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Creating Fictional Characters
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What is a character sketch? A character sketch is an outline of the character's life such as physical appearance, where the person lives, occupation, possessions, education, personality, hobbies, interests, and other traits.
When you start to develop a character sketch of your protagonist, you need to take each character trait and ask yourself questions about your character. For example, "Where does the person live?"
The questions you ask will help you develop your character. As you continue with your sketch, you will realize that your fictional character has become realistic, and your readers will visualize your character, too. Physical appearance and possessions The easiest character trait to describe is the character's physical appearance. You start by describing how the character looks physically such as size of physical stature, color and length of hair, color of eyes, and what kind of clothes he or she wears. You can also mention the main character's favorite colors and his or her possessions.
Let's look at the following characters.
Christy and Megan Parker, who are identical twins, are both slender, have long golden brown hair, and tawny brown eyes. However, Christy's hair is a shade lighter than Megan's, but people still have trouble knowing which one is which. Since they were identical twins, they preferred to dress alike, and they liked the same colors.
When they were younger, they shared a bedroom, and now they have their own cars and they live together in their own house. Personality A protagonist's personality is more difficult to create, but it's not impossible if you think of your character as a realistic person. Let's look at the two characters: Christy and Megan.
Christy's Personality
Christy always wanted to be honest about the things she did or didn't accomplish because she wanted to avoid being disciplined. Christy believed in God and wanted to do the right thing, but she didn't want Megan to get punished, so she decided to follow Megan when she wanted to solve a mystery. However, there were times when Christy enjoyed being sneaky. When they became adults and were on their own, Christy still wanted to be available to help Megan.
Megan's Personality
Megan wanted to be honest, but sometimes she ended up in a situation where she lied. She wanted to be perfect because she felt like everyone would like her better. If she made any mistakes, she became upset.
Christy and Megan's mother wanted them to dress differently so they could develop their own personality. Megan became upset because she wanted to be like Christy, so she devised a scheme where she could dress like Christy.
Megan put on a different top, but she had the same top as Christy's under it. When they were outside, Megan took off her top layer and hid it under some leaves by a tree. Now, they were dressed alike. However, when they returned home, Megan found out that her top she hid was wet. She didn't know what to do at first, but she came up with a sneaky plan as usual.
This description reveals how realistic Megan is because most children attempt to do something sneaky so they won't get caught. Their interests One way to describe characters is to reveal their interests and create them realistically. For example, Christy and Megan have the same interests. Let's look at the following description.
Christy and Megan enjoyed going outside and sitting under their favorite cedar tree and talking about their day or their feelings. They liked to relax in the evening and listen to Christian music, watch television, write in their journals, write short stories and books, or read their mystery novels. They became junior detectives when they were younger, and later one, they became private detectives. They enjoyed solving mysteries.
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Things Needed Spiral notebook Pens or pencils White Outs or erasers Post-It notes Computer and printer Tips & Warnings  Make sure you have a list of character traits for your protagonist Write out the information about each character trait Use the post-it notes when an idea comes to you
Joyce Carol Oates - On Writing Characters
Complete video at: fora.tv Critically acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates discusses how a writer develops realistic characters, using examples from her novel "The Gravedigger's Daughter." ----- Joyce Carol Oates talks about "The Gravedigger's Daughter." A family desperate to escape Nazi Germany settles in upstate New York, where the father is demeaned by the only job he can get: gravedigger an cemetery caretaker. What follows is a tale of unspeakable tragedy, as the gravedigger's daughter begins her astonishing pilgrimage into America, an odyssey of ingenious self-invention and bittersweet triumph - Book Passage Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American author and the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing at Princeton University, where she has taught since 1978. She serves as associate editor for the Ontario Review, a literary magazine, and the Ontario Review Press, a literary book publisher, both of which are edited by her husband, Raymond J. Smith.
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How-To Guide Rating: 90
