It was the early to mid-2000s, back when teens began giving up on grammar in favor of chatspeak, when all you needed to be emo was black mascara, and when Justin Beiber had yet to inflict his scourge upon the world; and I hated all boys.

This was a result of bad stalking experiences more than from any one specific terrible relationship.  I was a plump 6 where 10 could have its pick of thinner and beautiful chinitas and mestisas, and I was an adorable Asianesque Maggie Gyllenhaal in a sea of Megan Foxes and Nicole Scherzingers. My one distinguishing trait was being a geeky chick, and geeky chicks were a rare enough species back then that I soon befriended similarly geeky guys who were, apparently, attracted to me like moths to that metaphorical flame.

Except I was the one who felt burned out. There were nice guys who took the hint and backed away after I said I wasn’t interested, and had friends around to talk them out of it when they relapsed. But then there were the stalkers: the ones who called me up at all hours of the night, who wrote me long impassioned emails about nothing, who pestered me incessantly while I was out with friends. There were those who claimed I was dating them, others who proclaimed I was their girlfriend, even one who intimated I had several one night stands with him, wrecking my reputation to beef up his own (which few people believed, fortunately). One girl went so far as to claim she knew everything about me, as she stalked whatever aspect of my life she could reach to garner this information. (I only met her once before, and was unaware of her crush until her friends started coming up to me, asking about our ‘relationship’.)

It was a horrible time. Because these boys (and one girl) belonged to the same geek circles I was in, I was forced to cut myself off from most of these groups for my own peace of mind.  And I was mad. Were these people so deprived of girl companions that they start obsessing over the first who was nice to them? I decided I was going to finish the remainder of my university life single and drama-less.

Two months later, a guy asked me out. We’ve been sharing Japanese classes since freshmen year, but never really talked until recently. He was nice and friendly, was something of a geek (he would fix friends’ computers and help out with programming assignments without asking for anything in return), and had an unusual sense of humor.  People knew him around campus as the “nice Chinese guy with the Mac book” and also for the several white shirts he wears almost everyday (he admits to not really caring much about fashion). He was tall, on the skinny side (but with broad shoulders and a large frame), thick messy hair, a wide grin and a roughly 3.5 GPA he barely studied for.  He spent his childhood and the better part of high school in Canada, and he had a deep, comforting voice that, though unaccented, was very obviously Canadian in manner.

And I wasn’t sure. He was nice, and he was cute in a naive geeky sort of way, but we’d only been friends for a week, and two months isn’t that long a time to remember all the stress and havoc naive geeky boys can wreak on my life.

I’m still not sure what made me say yes. Maybe it was the hopeful way he was looking at me, maybe that  something in his manner that told me he was already trying to compensate for the rejection he thought he was going to get from asking me, a trait none of the other guys had ever displayed.

So I accepted.

Late last November, several years later, we were married.

He’s filled out his frame (a lot) and is no longer skinny. His hair’s not as messy as it used to be, and he’s gotten a taste for nice dark coats and a nicer wardrobe, which I’d like to think is partly my doing.  I am no longer angry at boys, which is mostly all his doing.

What do you get out of all this? In writing, don’t let bad experiences at rejection keep you from taking a chance at working on something that you feel will pay off. (See how I spun that to fit a novel / writing analogy in. Boom.) Sometimes you get a lot of wrong so you’ll know when that one right comes along.  I’d like to think that all those bad experiences helped me realize the ones that weren’t right for me, so I’d know when the right guy came asking.

A very belated Valentine’s to the hubby. <3

Click picture for image credit.
—————–

February Blog Chain Links:

Turndog-Millionaire - http://turndog-millionaire.com/ (link to this month’s post)
orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to this month’s post)
Ralph Pines - http://ralfast.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
magicmint - http://www.loneswing.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Tomspy77 - http://thomaswillamspychalski.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
LilGreenBookworm - http://themayhemofwritingsahm-style.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
LiterateParakeet - http://lesliesillusions.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
AFord - http://af12.webs.com/ (link to this month’s post)
writingismypassion - http://charityfaye.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
SuzanneSeese - http://www.viewofsue.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Bogna - http://bemaslanka.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
kiwiviktor81 - http://storygenerator.net/ (link to this month’s post)
randi.lee - http://emotionalnovel.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
areteus - http://lurkingmusings.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Domoviye - http://working-in-china.com/ (link to this month’s post)
pyrosama - http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
julzperri - http://www.fishandfrivolity.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Nissie - http://www.paperheroes.net/ YOU’RE HERE!
in_one - http://quirkythomas.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
sambgood - http://www.samanthabagood.com/ (link to this month’s post)

This is a green tea cake with strawberry cream filling.

I love cake. Love love love it with the fires of a thousand suns. And this cake is ridiculously pretty, like 95% of commercial cakes out there. It looks too gorgeous  to eat.

And that’s kind of the problem. I don’t entirely understand the proverb of not being able to have your cake and eat it, too. (What’s the point of having cake if you can’t eat it?) When it comes to all things cake, everyone knows it’s still the taste that’s important. The cake might have all the outward appearance of dark liquid chocolate, but nobody likes a center full of hard unchewable nougat.

Same goes with writing. You can dress it up with flowery language or literary prose or even figure an iambic pentameter or two into an epigraph, but these are the literary whipped creams and artificial flavorings of what makes up your plot. These are not what necessarily make the story good – it’s the major ingredients like flour and sugar and chocolate and fillings you use that make all the difference. Would a good cake still taste great without the added cream and sprinkles? Absolutely. Would a good story idea still work without dressing it up with an unnecessary romance or hot vampires? Very much so. When you’re competing in the chocolate cake category, you need to find a unique ingredient to make your confectionery stand out. Similarly, when you’re competing for agents in a sea of dystopian novels, you need something to make agents sit up and say, “Hey, I never heard of it done in this way before. What would that taste like?”

But not all agents appreciate the same kind of cake. Some LOVE chocolate, others are vegan. Some love the taste of spiced apple, and others prefer a mango tart. So when baking your cake, it’s good to know what selection your target agent prefers. You might think your white chocolate ice cream mousse is the toast of the town, but that does diddly squat to an agent who’s allergic to cocoa.

And if you have tastes so obscure that you can find no other agent sharing a similar preference, then maybe it’s time to take a big risk and market your concoction directly to the world via self-publishing. There’s a bigger chance of being dismissed by all the big cake connoisseurs, but who knows? You might find a million people who just happen to like the same peach-and-cassava cake you’ve got in the oven, and if there’s anything bigger than reviews in fancy food magazines, it’s word of mouth.

So that’s what you need to ask yourself – is your story good enough to eat? Is there the right mix of character development and conflict, of a satisfying climax and resolution / denouement? Has it been thoroughly baked in months of constant editing and revising, so that it comes out neither underbaked nor overdone? Does the combination of strawberry and lemon work, or does it need a dash of almonds, a smattering of more action or less dialogue?

And that’s why you need to eat cake. Figure out what flavor works with your story, and take out everything that makes it too rich, or too sweet, or too overtly creamy. Sample it again, then repeat the process until you’re satisfied.

Write your cake, and then eat it, too.

*other cakes depicted here were from the Cake Couture Exhibition at the Podium Mall. Lots of free samples. Yay.

Here’s another way to figure out what kind of story structure you’ve got going, along with what kind of characters you have. This table was made by the wonderfully creative computersherpa, and tropes are based on TV Tropes.

It’s a freakishly fun exercise to figure out if your character / novel has themes that may be too common, or if you successfully subvert enough tropes to  make it unique for your genre. Here’s a few examples using three of my five hundred and sixteen existing WIPs:

The Unusual States of Dead Girls

Un – IacEwi – Sqi
|
Bb

This means Unusual States has an Undead protagonist (this is not in the periodic table, but it was the closest trope) with a very decided Berserk Button when something is mentioned in her presence, and has an antagonist who is a Sealed Evil in a Can (and also serves as an Evil Within moment for another contagonist), and since this is a psychological horror YA, much Squick ensues.

