EASY PEASY CHARACTER PROFILES - AMANDA ARISTA
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EASY PEASY
CHARACTER
PROFILES
A M A N D A A R I S TA
DFW 2018
WHAT I WAS TAUGHT: • Know your characters better than you know yourselves • Ask them 100 interview questions • Write their entire biography up to the point your story starts • Silly literature degree
WHAT HAPPENED:
WHAT WORKED BETTER:
• GOAL – Set character profiles to the point you can START WRITING • OBJECTIVES – Defined characters who need to be built – Define building tools that will focus your brain and your story – Dig deeper into the meaningful aspects of character – Connect your character to your story
CHARACTER HIERARCHY
• Walk-ons and place holders- Tertiary
– Part of the background
– Diners have wait staff, parks have hobos, office
buildings have office workers and a cranky
secretary
• Minor Characters- Secondary
– May make a difference in the plot, but we aren’t
supposed to get emotionally involved with them.
– Might laugh at eccentricities, remember
exaggerations
• Major Characters- Primary
– Invested in their story, love, hate, or fear them or
hope they succeed.
– They have the POV and they have the Sympathy
ROLE OF SECONDARY CHARACTERS • Reveal hero’s character • Mirror an aspect of Hero to higlight • Reveal special world • Increase the stakes of the primary goal because of relationship with the protagonist • Add humor when the hero should be solemn • Creates another witness to the villainy
SIDE-KICK CREATION
• AT THE BEGINNING- only
concern yourself with their
relationship to the hero
– Special knowledge
– Reveal hero’s character
– Pick a few (not all)
• Keep descriptions to ONE thing
• Ex: Seven dwarves
MAJOR CHARACTERS:
HERO & VILLAINS
• The story is about them-
– OR they think the story is about them
• Audience identification- doorway into the
story- Sympathy.
• Action- his desire drives the story forward,
provides the adventure
• Growth- show learning and change so the
reader can also gain new knowledge and
wisdom
DIMENSIONS OF CHARACTER
• 1st Dimension: WHAT you see
– Observable attributes
1st • 2nd Dimension: WHY you see it
– Backstory
– Influenced by society and personal
experiences
2nd – Perceived Wounds
• 3rd Dimension: The core of
character
3rd – Neutral need/Want/Core
– Filter of the second layer that
makes them good or badLOCATE THEM: MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
FOCUSING YOUR MAIN CHARACTER
Attribute
• Wounded Character
Diamond
• The character arc is to
go from fear(armored) Attribute
Armor
Attribute
to essence.
Wound
• Might have multiple wounds
guiding their behavior-
PICK ONE Need/Want
• Story = One Wound = one
arc to focus on, to teachNEED ANOTHER SHOVEL?
• Wants versus Needs
– Three basic needs:
Relationships,
Significance, Security
– How does she currently
fill the Void = WANT =
WEAKNESS
– Weakness reveals their
Marshmallow CenterGOTTA DIG A LITTLE DEEPER?
• 12 Stepping Stones
– Know exactly what, when, and
why your heroines worldview is
askew on Pg. 1.
– Will help figure out WHICH
wound you are going to tackle OR
if there is a THEME for the
offenses.
– Informs CharacterizationPERSONALITY FOR YOUR MAIN
CHARACTER – MYERS BRIGGS
• Favorite world: Does MC prefer to focus on the outer world or inner
world? Where do they get energy?
– Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I).
• Information: Does MC prefer to focus on basic information through
senses or prefer to interpret and add meaning through thought?
– Sensing (S) or Intuition (N).
• Decisions: When making decisions, does MC prefer to look at logic
and consistency or look at the people and special circumstances?
– Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).
• Structure: In dealing with the outside world, does MC prefer to get
things decided or prefer to stay open to new information and options?
– Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).USING THE MYERS BRIGGS • Making decisions- When presented with a new choice, will MC walk through it logically or consider everyone else’s feeling and situation (T/F) • Identifying goals- When presented with a goal, does your character need to have a clear cut plan or will the MC jump into the adventure. (J/P) • Interacting with others- When presented with a new person, will your MC be open and honest or be more cautious with their actual thoughts. (E/I) • Internal monologue- When MC is presented with a new situation, will your MC be thinking about the senses or will they be comparing it to everything else they have experiences.
EXECUTION: CHARACTERIZATION
• Characterization- Experience THROUGH the
heroine’s focus
– Not just about what is happening, but what the
character FEELS about what is happening
– Expressed through informed POV (reader mind-meld
with the hero)
• Attitude of POV character
• Personality of POV Character
• Moral Code of POV Character
• Fears/Loves of POV character
• DIFFERENT FROM YOU!CHARACTERIZATION
USE WORD WEBS TO INFORM WORD CHOICE OF MC
Conviction
Devotion
Litanize Cult
Attempt Schism
Ideal Faction
Trust Demon
Plan Disbelief
Faith
Purpose Doubt
Congregation Denial
Body Instrument
Doctrine Choral/s Old
Rituals
ong
Communion
Dogma
HabitsQUICK PHYSICAL REFERENCES
www.pinterest.comEASY-PEASY CHARACTER PROFILES
Figure out who you
need to build
Determine their
need/want
Determine their
wound = journey
Determine their
personality
WRITERESOURCES • The Anatomy of Story by John Truby • Characters and Viewpoints by Orson Scott Card • Writer’s Guide to Character Traits by Linda Edelstein, PhD • Story Engineering by Larry Brooks • Creating Characters, compiled by Steven Jacobs • Bullies, Bastards, and Bitches by Jessica Page Morrell • http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/ • http://goteenwriters.blogspot.com • http://www.devonmonk.com/2014/06/plot-talk/
MORE OF AMANDA ARISTA
The Writer’s Path at SMU
Make it Bigger: Make it Woven:
Brainstorming Subplots
Summer
Workshops
Make it Again:
Make it Shine:Voice
Writing AnalysisPRESENTATION AND CONTACT! • Amanda Arista • Amandaarista.com • @pantherista
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