Character Questions 3...

   Sorry for the delay readers but I am finally getting to finish the character questions for you :) Here, I will be focusing on appearance and their futures, hopefully covering a lot on what you should do to help get to know your character completely.

Appearance:

Skin Colour:
Eye Colour:
Hair description: (long, short, brown, ginger etc.)
Build:
Height:
Face: (Thin, round etc.)
Do they resemble anyone?
Clothing Style:
Scars/birthmarks:

Present and Future:

   The character's present and future is just as important as their past. We'd have no story if you didn't look forward as well as at the now! ;)

Biggest Fear:
What they want most in the world:
Biggest lesson to learn in their life:
Personal Dreams:
Team Dreams (If they don't work alone):
Most important goal of their life's journey:
Hopes for the future:
Any secrets to keep?
Any secrets to be broken?
Friends/Enemies to be made:
Friends/Enemies to be lost:

   So, here are what I think are the most important questions to ask your characters to make them believable and develop through your story. Hopefully it'll be better than going through thousands of questions and prompts when all you want is the essentials :)


~White Ravens~

Divergent by Veronica Roth Review

   My second review is of the book Divergent by Veronica Roth, a YA dystopian fiction :)
   I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post again. Thankfully exams are all over (FREEDOM!!!) and now I will probably have more time to myself to read, write and post :)

Rating: 

 

   4/5

  This book really keeps you on the edge and I love female leads kicking butt ;) I read it every day to try and finish it, but I've only given it four out of five because I didn't want to read it every second of everyday.Yes, I did finish it quite quickly but it didn't captivate me so much that I wanted to get to the end within an hour. I'm very picky with my 5/5s :)
   

Who I think it's for:

 

   Although it can get rather bloody and contains a few kissing scenes, there's no adult themes so I would say it's for 13+. It is a young adult book so, obviously, that is the main target market but I'm sure many adults would love it too, with it's strong and fresh characters, interesting plot and important themes. If you love sci-fi and dystopian fiction that this is for you. I'd say girl's would be drawn to it more but it has enough action to appeal to both genders.

"We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.” 

Plot Summary:  

 

   In a dystopian future where Chicago is split into five factions representing specific qualities important to their citizens: Amity for the peaceful; Abnegation for the selfless; Candor for the honest; Erudite for knowledge; Dauntless for bravery.

   It is sixteen year old Beatrice 'Tris' Prior's turn to choose. Torn between staying with her family or changing for her own future, she decides upon her faction, shocking all, and is hurtled into their grueling initiation trials. Juggling friends, love, having her life on the line as well as coming to terms with being 'Divergent', a secret underlying her city could change everything they ever knew.

The Character that stood out most:

 

   Caleb Prior, 'Tris Prior's brother, stood out a lot to me. He, too, makes a shock decision at the Choosing Ceremony, which he took at the same time as 'Tris, but appeared as a very determined character. However, what really made him stand out was how much he changed throughout the book.

   In the sequel, 'Insurgent', he is obviously easily manipulated by the 'Faction over Blood' message that every child has had drilled into them from birth. Under this manipulation, he does something completely unexpected, which really disappointed me about the book. I knew that the society had misled him, but I have my own sister so I don't understand why he would do what he did. (I don't want to give anything away so that is all I will say about the matter)

   We'll have to wait for the final book, 'Allegiant', to find out why Caleb took this abrupt turn.

Why I read it:

 

   Dystopian fiction for young adults are all the rage now so naturally I was drawn to the book. I remember one of my friends recommending Veronica Roth as a good author a while back, so when I saw the name in a book shop, I thought I'd give it a go :) It had gained good reviews and I also saw that it would become a film next year, so I wanted to read it before I saw it.
  

Why you should read it:

   

   It had me hooked from the beginning. It has something for everyone, with action, love, friendship and trying to find yourself in a difficult world, which everyone can relate to. It's great for teenagers and I would recommend it to anyone. If you want to see the film, I think you should read the book first because I like to know what's going on and how it differs :) It's a very popular book amongst YA readers too :)


   Well, that's my second review done :) I will get to writing the remainder of the character questions soon. Leave your thoughts in the comments :)


~White Ravens~


  The final installment of Veronica Roth's best-selling series, 'Allegiant', is out October 22nd, 2013 and the 'Divergent' film release is in 2014 - 21st March 2014 in the USA.

 

Character Questions 2...

   More questions for your character to answer. As I said before that personality is key in characters. Now we've got the basics down, we can carry on and get this character flowing.

