Characters (Part III)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

WHAT DOES YOUR CHARACTER LOOK LIKE?

One way of choosing your characters’ appearance is to recollect pictures from your memory or from catalogues, magazines and the Internet. Another way to picture characters is on casting-call for TV or film, and choose actors who could play the parts.

Be careful about taking characters direct from life; this can get you into trouble if people recognize themselves. But you can use the features of A, the hair of B, the quirks of C, and the height of D. Or you can simply see your character in your mind’s eye.

Here are some lists from which you can choose physical features such as hair and eye colour, general looks, inner feelings, where they live and their background. I have included clothes because what people choose to wear these days, says a lot about them. There is a list of hobbies; use this too because having an interest gives a character depth. There is also a list of faults and bad habits, as nobody is perfect, and a flaw makes a character more believable and interesting.

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Hair colours

HAIR COLOURS:
Auburn  

Carroty
Conker colored
Copper
 Red gold
Titian

Blonde 

Ash blonde,
Flaxen,
Golden
Honey colored
Platinum blonde
Wheaten gold

Black
Blue-black
Colour of a raven’s wing
Colour of night

Brown

Mahogany
Mousy
Nut brown

Old people’s hair

Balding
Grey
Salt and pepper
Silvery
Sparse
White


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HAIR STYLES: styles

Afro
Bob
Braided
Buzz cut
Close cropped
Corn rows
Curly
Dreadlocks
Fringe
Flat-top
Long
Pageboy
Plaits
Ponytail
Ringlets
Short back and sides
Skinhead
Straight
Topknot
Wavy


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PERSONALITY:
Personality
Alert
Aloof
Ambitious
Arrogant
Athletic
Brash
Busybody
Careless
Charming
Cheerful
Creative
Curious
Demonstrative
Dreamy
Gentle
Gossipy
Greedy
Gullible
Humorous
Humorless
Imaginative
Impractical
Intelligent
Jealous
Lazy
Loyal
Noisy
Polite
Proud
Quick-tempered
Sensitive
Show-off
Shy
Smug
Sneaky
Stubborn
Suspicious
Whiny



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EMOTIONS:
Emotions
Anger
Anxiety
Apathy
Boredom
Confusion
Curiosity
Despair
Excitement
Fear
Fondness
Forgiveness
Friendship
Frustration
Gratitude
Grief
Guilt
Happiness
Hate
Hope
Hostility
Irritation
Jealousy
Loneliness
Longing
Love
Resignation
Restlessness
Sadness
Shame
Surprise
Suspicion
Sympathy




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HOME WHERE CHARACTERS LIVE:

Apartment
Bungalow
Cabin
Caravan
Castle
Cave
Chalet
Cottage
Flat
Hotel
House
Houseboat
Hut
Palace
Semi-detached house
Town house
Tree house



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PROFESSION:

Accountant
Actor
Airman/pilot
Architect
Artist
Banker
Baron/Baroness
Cab driver
Chef
Clergyman
Dancer
Dressmaker
Duke/Duchess
Earl/Countess
Enchanter
Engineer
Estate Agent
Gardener
Grand Vizier
Hairdresser
Historian
Horseman/woman
Interior Decorator
Journalist
Judge
King/Queen
Prince/Princess
Lawyer
Model
Musician
Nurse
Policeman/woman
Postman/woman
Sailor
Salesman
Secretary
Shopkeeper
Social worker
Soldier
Sportsman/woman
Spy
Stockbroker
Teacher
Undertaker
Waiter/Waitress
Writer


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HOBBIES:

Computer Games
Painting

Acting

Embroidery
Reading
Airplane watching

Fencing
Record Collecting
Archery

Fishing
Scuba-diving
Ballet

Gameboy
Sports
Birdwatching
Jacks
Stamp collecting
Boating/Sailing
Jigsaw puzzles
Trainsporting

Camping


Martial Arts
TV/DVD-watching
Card collecting
Music




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CHARACTER FAULTS
AND BAD HABITS:
Character faults and bad habits
Arguing
Bad table manners
Casual
Cheating
Clumsiness
Impatience
Interrupting
Lying
Nail-biting
Noisiness
Nosiness
Quarrelling
Quitting too soon
Rudeness
Selfishness
Showing off
Unpunctuality
Untidiness
Vulgarity


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HOW DO THEY TRAVEL?
How do tey travel?

Airplane
Ocean Liner
Bicycle
Quad bike
Bus
Rocket/Spaceship
Car
Sailing Boat
Coach and Horses
Scooter
Four-wheel Drive Car
Spots Car
Helicopter
Train
Horseback
Van
Lorry
Motorbike
Magic Carpet




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EDUCATION:
Apprentice
High School
Boarding School
Pre College
Comprehensive
University
Governess/Tutor

Home Schooling

Kindergarten

Primary School





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CLOTHES:
Clothes
Bikinis
Blouses
Boots
Caps
Dresses
Dressing gowns
Earmuffs
Fleeces
Gloves
Gym shoes
Jackets
Jeans
Jumpers
Mittens
Overcoats
Pajamas/Nightdresses
Raincoats
Sandals
Scarves
Shirts
Shorts
Swim suits
T-shirts
Ties
Trainers
Vests and pants
Waistcoats
Wellingtons





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Generally, how do you make your readers like the hero/heroine?

(I don’t really want to repeat the theory here. What’s good that we like, and bad that we dislike is judged by a moral condition we consciously accept. A discussion on this can go really elaborate. For the time being, let’s look at it this way):

You make him do things the reader would love to do but can’t.

• Show thoughts and actions with which readers will sympathize.

• Make him upright, honest, dependable, brave and clever but modest about it; but not all these characteristics at once.

• You make him the kind of person the reader would like to be, someone he envies.

• Don’t make him a goody-goody – a few faults make a person more human (none of us is perfect). But let the faults be endearing. For instance, if you make him unreliable, let it be about time or remembering things, not about something important like keeping promises.

• Give him a sense of humor.

• Once he is established, make life difficult for him: if the odds are against him, the reader will be on his side.

• Focus on him: let other characters like him and say so to each other. • Let the story be told from his point of view.

Generally, how do you make the reader dislike the villain?

• Make him do something loathsome or reprehensible. Being unkind to an animal will set most young readers against a character.

• Make him unreliable or untrustworthy. Let him be caught out telling lies.

• Make him speak harshly to a character you have made the reader like.

• Make him humorless.

• Make him a hypocrite.

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