Firekeeper

Sv
|
Stw Cal (Two Roads) – Kz Det
|                                          |
Aa                                   Dyn

The story revolves around a Klutz but is nonetheless a Determinator who progresses into a Dynamic Character as the story continues, where he has to Save the World and answer The Call (Two Roads are placed before him, forcing him to choose one) where Magic A is Magic A but in the end, will eventually be revealed to be a Subverted Trope.

Clock Tiger

Emp
|
Phl Tb Aa
|
Bbw – Scl – Ag
|
Sav

A Badass Bookworm (who is very Genre Savvy) and an Action Girl are Star-crossed Lovers in a world where Magic A is Magic A, with Applied Phlebotinum and a bit of Techno Babble, and a whole Empire after them.

Note the differences. You can easily see that while Firekeeper and Clock Tiger incorporate more story and plot-driven elements, Unusual States relies more on character development and interaction.

This can apply to individual characters, too. You should be able to tell what kind of personality your character would have based on their elements. Here’s an example using one of my favorite characters from Firekeeper, named Cole:

Cal (Resigned)
|
Th Jhg – Edh

So by this description, we know Cole is a Tragic Hero (the implication something happen to him at some point in the series, and it ain’t gonna be pretty), yet is also a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and, (if my beta readers are right on this) would be Ensemble Darkhorse fodder, since he seems to be pretty popular with them.

Try this out with your own characters / novels! It’s already put some perspective on some of my WIPs (do I really want Techno Babble to be a defining trait for Clock Tiger, for example?) and it probably can for yours, too!

Warning: If you click on TV Tropes you’re going to be wiki-hopping like crazy for the next several hours, so I made brief summaries of each element listed below, with a TV Trope link. (Ctrl+f and type the element you’d like to read a summary of.) Just long enough to stay on this page and cobble together a few of your own story blocks BEFORE succumbing to wiki temptation.

————————————————————–
STRUCTURE:

[c] Conflict – what it says. Must be the driving force of the plot (contemporary YA won’t be big on this, for example)

[3as] Three Act Structure – self-explanatory

[Re] The Reveal – “The Reveal is in fact a rather easily explained trope. A lot of mystery stories wouldn’t work without either the criminal or the detective explaining how the crime was committed, and a lot of other plots would leave people with more questions than answers if they never bothered to explain the plot to other characters…and by extension, the viewers. It’s easy to explain it off-screen, but doing so would confuse the viewer and make them think they missed something.”

[Cmx] The Climax – ” When the Big Bad and The Hero duke it out over the MacGuffin. When the detective has his showdown with the murderer. Etc.”

[Den] The Denouement – “French for “unknotting”, and means the point in the story when mysteries are unraveled, fates are determined and explanations are made. It is not, as is commonly believed, synonymous with climax: This is the aftermath of the action, not the peak.”

[End] The End – self-explanatory

[Chk] Chekhov’s Gun – something that has no significance whatsoever. Named after Star Trek’s Ensign Chekhov, who has a phaser gun but has never used it.

[McG] MacGuffin – “…usually a mysterious package/artifact/superweapon that everyone in the story is chasing.”

[Bks] Backstory – “A good actor or writer has a strong sense of each character’s Back Story, as it gives the character texture and shadings and keeps them from being two-dimensional. It makes an excellent source for The Reveal, and bits often are handled out: why The Rival resents The Hero so much; how the Fake Ultimate Hero got his reputation; why The Captain suffers from Bad Dreams. Hopefully, this is when the information is both plot relevant and likely to come up.”

[Ret] Retcon – “Reframing past events to serve a current plot need. When the inserted events work with what was previously stated, it’s a Revision; when they outright replace it, it’s a Rewrite. The ideal retcon clarifies a question alluded to without adding excessive new questions. In its most basic form, this is any plot point that was not intended from the beginning. The most preferred use is where it contradicts nothing, even though it was changed later on.”

[Arc] Story Arc – “is a sequence of episodes that puts characters through their paces in response to a single impetus; basically, an ongoing storyline. ”

[Rar] Romance Arc – same as story arc, but with an emphasis on romance

[Tri] Love Triangle – self-explanatory

[Hil] Hilarity Ensues – “Alleged consequence of any event in a Sitcom or cartoon which in the real world would result in hospitalization, a lawsuit, or dismissal from one’s job, at the very least, up to and including possible imprisonment.”

SETTINGS, LAWS, PLOTS

[Ae] An Aesop – ends with a moral lesson

[Srs] Serious Business – “when a story revolves around an activity where a sizable portion of the in-story population takes it far more seriously than they should.”

[Msq] The Masquerade – ” the story is intended to be set in “our” world, and the streets of Anytown USA might seem a bit less familiar if they were filled with vampires and witches and the like who were making their presence obvious. The Masquerade makes it easier for the fans to imagine what it feels like to live as a “normal” person in the setting.”

[Rcy] Recycled IN SPACE – “Stories are often recycled from other shows, with the setting changed with just enough of a gimmick to make it look different. The characters will have the same character types, sometimes even the same voice actors. Sometimes these will be direct spinoffs, with the same characters with one major time or setting change. Putting the series into space, though, is the big one.”

[X] X Meets Y – “used to pitch a show or to quickly sum up the impression a show gives by expressing it as the sum of two separate, unrelated series.”

[Aa] Magic A is Magic A – “Works heavy on speculative elements, such as Science Fiction and Fantasy, often have an assortment of fantastic intangibles we cannot even dream of encountering in Real Life- yet act in a completely consistent way, as if governed by imaginary rules of physics.”

[Ivc] Sliding Scale of Idealism versus Cynicism – “A story can be idealistic or cynical towards any idea. It is important to remember that idealism does not always mean optimism/happy endings and cynicism does not always mean pessimism/downer endings. In general, if the story positively values a particular ideology, then it is idealistic. If the story assaults an ideology, then it is cynical. A very cynical series could be quite lighthearted, conversely a very idealistic series could be extremely dark. It’s likewise true that comedies can be cynical as all hell, and dark dramas or brutal deconstructions can come out idealistic.”

[Sq] Status Quo is God – each installment of the series will open under virtually identical circumstances to the installment that came before. True for most cartoons.

[Cal] Call to Adventure – “the Hero learns that he must leave the known world behind and venture to unknown regions. How the Hero reacts to the call to adventure varies, but Heroes who initially reject the call are usually significantly worse off than if they had accepted.”

[Rq] Redemption Quest – “the character is in a bad place but wants to do better, and they are granted one final chance to do so, usually in the form of a grand, nearly impossible task.”

[Hj] Hero’s Journey – A bit more complicated, so here’s the link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheHerosJourney

[Stw] Saving the World – t doesn’t matter what the party’s original goals were (or those of its members); they’re going to end up Saving the World from an unstoppable, inconceivable threat – and will only defeat said threat only when the world is right on the brink of doom.”

[Tfc] They Fight Crime – “Two very different characters are obliged to work together to solve a crime. The premise is very often, but not always, expressed in trailers and pitches as “He’s an X. She’s a Y. Together, they fight crime!” So much that it’s almost become a Stock Phrase. Expect lots of cultural clash humor arising both from different policing traditions and from general personal differences between the two characters.”

STORY MODIFIERS

[Anv] Anvilicious – ” a writer’s and/or director’s use of an artistic element, be it line of dialogue, visual motif, or plot point, to so obviously or unsubtly convey a particular message that they may as well etch it onto an anvil and drop it on your head.”

[Bti] Beyond the Impossible – something impossible happens, even though it is technically not possible according to the story’s own logic

[Cl2] Crosses the Line Twice – “go [intentionally] so far over the top that it breaks the audience’s Willing Suspension of Disbelief (eg, something’s so terrible it’s funny).”