Personality:

3 Best Traits:
3 Worst Traits:
Gifts/Talents (Music? Maths? Magic?):
Self-esteem rating:  /10
Confidence rating:  /10
Optimism rating:  /10
One thing they like about themselves:
One thing they hate about themselves:
How would they change themselves?
What is it that makes them a hero?
What is it that makes them a villain?
Favourite Past-times/hobbies:
Addictions:

Their Past:

 

   A character can't go forward as believable if they don't have a past. They can't develop without history, but you don't need to spend ages writing an extremely detailed biography. So, here are more quick questions on the past for them:


Biggest success:
Biggest failure:
One experience wish avoided:
Biggest lesson learned:
Education level and schooling:
Earliest Memory/Favourite memory:
Big Family/Friend fall outs:
Longest secret kept:
Any secrets broken?
Past relationships/friendships:
Childhood memories:
Any memorabilia collected?
Special training/skills gained:
Inheritance (In appearance or objects):

~White Ravens~

Character Trait Tips Part 3...

   Part 3 on tips for character building :)

   Showing and not telling is very important to keep your audience reading, but another thing you need to remember is that your character's personality is more important then their looks. You don't really need to go on about how the hero's love has a perfect muscular body, perfect fiery orange hair, perfect tanned skin blah blah blah... Just let their quirks come through.

   Use actions and dialogue to define your character not their looks. Where are they from? Do they have an accent? Can they not pronounce certain words? I know I couldn't say diagonally when I was younger and thought chimney was chimley ;) Does your character walk with a limb (or 'swag' ;D)?
Does he twitch his head when he smells something awful? Does he blink too often?

    All of this will make the character unique and appear real. Of course it's good to describe a little about the looks of characters, but only in small doses like 'I pulled a strand of blonde hair from my face' or 'My nose always seemed to get in the way of my sight' and stuff like that :)

   I hope that was interesting :) I've read lots of stories, including my own, that state a lot of things outright, resulting in a huge information overload on the reader. So, when re-reading that old draft, try showing and not telling every little detail and don't forget to let your character's quirks have the spotlight. :)

  Talking of back-stories, does your character have one? How about asking them some questions? Stay logged in for the next post on 'Character Questions' to help you :)

~White Ravens~

Character Questions 1...

   This, again, follows on from character trait tips, hopefully it will help your character develop though the whole story by creating a lot more to them then just a personality. :)

  Just like your reader, you need to get to know your characters. You have names, you have traits but you're missing something quite important. Your actual character.

   

     I find answering questions on the character helpful, but whenever I search for them on the internet, they all seem very long-winded and take more time to answer then writing the actual story! 

   Here is a small stack of what I feel are the most important questions that you will answer yourself through the eyes of your character, kind of like a profile or interview. These will help your character develop in their story as well as develop into someone real; someone you will love to write about.

    With these questions, you can learn everything you need to know about your character. Of course some aspects may change as your plot twists and turns, but it's good to get down a few ideas and answers to get you going. You don't want to be in full flow and then not have certain key information down that stops you.

   Here are the basic questions to start you off that should all be answered by the main character. If you want to answer them for some supporting characters too, then answer all or perhaps you might just want to answer only a few of the important questions. There is no need to answer any for background characters if you don't want to. ;) I've highlighted ones in bold which I think are the most important, but answer which ever ones you want of course. :)

Basic Questions:

Full Name:
Nickname:
Age:
Gender:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Where they live now:
Family:
Ethnic Background:
Religious Background:
Social Class Background: (Upper, Middle, Working...)
Race: (Are they human or a mythical creature)
Mannerisms (A habit):
Health Problems:
Way of Life/Occupation:
Close Friendships/Relationships:

  More questions on personality and appearance to follow. :)

~White Ravens~

Character Trait Tips Part 2...

  Here's the second part leading on from the traits you picked. It could also help with the whole story and not just characters :)

   Show and don't tell!

   Every writer must tell the reader something but many (including me) find it extremely difficult at times not to go into full-on describing mode. You must fight off the temptation to list all of your traits and back story.

   'Fred moans a lot and he is very clever and adventurous, but he was very stuck-up too.'

  Quite boring to read, yes? Let's try again showing and not telling:

   '"No. The Mathers' Waterfall was discovered on the 24th June 1292 by Henry Mathers not on the 25th." Fred moaned to Jo, looking down his nose at her. "I've climbed up there myself quite a few times on our family holidays. We could never stay here for longer than a month without going crazy."
Jo rolled her eyes as her mind started to drift.
"Oh please listen to me once in a while." He moaned again.'

