
Fears or Superstitions: She is afraid of Wadgets, because one bite to her could
be deadly.
Favorite Foods: Fruit, mostly apples and oranges. She eats whatever she can
get.
Location: She lives on the streets of Neopia Central.
Ambitions: She wants to be a famous woodcarver someday. Already, she is selling
her works for Neopoints, which she uses for food for herself.
Mood: Most of the time, Kit is very joyful, and when she gets mad, she gets
MAD, but regrets it with all her heart. She can be offending at times without
even knowing it.
Nicknames: None
Enemies: Rose's owner
Of course, you would need to write up a character for her best friend Rose,
but I won’t do that for time’s sake.
Time to write a few paragraphs about Kit, as an example.
Kit was sitting with her back to the wall of a building, holding a woodcarving
knife in her hand. She was sculpting a piece of soft wood, carefully carving out
a replica of Rose, her best friend. Her birthday was coming up, and she wanted
to make her something special.
She gazed intensely at her statue for a few seconds, then threw it down on
the ground. “It’s no good. I’ve been at it for hours, and I can’t seem to get
it right,” she yelled to herself.
“What’s no good?” came a voice. The Aisha looked up and saw that the voice
came from Rose.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter. I was trying to make something for you for your birthday…”
she stopped, and flung her hand to her mouth, and said no more. She crawled
over to the piece of wood she had thrown down, and picked it up gently.
“Is something the matter?” asked Rose sympathetically. “You seem upset. You
can tell me what’s wrong.”
“No, I can’t. You wouldn’t understand. You don’t know what it’s like living
on the streets. I know you mean good, but you just couldn’t understand.” Kit
jumped to her feet and burst off running, leaving her bewildered friend staring
after her, mouth open.
Kit ran and ran, until she reached a nearby pond. She frowned at how she had
just behaved to her loyal friend. She had only been trying to help. Kit sighed
and was about to sit down when all of the sudden, she spotted a Wadget in the
tall reeds. She stood frozen, not able to move as the Wadget got closer and
closer to her.
See how the characters seemed to come alive? I stuck to what my character description
said about Kit, and it worked out perfectly. If you don’t stick to what you
said, the story will end up being confusing, and the characters won’t seem real.
I’ll rewrite one of my paragraphs, this time without paying attention to my
description of Kit.
“No, I can’t. You wouldn’t understand. You don’t know what it’s like living
on the streets. I know you mean good, but you just couldn’t understand.” Kit
stood up, and flew away, leaving her bewildered friend staring after her, mouth
open.
See what’s wrong? Kit flew away?! Aishas don’t have wings unless they’re painted
Faerie, but I said in my character description that she was a yellow Aisha,
not a Faerie one.
Yeah, so maybe you wouldn’t go that extreme, but I a point to prove, right?
I hope this guide helped you, and if not, I’m sorry. If it did, you’re on your
way to making characters! Why not Neomail me and tell me what you thought? I’d
love to hear from you!
Author’s Note: Please do not use the character I made, mainly because I'll
probably be using her someday. I have a report feature on my side, and I'm not
afraid to use it! Thanks for being considerate enough to not steal my work.
:)
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