[Ria] Refuge in Audacity – “Characters can get away with outrageous acts by making them overblown to the point of absurdity. Toning them down to realistic levels would be more offensive, either to logic or to morality.”

[Dae] Darker and Edgier – “seeks to make a work of fiction “more adult” [when it originally is not]. Usually, this is practically interpreted as “add more sex, profanity, heavy violence, and controversial content.”

[Scw] Mind Screw – something that relies so heavily on symbolism (or just surrealism/absurdism) that the immediate response afterwards is “What the heck was that?!?!”

[Aws] What do you Mean, It’s Not Awesome? – adding expressive gestures, close-ups, dramatic music, etc. to an otherwise ordinary scene

[Bwb] Fanservice – self-explanatory

[Cry] Tearjerker – self-explanatory

[Ang] Wangst – “angst overdone or clumsily handled”

[Jts] Jumping the Shark – self-explanatory

[Gtb] Growing the Beard – “definitive moment when a television series begins to become noticeably better in quality. ”

PLOT DEVICES

[Phl] Applied Phlebotinum – “In essence, it is the stuff that makes the plot go. Without it, the story would grind to an abrupt halt. It’s science, it’s magic, it’s strange things unknown to science or magic. The reader does not know how Phlebotinum would work and the creators hope he or she doesn’t care.”

[Tb] Techno Babble – “Can be used to explain or justify plot developments or simply to add to the genre feel. Comes from the fact that scientific language, despite being meant to allow for easier understanding between scientists, sounds flashy and arcane to the untrained ear.”

[Wav] Hand Wave – “any flimsy explanation – particularly involving the backstory, a retcon, or a use of phlebotinum – which is noteworthy for its lack of detail or coherence. It may be used to (try to) hold together an Idiot Plot or an otherwise outrageous story. Often consists of throwaway lines like “it’s the only way.”

[Dx] Deus Ex Machina – self-explanatory

[Ass] Ass Pull – “when writers pull something out of thin air in a less-than-graceful narrative development, by dropping a plot-critical detail in the middle, or near the end of their narrative without Foreshadowing.”

[Iac] Sealed Evil in a Can – “a way to introduce a villain suddenly, especially one that is legendary and powerful. It also explains why the villain hasn’t done anything up to that point: It just now escaped.”

[Aod] Artifact of Doom – “The Artifact of Doom is somewhat an unusual villain in that it is an inanimate object. Nevertheless, it’s pure evil; and is a threat of corrupting all to The Dark Side. It may also cause Great Insanity, not to mention death, or worse.”

[Xan] Xanatos Gambit – “assumes two possible outcomes for the one manipulated — success or failure. The plan is designed in such a way that either outcome will ultimately further the plotter’s goals.”

[Bdh] Big Damn Heroes – “Any time the heroes get to save the day in a big, awesome manner.”

[Pet] Pet the Dog – “show the nasty old crank petting a dog [or doing some other good], and you show the audience, aw shucks, he’s all right after all.”

[Kik] Kick the Dog – “A character performs an act so casually cruel or evil that you know that they are scum, incompatible with the moral rules of the series that they’re in. This is a signal to the audience that it’s okay to dislike the character.”

[Hrz] Moral Event Horizon – “refers to the first evil deed to prove a particular character to be irredeemably evil.”

HEROES

[H] The Hero – self-explanatory

[Ah] Anti Hero – self-explanatory

[Ih] Idiot Hero – “Often, he is both the main protagonist and the central character of the narrative. He will frequently use the Indy Ploy, will probably be a Big Eater, will be too stupid to be afraid of imminent peril, and will often have a short memory span.” Despite thisa, he is often the most effective member at fighting.

[Sh] Super hero – self-explanatory

[Kh] Kid Hero – self-explanatory

[Gh] Guile Hero – “a hero who operates by playing politics and manipulating the bad guys. The Guile Hero trades swords and guns (or science and technology) for charm, wit, political and/or financial acumen, and an in-depth knowledge of human nature.”

[Th] Tragic Hero – self-explanatory

[Kni] The Knight in Shining Armor – self-explanatory

[Neo] The Chosen One – self-explanatory

[Ag] Action Girl – self-explanatory

[Pg] Plucky Girl – ” exhibiting a strong sense of optimism and an unassailable spirit that differentiates her from the grimness of a determinator. You can beat her, but damned if she’ll let you break her.”

[Det] Determinator – “There is no stopping the Determinator. They do not understand tact. They do not Know When to Fold ‘Em, and it’s a waste of time to tell them the odds. No one can reason with them. They’ll do whatever they have to without question. No price is too great to pay for success, up to and including their own life (and others’). Do not expect them to realize they might be better off letting it go, even if they can barely stand. If you’re ever kidnapped or lost with no hope of rescue, they’ll be the one who will find you. Their adversaries will shout, in exasperated rage, “Why Won’t You Die?!”.”

[Gb] Genius Bruiser – “A Big Guy who is also a geek or tech-head.”

[5ma] Five Man Band – a group of characters whose members fall into archetypes which all complement one another. They are a very specific team with skills that contribute to the group in a unique way.
[H] The Hero
[L] The Lancer
[S] The Smart Guy
[B] The Big Guy
[Ch] The Chick

[Bbw] Badass Bookworm – “This character is a quiet smart guy or girl who is physically unimposing and soft-spoken, but with hidden depths of formidable physical and practical skills.”

[Tp] Technical Pacifist – “willing to beat people up as much as he wants. He may even get a few fatalities through the fridge. However, once it comes down to a choice between killing the villain and not killing the villain, the Technical Pacifist will not kill the villain.”

[Ace] The Ace – “The Ace is someone who is ridiculously good at what they do, whatever that happens to be, and everyone knows it. People look up to him, envy him, are in awe of him. He has a reputation for doing the impossible, and may be Shrouded in Myth, as people are unable to separate his real accomplishments from unfounded rumors.”

[Cap] The Captain – “Whether they’re the Mission Control or actually working in the field, they’re clearly the one running things.”

[Gun] The Gunslinger – self-explanatory

[Ir] Intrepid Reporter – “an investigative journalist who goes out and finds stories, rather than letting them come to him or her. Sometimes this seems to be the only kind of reporter used in fiction. A character’s actual assignment might be something like “tell the readers who won the dog show,” or “write a puff piece on our best advertiser,” but something about the setup will inevitably spark a full-scale investigation.”

[Ind] Adventurer Archeologist – self-explanatory

CHARACTER MODIFIERS

[P] Protagonist – self-explanatory

[A] Antagonist – self-explanatory

[Ib] Idiot Ball – “A moment where a character’s stupidity fuels an episode, or a small plot line.”

[wb] Woobie – “that character you want to give a big hug, wrap in a blanket and feed soup to when he or she suffers so very beautifully. Woobification of a character is a curious, audience-driven phenomenon, divorced almost entirely from the character’s canonical morality.”

[Fln] Flanderization – “The act of taking a single (often minor) action or trait of a character within a work and exaggerating it more and more over time until it completely consumes the character.”

[Ccl] Cloud Cuckoolander – “A character with their head in the clouds. They are strangely oblivious to things that everyone else takes for granted.”

[Bda] Badass – self-explanatory

[Ham] Large Ham – “A ridiculously larger-than-life character typically played by a guest star with an Internet Movie Database listing longer than the rest of the cast put together.”

[Bb] Berserk Button – normal character that goes ballistic at a seemingly innocent remark or action

[Rnd] Rounded Character – self-explanatory

[Jhg] Jerk with a Heart of Gold – self-explanatory

[Fla] Flat character – self-explanatory

[Ja] Jerkass – “a character who is so completely obnoxious that it is unbelievable anyone would willingly interact with him; let’s face it, this character is schadenfreude incarnate.”