  There; Fred has moaned a lot at Jo, talked about his adventures on holiday, shown off his cleverness and his dialogue and actions have shown how stuck-up he can be. Much more interesting! :)

   Short but sweet I hope :) More to come later.

   Remember, actions speak louder than words :)

~White Ravens~

Thinking of Character Names Part 5...

   The final part of Thinking of Character Names :) I hope you've found the tips slightly helpful at least :)

5. Use Names on Signs, Benches, Buildings, etc.

   Everywhere in the world today must be labelled to point us all in the right direction, so use that for inspiration. This is a very simple way of thinking up names and can just make something click inside your mind.

   Road signs are often named after people as well buildings, so take those for inspiration. If you live on Greenwood road, then your character's last name could be Greenwood. If your school's called Abbey Hill, then Abby Hill is a great name.

   I saw that someone used dedications on benches and trees and memorials for inspiration. I think that this is a lovely way of keeping alive the memory of that person who it is dedicated too.

   This is so simple and easy for all of you to do since all you have to do is look around. Look at the posters and pictures on your wall; the maps of the tube line; the seats in a park. Even looking at your cereal box in the morning! Names can pop up from anywhere.

   Easy peasy lemon squeezy ;)

   And that concludes my tips on character naming :)


  So, to review, here are my tips for naming characters:

1. Use Name Meaning Websites and Books

2. Use a Translator

3. Use the Names of People Close to you or Famous People

4. Use the Names of Objects, Flowers, Animals etc.

5. Use Names on Signs, Benches, Buildings, etc.

    These past 5 parts are great ways for me to think up character names, so hopefully they are useful to you too. Anyone can do it just by stepping out their front door. Actually, you don't even need to do that but just by looking out the window you'll see something that sets your mind off ticking. I hope I've carried out a wide-spread of tips that most people would find helpful but, if you do something else, comment and tell us all :) You might spark off inspiration for the next best-selling author ;)

Thinking of Character Names Part 4...

   Once again, the second to last chapter of my tips for naming characters. :)

4. Use the Names of Objects, Flowers, Animals etc.

 

   Of course you wouldn't name your main character Chair or Zebra, but you could always base them on that. This is a more difficult way of naming characters because you'll think up new names but you must be able to pronounce them easily as well as make sure it fits. If you can't say the name, then the reader's stumbling will interrupt their flow.

   Flowers are an easy way to go for basing character names. They're mostly used for females, but you could find ones that work for males to. Take Valerian for example, the masculine version of Valerie and a herb. I also think that this is good for fantasy stories but could work with any other genres as well.

   Though some flowers are worth avoiding. Like Daisy and Lily for a cute innocent girl is used a lot and Rose for the beautiful stranger but how about mixing a name that may not fit the personality... Nature is perfect for inspiration

   With animals, birds are a good way to go, like Raven and Robin and Phoenix. You could also use names that mean animals, like Rachel means Ewe and Tiger, well, means tiger...

   If your new name is difficult to pronounce but you really want to use it, then try using a nickname or shorten it for your characters and only use their full name a few times, so the reader rarely has to try and figure out how to say it in their heads :)

  Just look around you when you're outside then the names will come to you. :)

~White Ravens~

Thinking of Character Names Part 3...

   Another quick tip for character naming :) I hope you've thought up some interesting names with these tips :)

3a. Use the Names of People Close to you: 

 

   The simplest way to name characters is using family and friends names. They could reflect their character's personality and relationships or you could just like the name and allocate a character.

   If your Mum's name is Jane, then so could your main character's Mother. Or, you could name a very protective and loving character Jane. You could call a boat the heroes are travelling on 'The Jane' or just find a person who acts just like your own Mum and call her Jane.

   The opportunities are endless with this tip and you could name your whole cast and crew after people you know and love. This gives you someone to base your characters on, typical names if your story is set in modern-day and an endless list of names to choose from.

   I'm sure people will be very touched that your best-selling novels include them as the heroes and you can tell the bully what you really think if you use them as the villain!

3b. Use Famous People:

 

  This is also another small tip, but must be used carefully

   You could also use famous people as inspiration, but it's best not to call the character their full name exactly unless the character's parents were obsessive fans. If the character's Mother loved Twilight so called her daughter Bella Swan, it would have to fit the story or plot in some way.

