Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Countdown to NaNoWriMo, Step One: Characters

Pick a title for your soon to be creation because you will have to put it in your profile :)

Now, quick establish your main characters. Here are some tips to get started.

Look to people around you and steal borrow their personality traits.

Use media outlets like your blog, Facebook, or Twitter to get opinions of others. Feel free to steal borrow their ideas.

Google is your best friend. So, don't be afraid to Google until your fingers come off about personality traits. A whole slew of them pop up, and can help you get a feel for how your character will be.

How about those type A and type B personalities.

If you're really stuck then stick to the basic-ya know- the bad boy vs good girl, opposites attract, the tortured soul, the mean girl, the bully, the princess and so on. You can always multi-layer their personality and change it by the end of those 50,000 words.

AND if all else fails get ten pieces of paper. Write your favorite characters of all times from shows or movies that you would die without watching again. Fold it. Put it in a hat and pull one out and use it!

I told you quality is getting thrown out the window but I warn you if you are serious about the story good luck with revisions bawhahaha!

My NaNoWriMo
Name: Kiss of Death
Characters: Aiden the lost soul vs Bee the free spirit
Words: 0/50000
user name: kerri192804

4 comments:

Elana Johnson said...

Yay for NaNo! I hope you get all 50K of your words. I might do it, I might not. Only time will tell.

And great new blog layout!

Brenda Drake said...

Google rocks! I love how you delve into characters' personalities. I have to know everything about my characters. It helps to get their motivations and voices right. I just buddied you! :D

Anonymous said...

I would love to give NaNoWriMo a go, but I write short stories and the thought of 50,000 words scares me haha... Do they allow a pile of short stories instead of one long one?

Kerri Cuev said...

Niki I think that would be awesome to write a bunch of short stories for NaNo. Hey by Decmber you would have a collection :) Hope to see you there!