[Dyn] Dynamic Character – “When a character finishes a story with a different outlook or personality than when they started”

[Sav] Genre Savvy – “A Genre Savvy character doesn’t necessarily know they’re in a story, but they do know of stories like their own and what worked in them and what didn’t.”

[Sta] Static Character – a character that “will end a story with much the same personality and traits they began with.”

[Hft] Heel Face Turn – bad guy turns good

[Fht] Face Heel Turn – good guys turn bad

ARCHETYPES

[Mad] Mad Scientist – self-explanatory

[Wes] The Wesley (Creator’s Pet) – “the creator(s) become so attached to this character that they spend increasing amounts of time focusing on him, magnifying the importance of his role, and having the other characters talk about how awesome he is, in painful ignorance of — or sometimes in spite of — the fans’ hatred.”

[Scl] Star-crossed Lovers – “Two lovers — often teenagers — destined to be kept apart no matter how hard they struggle to be together”

[Sue] Mary Sue – self-explanatory

[Tsu] Tsundere – “can range from the “silent treatment” to “lovestruck kindergartener who pushes you into the sandbox.” The reasons behind a Tsundere’s behavior vary widely. Some are reasonable justifications. Others simply flow from the conflict between their feelings about the object of their affections and their reactions to having them.”

[St] The Storyteller – “a character that is noted for his or her ability to tell tales, or at least their propensity to do so. Sometimes the tales have a purpose in the main plot. At other times it is simply an interesting side excursion, perhaps to give the setting a feeling of depth.”

[Moo] Mooks – “A slang term for the hordes of standard-issue, disposable bad guys whom the hero mows down with impunity. It’s a thankless job, to be sure, especially when in Real Life, but somebody’s gotta do it.”

[Dbd] The Dumbledore (Eccentric Mentor) – “The Eccentric Mentor is an apparent contradiction, a sagacious figure who seems eccentric and possibly even foolish, a font of power and respectability who acts like comic relief. Quite possibly, the Eccentric Mentor is too wise and self-assured to care what anyone else thinks. Then again, maybe they’re just resting on their laurels. Typically the Eccentric Mentor is an older male character, connected to the back story, who acts as a sort of mentor, protector, or guide. They often feign senility and weakness when it is useful to do so, and rarely take pains to avoid such an appearance if it requires effort.”

[Lei] Rebel Leader – “Swinging into action (sometimes literally) with their band of loyal followers, they lead the charge against evil and fight to free the people!”

[Red] Redshirts – “The color of shirt worn by the nameless security personnel on the original Star Trek series. Their only job was to get eaten, shot, stabbed, disrupted, sped up and killed, frozen, desalinated, or turned into a cuboctahedron and crushed. ”

[Mus] Dumb Muscle – self-explanatory

[Mal] Rebellious Spirit – “an individual who has a beef with society. A large one. One large enough to make that person want to break all the rules, just because. Rebellious Spirits go beyond the stereotypical “rebellious teen” and include people who flagrantly violate rules and social norms, act eccentric or weird, and often don’t care what people think about them. They may be Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, or Chaotic Evil, but they are always chaotic.”

[Mug] Muggles – “Ordinary People. Those who are not special, like the favored of the plot. Mundane folk who are only aware of their own small section of reality. The source from which most characters spring.”

[Gia] Gentle Giant – self-explanatory

[Kz] The Klutz – self-explanatory

[Scr] The Scrappy – “a character who has a hatedom. We’ll call this guy The Scrappy. While much usually depends on execution, certain kinds of characters have a much higher probability of being hated.”

[Foo] The Fool – “The Fool has no idea what he’s doing, he has a dim idea at best who his enemies are or whether he’s in danger, and only has his cheerful disposition to protect him.”

[Lrg] Loveable Rogue – “A person who breaks the law, for their own personal profit, but is nice enough and charming enough to allow the audience to root for them, especially if they don’t kill anyone.”

[Erg] Ensemble Darkhorse – “used to describe a side character making up part of the Ensemble, either a non-lead secondary character or a mere Flat Character, who can sometimes become unexpectedly popular with the fandom.”

[Tc] Turncoat – “the guy who switches sides at some point to help out the other side. Can be a hero who turns bad, or a bad guy who suddenly decides to help the good guys, but usually it’s just anyone who thinks that the switch will benefit them personally.”

[Pmd] Person of Mass Destruction – “So you’ve got a force capable of destroying vast amounts of people, land, and possibly the universe, and essentially have the ability to commit a war crime with the wave of a hand. It’s just what any super villain or Omnicidal Maniac could possibly want, and then some. There’s just one catch… It’s contained by the most unstable thing in the universe. A person.”

VILLAINS

[Bad] Big Bad – self-explanatory

[Etw] Evil Twin – self-explanatory

[Rch] Archenemy – self-explanatory

[Emp] The Empire – self-explanatory

[Mgb] Magnificent Bastard – “Capturing the audience with his charisma, incredible intellect, mastery of manipulation, and boldness of action, this character is a show-stealer, demanding your reverence at every turn.”

[Ewi] Enemy Within – “the enemy is behind the hero’s eyes, and its time is coming when it can take over. Until then, it’ll do all it can to control him and get him to give in to its Horror Hunger.”

[Dra] The Dragon – “Some Dragons are ferocious fighters who leave the heavy thinking to the boss. Others are smart, detail-oriented administrators who oversee the day-to-day running of the evil organization. Either way, defeating the Big Bad almost always requires the hero to overcome The Dragon first. A common but by no means universal theme is to have The Dragon pose a physical challenge to the hero, while the Big Bad poses a mental or moral challenge.”

[Av] Anti-Villain – “a villain with heroic goals, personality traits, and virtues. Their desired ends are good, but their means of getting there are evil.”

[Mpb] Manipulative Bastard – ‘the master manipulator of emotions and perspectives. This is the villain who gets off on playing head games — clever and dangerous and lacking comedic overtones. He or she always has a plan, but rather than do any work, the Manipulative Bastard prefers to play on other characters’ emotions and then watch the victims destroy themselves as they waste their energy on fighting against fake dangers or their friends.”

[Law] Amoral Attorney – “Although often unethical, this villain isn’t necessarily corrupt. Being lawyers, they don’t necessarily break the law to win, they merely work around and within the law’s limitations.”

[Mol] The Mole – “A bad guy who pretends to be a good guy. The audience assumes they are a good guy until the sudden revelation. If well-done, catches the audience out.”

[Vp] Villain Protagonist – “A Villain Protagonist (especially in a comedy) is quite likely to go down in flames at the end. Whether this counts as a Downer Ending or not is debatable. They may also do a Heel Face Turn and become a Hero Protagonist.”

[Chs] The Chessmaster – “Chessmasters tug at their strings of influence, patiently move their pieces into places that often seem harmless or pointless until the trap is closed, and get innocent Unwitting Pawns (Who else?) to do all the heavy lifting. The best will also have layers upon layers of misdirection and backup plans in case some unexpected hero appears to gum up the works.”

[Ob] Obstructive Bureaucrat – self-explanatory

[Vir] The Virus – “The Virus turns people into itself or into entities subservient to itself. The transformation is both mental and physical. The converted will have unflagging loyalty and be instantly ready to commence villainous actions.”

[4te] For the Evulz – Doing evil for the sake of doing evil, without logical reasons.

[Mon] Complete Monster – self-explanatory

[Ws] Wicked Stepmother – self-explanatory

[Eld] Eldritch Abomination – “Eldritch is not just anything that looks like an ugly mashup of different kinds of Body Horror. What actually defines the Eldritch Abominations (or as we puny Homo sapiens can only define them) is their defiance of natural law, as humans understand it. They are the things that should not be, the ultimate aliens. It is this what makes them abominable, and it is this that horrifies and reduces to gibbering madness all but the strongest of those who encounter them.”

