I Write, Therefore I Am (Definitely Procrastinating)

Before I begin the excellent writing on spring and witty jokes on writing that I promiseIpromiseIpromise there'll be here, I need to take a moment to say happy birthday to the person who is the embodiment of YWFTBA (You Won't Forget To Be Awesome)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALI GIRL/AGENT SD/SARLERFISH!!!!!


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So, anyway, as you can see here, I finally got Write This Book, which I am supermegaexcited about. I spent a lot of today (well, after I went to the book store and read half of Divergent. On that: it may just be my intrinsic hate of everyone fans like *cough, yes, I ship Everthorne. Because Gale* Four just annoys me. Sorry, Jenny.) in my backyard, taking pictures of the beautiful vibrant sunlight (that is much brighter than it is warm, believe me *brrrr*) and reading Write This Book. So when I got to the part with questions for you to answer to get to know your characters, I ran up stairs and got my handwritten list and my NaNoWriMo list (most helpful writing resource ever here). While you can't call me an experienced writer- I wrote one self-published book, and one I'm finishing up write now (and by that I mean I'm starting) - you can call me experienced with characters. When I was younger, I used to carry this notebook where I'd draw characters and get to know them completely for no reason at all- I didn't write stories, and I never wrote novels. I've had these questions for three years, and I've used them for my novella EL32's characters.

Here is the one catch- if your book is sci-fi, or fantasy, or in any other way set so these questions don't work, picture them placed in our world. These ten questions are good after you do basic questions from the NaNo workbooks or WTB, to get to know your characters better. Feel honored that I'm sharing these with you XD:

1. What phases did your character go through when he/she was younger?
2. What kind of music do your character's parents think he/she listens to? What does he/she actually listen to?
3. What does his/her room look like? What would a classmate who doesn't know this character TOO well guess his/her room looks like?

This is bolded, because this is one of the easiest questions to use to look at to determine how a character's personality is in juxtaposition to what people interpret as his/her personality. For example, you could have a character who people think's room looks like:

It was neat, as everything about (name) was. The turquoise comforter was neatly swept over the bed, and in turn covered with throw pillows. The walls were filled with art, sketched by her in various places, and photographs of her ventures through the farmland surrounding their city. A table in the corner showed a newly acquired passion for water colors, while also holding a few plastic cups that could only be for practicing the cups song, which (name) loved so much. Some autumnal leaves hung on twine like a canopy above the bed, give the room the overall feel of warmth and care.

while her room may actually look like....

One glance at the room, and I was down on the ground, scared of the aftershocks that would certainly be powerful after an earthquake of these proportions. That was how hideous it was. Th comforter lay forgotten on the floor, a dark camouflage of indecipherable color. Clothes were strewn around it, as were blankets and other bedding. On the bed, she lay asleep, looking decidedly out of place in her colorful designer-label clothing and perfectly executed makeup. Her hair hung in waves of blonde, contrasting with the bile green of the walls. The only other element breaking the darkness was the sunlight streaming in through a nearby open window, illuminating posters advertising for Green Day and The Rolling Stones.

I just made that up of the top of my head, but it's given you a pretty good idea of what she's like. She's neat and stylish and probably pretty, and everyone thinks her room is the same, but it's actually a war zone. People think she likes art, and quirky indie-rock music. She likes Green Day and The Rolling Stones. We can already see where the Margo Roth Speigleman-like confict may lie.


4. How do teachers perceive this character?
5. Favorite kind of candy?
6. What do they do after school? What would a classmate guess they do after school?
7. Does he/she like sprinkles? Rainbow or chocolate?
8. What does he/she do when he/she can't sleep? What would teachers think he/she'd do? Parents? Friends? Random classmates?
9. Favorite type of donuts?
10. What is his/her handwriting like?