   Here's the tricky part. The person that you use will be known to many and already exists so using their name could cause confusion with readers. It's best to keep this as a reserve or use sparingly as a tribute to a personal inspiration.

   Loosely basing the name on someone famous is perfect. For example, there's already been a Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous painter, inventor and all round clever guy, and I had a clever character in need of a name, so Leo was born. Leo also means 'like a lion', so connotes he will be brave too. Inspiration is everywhere so how about watching out for your favourite celebrities every now and again?

~White Ravens~

The World Book Day YA App

    I know this was a long time ago (all the way back in March! This year's going by so quickly!) but World Book Day is the biggest celebration of books around the world. Readers, writers and illustrators come together and school children can pick up a voucher for a free book or £1 off any other book. :)

    This year, World Book Day brought out a new and exclusive app; the World Book Day YA app. This was powered by the online website Movellas, which is ideal for anyone aged 13+ for reading, writing and sharing stories online. The app stars many fantastic young adult authors along with forty nominations from the Movellas Community of thousands voted to be part of the app.

    I was lucky enough to have been nominated and have the privilege of having my short story ‘In Need of an Adventure’ featured alongside these great authors. I loved writing this story and I really grew to love the characters and the adventure :) It is finished and in the editing process so if you have any spare time and fancy a read, check it out here:

In Need of an Adventure

    I also created the cover which was incredibly fun :) I'd recommend Movellas to anyone willing to read and write and share their love for imagination and the app is up and running for you to download :)


~White Ravens~

Thinking of Character Names Part 2...

Hello again :) Another tip for thinking of character names for you. :) Translators are another good way to go:

2. Use a Translator:

 

  Whilst not the best for long passages for French essays, just think of a trait for your character or part of their history and translate it to think of an unusual first name or unique last name. Like if a character is a copycat of everyone without their own thoughts, then translate something like 'Clone' into another language such as Italian or Danish.

   Take Professor Lupin from J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter'. Many of you may already know that 'Lupin' is derived from 'Lupus', the latin for wolf. This indicates his darker side on a full moon. Also, Voldemort literally translates to 'Flight of Death' in French and this murderous character lives up to his name. J.K. Rowling thinks up so many amazing names that fit her characters perfectly as well as creating the most wonderful, magical world of all time! (Can you tell I'm a Potterhead ;) )


   Another fun way I use a translator for is to create a hidden message behind the character through their full name.

   For example, take the main character from my story 'Everto'. Her name is 'Ena
Intenebris'. I used a name meaning website to find 'Ena', which means 'bright and shining', and then a translator to combine 'in ténebris', which means 'in the dark', to create 'Ena Intenebris' - 'Bright and shining in the dark.' This leads on to different possibilities in the rest of the plot and the all important prophecy. Most people might not notice this but it's fun to add a little back story to a name that only you know.

   However, with this way you run the risk of translating wrong, but it's not much of a problem if you gain an interesting name from it :) 

  Another part in this series of tips up and running :) I hope they've been useful but there's three more to come if you're looking for something else :)

~White Ravens~

Thinking of Character Names... :)

  I find this one of the most interesting parts of planning a new story. There are many ways to go about finding the perfect name for your heroes, villains, background characters etc. but if you're struggling, here are a few tips that help me :) I will post five in total so keep watching for more:

1. Use Name Meaning Websites and Books:

 

  This is probably one of the more obvious ways of naming your characters. There are so many useful websites all over the interweb waiting to be found as well as baby naming books in the shops and libraries. Just think of the main trait of your character or the main aim in their lives and find a suitable name that fits that meaning.

    You could go for a really simple trait, like one of my characters is extremely clever, so I typed in 'clever' to a name meaning website and it came up with a huge list. My eyes fell upon Cassidy and that's my character's name. :) Simples!

   Or perhaps you could use an aim of your character. Sofiel is a young boy who wants to protect nature, so I searched a name that meant something along the lines of 'Nature's Guardian' and Sofiel meant 'Angel of Nature'. Perfect :)

  On the other hand, you could type in a name you fancy, find out the meaning and then allocate a relevant character. For example, I love the name Brianna so I wanted to call a character that and up pops the sidekick to another story again. Brianna means 'Strong one' so perfect for a girl who has been through a lot but keeps on going for her friends and future.

  It's really easy and there are so many sources for you to use. Many websites and books give you snap shot meaning as well as detailed history, the name's popularity, origin and other useful information.

   This is the first tip so stay tuned for another one soon :)

   ~White Ravens~