[LOL] Evil Laugh – self-explanatory

[Om] Omnicidal Maniac – “a villain whose main plan and motive is “destroy the world”. He actively seeks the destruction of whatever world the setting is based in, does it as an end unto itself, has the ability to do so, and is both aware of what he’s doing and fully motivated to do so.”

[Bru] The Brute – self-explanatory

[1wa] One Winged Angel – “Classic Big Bads have the tendency, when push comes to shove, to turn into big honking monsters.”

[Fai] You Have Failed Me – “the Big Bad – usually a Diabolical Mastermind – kills one of his henchmen who has failed to capture and/or kill The Hero, as motivation to all of his other (surviving) underlings not to repeat their failure.”

[Kt] Knight Templar – “Usually, the Knight Templar’s primary step (or objective) to his perceived “utopia” is to get rid of that pesky “free will” thing that is the cause of crime and evil. Many Knight Templar types are utterly merciless in dealing with those whom they consider evil, and are prone to consider all crimes to be equal. The lightest offenses are met with Draconian punishments such as full imprisonment, death, brainwashing, or eternal torture.”

[Chi] Creepy CHild – self-explanatory

[Cce] Corrupt Corporate Executive – self-explanatory

[Cat] Right Hand Cat – “Diabolical Masterminds are cat people. If they don’t have a face, they will always have a pet cat, usually some shade of white, sitting on their desk or in their lap, that they stroke as they describe their Evil Plan.”

METATROPES

[T] Trope – self-explanatory

[Ls] Lampshade Hanging – “the writers’ trick of dealing with any element of the story that threatens the audience’s willing suspension of disbelief — whether a very implausible plot development, or a particularly blatant use of a trope — by calling attention to it… and then moving on.”

[Tru] Truth in Television – “Once in a while, a TV show does something that actually happens in Real Life.”

[Jt] Justified Trope – “A justified trope is one in which, in its common usage, runs counter to the normal laws of logic and probability but in a particular instance has a concrete reason for applying to the story.”

[Rur] Reality is Unrealistic – “When exposed to an exaggeration or fabrication about certain real-life occurrences or facts, some people will perceive the fictional account as being more true than any factual account.”

[Sv] Subverted Trope – ” A work makes you think a trope is going to happen, but it doesn’t.”

[Lr] Like Reality Unless Noted – “The general assumption that all of the unstated details of the setting of a work of fiction that remotely resembles Real Life can be filled in by the audience’s knowledge of the world in which they live, except in areas where the fictional world explicitly or by necessary implication deviates from Real Life.”

[Old] Oldest Ones in the Book – tropes that have existed for a long time

[Anp] Anthropic Principle – “For any given story, there exist basic elements that are required for the basic premise to happen; there would be no story otherwise.”

[Roc] Rule of Cool – “all but the most pedantic of viewers will forgive liberties with reality as long as the result is wicked sweet or awesome.”

[Con] Law of Conservation of Detail – “If [a writer] gives a detail, it better be important.”

[Rof] Rule of Funny – “Any violation of continuity, logic or even physics is permissible if the result gets enough of a laugh”

[Lah] Literary Agent Hypothesis – “The work is inspired by real events. The person listed as the author is really just the literary agent for the character who wrote it. For some undisclosed reason, all involved want the truth of the story to be kept a secret.”

[Rod] Rule of Drama – “If the potential for conflict is visible, then it will never be passed over.”

[Md] Moral Dissonance – “Moral Dissonance is the result of having a hero who has a double standard and no one notices.” and no one calls them out on this.

[4wl] The Fourth Wall – characters are aware that they are in a story, and sometimes interact with their readers

[Tbl] Parodic Table of the Elements – see this entry

PRODUCTION

[Can] Canon – self-explanatory

[Sho] Shout Out – “A shout out is something subtle (a name, line of dialogue, or prop) in a show that refers to fans or family members of the cast or crew, or to another source of inspiration. By nature, these can be obscure for casual fans.”

[Tt] Take That – a potshot at other works

[Res] Did not do the Research – self-explanatory

[Vam] Viewers are Morons – the premise that “not only are viewers stupid, they are also intolerant of people and things unlike themselves, ignorant, and have the attention span of a goldfish.”

[Wob] Writer on Board – “Obvious authorial intrusion. When the characters start behaving like idiots or against their previously established characterization because the writer damn well needs them to in order to tell their story.”

[Xm] Executive Meddling – self-explanatory

[Rad] Getting Crap Past the Radar – “The practice — usually found on but not limited to comedies — of attempting to sneak some manner of profanity or other forbidden material past the network censors.”

[Dh] Development Hell – self-explanatory

[Sbn] Screwed by the Network – self-explanatory

FANDOM AUDIENCE AND REACTIONS

[Fan] Fanon – self-explanatory

[Sus] Willing Suspension of Disbelief – self-explanatory

[Fri] Fridge Logic – “It refers to some illogical or implausible plot point that the audience doesn’t realize during the show, but only long afterwards. This naming is highly subjective, since not every person follows the same train of thought. Some people will never even realise there was a problem, while others will call it a Plot Hole, since they already noticed the problem during the show.”

[Ep] Epileptic Trees – “A term for wild, off-the-wall theories. Named after a leading tinfoil-hat theory explaining the mysterious shaking, rustling trees on Lost during the first season of that program. The theory? The trees are having epileptic fits.”

[Dlp] Draco in Leather Pants – “When a fandom takes a controversial or downright villainous character and downplays his flaws, often turning him into an object of desire in the process. ”

[Mem] Memetic Mutation – “a catchy derivative of some aspect of pop culture, parodied and repeated to the point that its origins and original meaning become muddled and completely mutilated beyond any point of recognition or humor.”

[Wog] Word of God – an author or creator of a work confirms an issue in contention within it to be true or false.

[Mst] MST3K Mantra – “Line from the theme song of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which encourages the viewer to not worry about picayune details that are unnecessary to the enjoyment of the program.”

[Sqi] Squick – “Possibly a contraction of “squeamish” and “Ick!” A negative emotional response, more specifically a disturbed or disgusted one. Things that make the audience throw up often make the characters throw up as well.”

[Fwr] Freud was Right – “The truth is that All Men Are Perverts and All Women Are Lustful, only they are too ashamed of it thus they express it in covert sexual symbolism and repressed desire everywhere, every time, with everybody.”

An artist at his stall, hard at work. All the art featured here were drawn by him using charcoal pencil and pastel. He also does watercolors and oil paintings.

This man spends his days begging on a footbridge near a popular shopping mall. He explains he’s too old to do much else, and it’s his way of helping his family (who sets up a small stand on the sidewalk below the bridge daily, selling small snacks and soda to passersby).

An old abandoned water fountain no longer in use – oddly enough, at the heart of a busy shopping complex.

Local governments do not always practice safety standards – to frequently unfortunate results during the monsoon season. This is a common sight to see when in Manila.

Filipino fast food stall. Serving delicacies such as depicted here: rellenong bangus (milkfish stuffed with diceed vegetables), sinigang ng ulo ng lapulapu (sour tamarind soup with fish head), salted duck eggs, and barbecued pork.

Culled from several different sources, and I definitely would need a shoutout to the Thoughtful Dreamer for the main inspiration. Once I pick my brain off the floor, I might be doing some Settings templates as well! Personality types are based on the Jungian Psychological Topology (I provided brief descriptions of each), and a summary of archetypes based on both Joseph Campbell’s the Hero with a Thousand Faces and Carolyn Myss’ list of archetypes.

(And if you’re wondering – yes, I did buy Scrivener.)

You are not required to use every section of the template, only parts that you feel are necessary!

=========================================
THE BASICS
=========================================

Name:
Nicknames:

Gender:
Age:
Birth Date:
Birth Place:
Currently Living In:
Species:
Ethnicity / Race:
Citizenship:
Religion / Beliefs:

Astrology Sign:
Chinese Animal / Zodiac Year:
Blood Type:
Chinese Element:

=========================================
FAMILY
=========================================
Father:
Age:
Relationship:

Mother:
Age:
Relationship:

Brother(s):
1.
Age:
Relationship:

2.
Age:
Relationship:

3.
Age:
Relationship:

Sister(s):
1.
Age:
Relationship:

2.
Age:
Relationship:

3.
Age:
Relationship:

Spouse:
Age:
Relationship:

Children:
1.
Age:
Relationship:

2.
Age:
Relationship:

3.
Age:
Relationship:

Extended Family Member(s):
1.
Age:
Relationship:

2.
Age:
Relationship:

3.
Age:
Relationship:

Pet(s):

=========================================
PHYSICAL FEATURES:
=========================================

Height:
Weight:
Frame / Build:
Hair length:
Hair color:
Eye shape:
Eye color:
Complexion:
Face size (broad, narrow, etc.):
Voice type:
Foot size:
Tattoo(s):
Scar(s):
Other notable accessories:
Any other identifying mark(s):

=========================================
SOCIO / ECONOMIC / POLITICAL
=========================================

Politicial Affiliation:
Economic Class:
Social Class (nobility, artisan, merchant, commoner, etc.):
Occupation:
Income:
Residence:
Transportation:

=========================================
INTERESTS
=========================================

Favorite Food(s):
Favorite Sport(s):
Favorite Book(s):
Favorite Show(s):
Favorite Music:
Favorite Color(s):
Clothing Style / Preferences:
Hobbies:
Role Model(s):
Likes:
Dislikes:

=========================================
PERSONALITY
=========================================

Good Qualities / Trait(s):
Vices / Negative Trait(s):
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Habits / Idiosyncrasies / Quirks:
Phobia / Fears:
Loves:
Hates:

Select one personality type below that best describes your character:

PROTECTORS

[] Overseer (ESTJ) – Thrives on facts and details. Has a clear set of standards and beliefs. They are hardworking, responsible, and self-confident. They rely on experiences rather than speculation, and make decisions based on these. Very good at enforcing laws and rules. Loyal and hard-working. Like to be in charge. Very organized, tends to be a stickler for the rules.

[] Supporter (ESFJ) – Popular, and most sociable of all the types. Respects authority and values traditions. Has a strong desire to be liked, and therefore tends to want to serve others’ needs, sometimes at the expense of their own.

[] Examiner (ISTJ) – A very keen sense of what’s right and what’s wrong. Responsible especially in their field of expertise, devoted and punctual. Very thorough, and tends to put duty before pleasure. They are very thorough, honest, and seek to accomplish anything they put their minds to. Follows the rules and does not tend to be adventurous. Likes conformity. Can sometimes have a surprising offbeat sense of humor.

[] Defender (ISFJ) – Puts the needs of others before themselves, to a point where they tend to give more than they receive. Quiet and conscientious. Modest and tends to be a spectator. They do what is expected of them without attracting attention to themselves. Sensitive to the feelings of others, and has a very good memory, especially when it comes to observing other people. Can be easily hurt. Very painstaking when it comes to detail.

CREATORS

[] Persuader (ESTP) – Realists. Enthusiastic people of action who like to explore and use their senses to explore the world. Likes sports and are risk-takers. They live in the (preferably) fast-paced here and now, and thrive on problems and crises. Often fearless and dominates conversations. Unafraid of criticism. Blunt and very straightforward. Does not necessarily follow the law if it gets in the way of what they want.

[] Entertainer (ESFP) – Lively and cooperative, they like being the center of attention and do not like being alone. They like exciting things and new adventures. Often likes to play the host, and understand how to motivate people to get a job done. They are efficient workers and make good problem solvers, and they generally get along with most people.

[] Crafstman (ISTP) – Independent and adventurous, they like figuring out how things work. Great mechanical and technical skills, they are often the troubleshooters. They are adventurous and like living for the moment. Sometimes unemotional, have simple desires, and prefer intellectual pursuits. Do not often like to follow rules, preferring to do things their way. Quiet and reserved.

[] Artist (ISFP) – Creative, quiet, serious, loyal and sensitive. Do not like conflict. Takes great value in personal freedom. Private and prone to confusion. Gifted at creating and composing. Good appreciation for beauty. Not interested in leading or controlling others. Very original and creative especially in the arts. Can be trendsetters and into latest styles and art / fashion / etc.

INTELLECTUALS

[] Chief (ENTJ) – Natural leaders, strategic and very organized. Outspoken and decisive, and values competency and efficiency. Very resolute and has a knack for arguments / debates. Competitive, assertive and outspoken. Understands difficult problems and create quick and viable solutions for them. Intelligent and well-informed, they do not have much patience with inefficiency. Dominant and assertive, does not like to be bored.

[] Originator (ENFP) – Inventive and idea people. Love to argue to show off their skills and intelligence. Prefers the startup phase of a project where the risks and problems are greater, than turning over the lead to someone else once these are solved. Enthusiastic, idealistic, and creative. Great people skills. Excited by new ideas, but bored with details. Open-minded and flexible, and able to make others enthusiastic over their ideas and projects.

[] Engineer (INFP) – Quiet, logical, and idealistic. Not interested in calling attention to themselves unless their beliefs / principles are violated, where they will then become outspoken and argumentative. A thinker whose inner private world is governed by a logical structure. Analyze difficult problems and find patterns. Has a system-building approach to problems. Likes solitude and are rule breakers. Unemotional, often acts without consulting others.

[] Strategist (INTJ) – Introspective, analytical, has great leadership ability, independent, original, and determined. Does not mind other people’s leadership as long as they are competent. Can bring ideas from concept to reality. Expects perfection from themselves. Chessboard thinkers with contingency plans. Hard to impress and likes esoteric things. Independent individualists.

VISIONARIES

[] Mentor (ENFJ) – Positive, popular, altruistic, religious and sensitive, with excellent people skills. Can be good salesmen. Concerned for other people’s feelings. Focused on understanding and encouraging others. Does not like impersonal analysis. Can be image conscious. Often has very good charisma, and can easily convince others. Has a very positive personality. Excellent language skills, and would make for natural leaders.

[] Advocate (ENTP) – Often works for causes and can be very expressive regarding their views. They want to call attention to what they stand for. Spontaneous and social but can be disogranized and act without thinking. Excited and passionate about things, and motivate others to feel the same. Always want to make the most out of life. Best of all the personality types at social and emotional coping. Ranked 2nd of all the types in using cognitive resources. Places great importance in friendships, even at the risk of being taken advantage of.

[] Confidant (INFJ) – Intensely private and committed to their beliefs. Highly intuitive, emphatic and dedicated listeners. Quietly forceful and sensitive. The rarest personality type, especially with males. Focused on fantasy more than reality. Fears doing the wrong thing. Tend to work quietly behind the scenes and influence people than be leaders. Perservering, especially when it comes to doing the right thing. Very individualistic, rather than leading or following, but can work with groups to accomplish a goal.

[] Dreamer (INTP) – Tend to be very private, and does not let a lot of people get close. They are loners and tend to avoid conflicts. The act of creating can already be an accomplishment of instill a sense of satisfaction. Constantly search for values in life, and tend to use their intuition to do so. Logical, original, creative thinkers. Can become very excited about theories and ideas. Exceptionally capable and driven to turn theories into clear understandings. Want to be recognized and valued, but without attention. Never lose their sense of wonder.

Define your character’s personality based on the following aspects:

a. Physically (outward interaction with his environment, personal strengths)
b. Psychologically (intellect, mental stability, morality)
c. Spiritually (his faith, convictions)
d. Emotionally (willpower, under stressful situations, expressiveness)
e. Socially (how others view him, how he interacts with people)

Others things to know:

=========================================
HISTORY
=========================================

1. Describe the character’s childhood.

2. Name the good incidents that have happened in the character’s life. How has this shaped his personality?

3. Name bad experiences that have happened in the character’s life. How has this shaped his personality?

4. What is the character doing when first introduced? What are his goals at this point?
4a. Do these goals change at any point in the story?

=========================================
STORY DEVELOPMENT:
=========================================

CHARACTER ARCHETYPE: (Put an X on all applicable boxes)

[] Addict (Conspicuous Consumer, Glutton, Workaholic–see also Gambler)
[] Advocate (Attorney, Defender, Legislator, Lobbyist, Environmentalist)
[] Alchemist (Wizard, Magician, Scientist, Inventor–see also Visionary)
[] Angel (Fairy Godmother/Godfather)
[] Antagonist (Opposing View, not necessarily the Evil Bad — see also Villain)
[] Anti-Hero
[] Artist (Artisan, Craftsperson, Sculptor, Weaver)
[] Athlete (Olympian)
[] Avenger (Avenging Angel, Savior, Messiah)
[] Beggar (Homeless person/ Indigent)
[] Bully (Coward)
[] Catalyst
[] Child (Orphan, Wounded, Magical/Innocent, Nature, Divine, Puer/Puella Eternis, or Eternal Boy/Girl)
[] Clown (Court Jester, Fool, Dummling)
[] Companion (Friend, Sidekick, Right Arm, Consort)
[] Damsel (Princess)
[] Destroyer (Attila, Mad Scientist, Serial Killer, Spoiler)
[] Detective (Spy, Double Agent, Sleuth, Snoop, Sherlock Holmes, Private Investigator, Profiler–see also Warrior/Crime Fighter)
[] Dilettante (Amateur)
[] Don Juan (Casanova, Gigolo, Seducer, Sex Addict)
[] Engineer (Architect, Builder, Schemer)
[] Exorcist (Shaman)
[] Father (Patriarch, Progenitor)
[] Femme Fatale (Black Widow, Flirt, Siren, Circe, Seductress, Enchantress)
[] Gambler
[] God (Adonis, see also Hero)
[] Gossip (see also Networker)
[] Guide (Guru, Sage, Crone, Wise Woman, Spiritual Master, Evangelist, Preacher)
[] Healer (Wounded Healer, Intuitive Healer, Caregiver, Nurse, Therapist, Analyst, Counselor)
[] Hedonist (Bon Vivant, Chef, Gourmet, Gourmand, Sybarite–see also Mystic)
[] Hermit (see also Wise old Man)
[] Hero/Heroine (see also Knight, Warrior)
[] Judge (Critic, Examiner, Mediator, Arbitrator)
[] King (Emperor, Ruler, Leader, Chief — see also Politician)
[] Knight in SHining Armor
[] Liberator
[] Lover
[] Martyr
[] Mediator (Ambassador, Diplomat, Go-Between)
[] Mentor (Master, Counselor, Tutor)
[] Messiah (Redeemer, Savior)
[] Midas/Miser
[] Monk/Nun (Celibate)
[] Mother (Matriarch, Mother Nature)
[] Mystic (Renunciate, Anchorite, Hermit)
[] Networker (Messenger, Herald, Courier, Journalist, Communicator)
[] Pioneer (Explorer, Settler, Pilgrim, Innovator)
[] Poet
[] Politician (see also King)
[] Priest (Priestess, Minister, Rabbi, Evangelist)
[] Prince
[] Prostitute
[] Queen (Empress)
[] Rebel (Anarchist, Revolutionary, Political Protester, Nonconformist, Pirate)
[] Rescuer
[] Saboteur
[] Samaritan
[] Scribe (Copyist, Secretary, Accountant–see also Journalist)
[] Seeker (Wanderer, Vagabond, Nomad)
[] Servant (Indentured Servant)
[] Shape-shifter (Spell-caster–see also Trickster)
[] Slave
[] Spectre (Ghost / Apparition with Unresolved issues)
[] Storyteller (Minstrel, Narrator)
[] Student / Scholar (Disciple, Devotee, Follower, Apprentice)
[] Teacher (Instructor, see also Mentor)
[] Thief (Swindler, Con Artist, Pickpocket, Burglar, Robin Hood)
[] Threshold Guardian
[] Trickster (Puck, Provocateur)
[] Turncoat
[] Vampire
[] Victim
[] Villain / Shadow (Big Bad of the story; see also Antagonist)
[] Virgin (see also Celibate)
[] Visionary (Dreamer, Prophet, Seer–see also Guide, Alchemist)
[] Warrior (Soldier, Crime Fighter, Amazon, Mercenary, Soldier of Fortune, Gunslinger, Samurai)
[] Wise old Man (see also Hermit)

1. What are the motivations for the character’s actions?

2. What are the character’s goals / ambition / dreams?

3. What external conflicts would you wish for the character to overcome?
3a. What are the obstacles in the character’s path that might make this difficult?

4. What inner conflicts would you wish for the character to overcome?
4a. What are the obstacles in the character’s path that might make this difficult?

=========================================
ABILITIES
=========================================

Aliases:

Team affiliations:

Powers / special abilities:

Other skills:

Weaknesses / Kryptonite:

=========================================
AUTHOR’S NOTES / MISCELLANY
=========================================

Character theme song:

Celebrity / IRL lookalike:

List down any future plot twists / conflicts you are planning for the character here (for series, companion books, etc.):

So in the spirit of YA love and flowcharts, here’s the flowchart of my favorite female character in the Harry Potter books, Bellatrix L’estrange who, ironically, was one of the two people that killed off my favorite male character in the series. (The other one was J.K. Rowling.)

All featured flowcharts can be viewed in larger resolutions by clicking on the images!

And here’s an attempt at a flowchart using Terry Prachett’s Granny Weatherwax, from his Discworld series:

I also kinda figured this would be a great exercise for characters in my WIPs and current manuscripts, so here’s a couple more.  The first is my main protagonist from Firekeeper:

This one’s a little trickier – the dead female lead (I’m not so sure I should refer to her as a ‘heroine’) from my work-in-progress. Not as cuss-y as the flowchart implies, it just sounded fun to do in this vein.

Has anyone else made their own attempts at character flowcharts, fan-based or otherwise?

Uh-huh. Cause I am fly like that.

There aren’t a lot of things sexier than listening to Pat Monahan’s voice, except maybe listening to Pat Monahan’s voice while he’s singing four feet away from where you and a horde of other girls are gathered, shrieking for a lock of his chest hair and punching bouncers for getting in their line of vision. (That he started peeling at least one layer of clothing off after every song might have contributed to this.) I am trying to sound cool and cocky as I write this like I hadn’t succumbed to the teenage fangirl mob mentality at any point during the concert, but unfortunately I was right up there with the rest of my crazed Train-loving soul sisters, screaming my lungs out.

But the biggest surprise came when he sang “Marry Me”.

Yes, this “Marry Me”.

At this point, Pat Monahan abandons the stage and begins dancing his way through the crowd like the stampede of girls suddenly attempting to track the coordinates of his booty-shaking path down the aisles ISN’T HIS FAULT AT ALL, NO SIREEBOB. But what startled me was when he picks up a hysterical girl’s camera, aims it in both their directions, and snaps a photo on the fly. Then he hands the camera back to the now-orgasming lady, finds another camera, and takes another photo of himself and a lucky fan.

Eventually, dozens of girls are now waving their camera screenshots in the air and hollering like mad, and from every one I could see he had captured the photos perfectly. Centered images, no heads were sliced or harmed in the making of this picture kind of good. It’s hard enough to take pictures of yourself, much less if it’s not even your camera to begin with.

Holy shit, I thought. For all his suave and talent and booty, I never would have expected Pat Monahan to not only possess the same skill subset as your average narcissistic thirteen-year old tween, but that he would pwn it so, so hard.

And then, because writing is never that far away from my mind even when you’re in the same breathing space as one of your favorite celebrities, that got me thinking about characters. One of my favorite fictional characters is a little Belgian detective with an egg-shaped head, named Hercule Poirot. He’s very dapper and elegant, dines at only the best restaurants with unpronounceable French meals, and has bank drafts of four hundred and forty-four pounds and four ounces. He likes toast because bread is symmetrically shaped. For all his finickiness and seeming orderliness though, Poirot also picks locks with passing familiarity, trespasses frequently, reads suspects’ personal love letters with little inclination for personal privacy, and has even [HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILER]

[/SPOILER]. It seems like a walking contradiction when you understand Poirot always advocates for legal justice, but this apparent inconsistency makes him a more interesting personality to me (and his views on the subject changes gradually the more cases he undertakes, as seen in the Murder on the Orient Express and the Murder of Roger Ackroyd.)

you had me at mustache.

That’s what I try to think about when writing characters. No one is ever one-dimensional. Just because someone seems happy and cheerful most of the time doesn’t mean he’s happy and cheerful all the time.  And part of the challenge is adding in an odd quirk or habit to a protagonist or antagonist that makes readers think hey, this is not a skill or a trait I would imagine this person to have but that’s awesome, and still make it work.

YES I AM THAT GOOD.

Train’s been writing and performing for years. I can’t imagine how many tours they’ve been on, how many people in sold-out concerts they’ve played to, and how many times Pat Monahan’s taken photos with fans. So when you think about it, it’s pretty logical that he could take a camera, gauge at a glance how it works based on the hundreds he’s already handled, then angle his arm the right way to snap the perfect picture. He’s not good at it because he’s vain, but it’s a side effect of being a performer beloved by his fanbase. In the same manner I could write about a surly, sword-wielding teenage boy who happens to be afraid of heights, or an awkward, stuttering geek with no upper body strength but with a natural grace that could put Igor Zaripov to shame, and find ways to believably string these contradictions into their personalities.

It’s not the only step toward making a three-dimensional, rounded out character, but it’s one of the best places to start. As Monahan himself would sing, in a slightly out-of-context song: shake it up.

Also: an extremely crappy and incomplete recording of “Save Me, San Francisco”, taken from the concert. Apologies for the very sucky bass sounds. My camera hates subwoofers.

All recipes are invented by a husband-and-wife tandem (mostly the hubby’s; the wife is mostly there to ensure he doesn’t combine wasabi and chili oils and tomato pesto or something and give him another bout of acid reflux) burned out by web programming and craft-making / writing, respectively. Use at your own risk!

Udon 1.) 1 serving of udon noodles, 2.) a tablespoon of soy sauce, 3.) soup stock (warning: don’t use more than half of a chicken broth cube when you’re only making a bowlful of noodles), 4.) roasted seaweed strips. Came out pretty good, if a little too strong on broth.

So, as a budding fiction writer, when people encourage you to ‘write what you know’, you feel like you’re at an immediate disadvantage. After all, nobody wants to read books about pet vacuum cleaners or abalone farming or telemarketers unless they too are pet vacuum cleaners or abalone farmers or telemarketers. You’d be much better off, you think, if you’d been a space astronaut instead, or a carnival fire-eater, or a wizard.

But it isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about adding an odd twist to the things you already do.

So you’re a vacuum cleaner salesman, but the mechanics involved in sucking up dirt and grime off pet fur isn’t necessarily the extent of your knowledge. You know what it feels like to have doors slammed in your face, to have people wanting you in their homes with about the same enthusiasm they might welcome Jehovah’s Witnesses, or the Manson family.  Or maybe these potential customers themselves are crazy. You might have inadvertently knocked on the door of the town’s notorious cat lady. Or maybe you’ve stumbled into a house of bigamists. Or maybe you’ve done this for so long you start imagining what kind of people you’re about to meet before even lifting a hand to knock, like maybe they’re really reptiles posing as humans and this is a whole conspiracy to make Fox News believable.

Maybe you’re walking up to a mobile trailer blasting out Latin pop music and you’re expecting the person to open the door to be like Ricky Martin got hit with a pitchfork, and while I don’t know any good stories about heroes who look like Ricky Martin got hit with a pitchfork, it’s a good enough jump from ‘vacuum cleaner salesman’ to get ideas percolating. And this is just a small pool in a large ocean of possibilities.

Having a Ph.D. in abalone farming could mean you’re the expert when it comes to writing a thriller about deep sea creatures rising from the depths to attack a marine research facility. Or a suspense novel about company espionage when it is discovered fluids harnessed from a certain species of mollusk can give its user immortality. Or maybe your protagonist accidentally stole an abalone handpurse, and its vengeful mermaid owner wants it back.

But telemarketing is boring every which way you look at it! My best friend used to work for a call center agency. She had to politely respond to calls where the irate customer is anything but. She had to deal with stupid questions (“What’s a floppy disk? I don’t see anything here that looks floppy.”, “Why won’t my computer turn on? You mean I have to plug it in?”) with decent answers. Her phone conversations are recorded so her supervisors can look at the quality of customer service she provides, so no matter how many times the customers call her all sorts of names or send her death threats or claim alleged sexual dominion over her mother, she had to be nice. I would imagine telemarketers weather through nearly the same problems, and have just as much stories to tell.

But I’m just an accountant! In the IRS! That’s got to be the most boring and most hated job in the world! Since everyone equates the taxman to demons nowadays, how about writing a novel about a hero who works as an accountant for Satan? And this is just off the top of my head.

But I have a full-time job in financial investment and I only have a couple hours each day to write. I don’t have much of a social life, I work sixty to seventy hours a week, and there’s way too much thrillers about financial mismanagement nowadays that I won’t come off sounding original. What do I do? With that kind of schedule, you’re probably most qualified to write about something most people don’t often get to write about – insanity! And the good thing about insanity is that anything goes. Write about someone who wakes up one day and realizes he is the only sane person left in the world. Discuss.

It’s not about what kind of job you’ve got. It’s how you can take something that is ordinary and commonplace about your job, and make something unique and wonderful and funny and engaging and horrifying out of it. And of course – you have to love what you write. There has to be a compulsion to write this particular novel, not always because it’s what you know, but also because it’s what you must.

Many have already expounded on the “Write what you know” advice, but I’ll be one of the few to provide specific examples for how this works for me personally.

A case study: I have worked as a technical documentations writer who also oversees project quality control. I have worked as an events planner and marketing executive. I have worked in the IT department of a presidential campaign. My current WIP is about a horrible ghost with a centuries-old vendetta. (I pitch it as The Grudge meets Dexter.) So how did my previous jobs help me in writing this manuscript?

Because my first job was in a very old, almost flimsy building at the heart of a very busy and very modern business district, and you can tell the difference almost as soon as you step inside. Also, given my pale, long and unruly-haired, big-eyed and very Asian appearance, I have been known to accidentally scare people working overtime in other offices in this same building, especially when they wait twenty seconds in eerie semi-darkness for the elevator to light up, only to find me standing inside (my hair tends to fall over my face as I rummage around for things in my bag, a habit I have to check for anything I might have left behind at the office.)

Except this one does it deliberately, and I’ve never been koshed on the head.

My second job was in a warehouse-turned-office. To get to it, you need to go through a long corridor where sound carries loudly, and noises echoes frequently. Few co-workers were willing to stay long after office hours.

My third job gave me behind-the-scenes insights on politics, and I learned a lot about multi-layered antagonists from my short stint there (not only with this WIP, but with others I am currently working on.)

My first job gave me the premise for my WIP, my second taught me the importance of atmosphere, and my third taught me character development (with a fuller emphasis on villains). So it’s not all that far-fetched to take the odd things that happen in your life, spin them round, and incorporate them into story elements, even when the novel has nothing to do with your job.