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Oct 12, 2025 at 12:43pm
#3762561
Okay. This always seemed like a slightly odd day in the beginning. If you are writing your first novel and don't have very many ideas, it's a little harder to understand how important today can be for the future. So, what is the Dramatis Personae? How does it affect the writing process for November and the future? I'm glad I asked. hehe The Assignment: (1) Identify allies and enemies encountered along the journey and describe how they help or hinder your protagonist(s). (2) Create a list of characters in a format easy to edit and expand.   (3) Write a brief profile on each character new character. - Name - Age - Occupation - Relation to the main character(s) - Rough physical description or image (try a Google Image Search or comparable) NOTE: You can revise this list at any time (and that's the point!), so this revision is not expected to be fully accurate or complete. The basics for the assignment is to write out a list of the other characters, so everyone besides the protagonist and antagonist. This will help when you are writing in November and get in the middle of a chapter, need to write about a character and go blank on the name. I've been forgetful lately, so if you are like me, having a list for names helps in those forgetful times. It is even more crucial if you write series and many different novels. If you do the list and keep the prep item for many years, you will be able to look back to compare or if you can't remember. It is okay to use the same names in different novels. However, for some of the main characters or ones that are important, it might help to not use them very often. I have used minor character names in different places but some of the protagonists and such, I keep them to the one novel. Plus, in the varying series the protagonist can become a secondary or minor character in a different novel if you write ones in the same world (this works not only for fantasy but romance series too). This means that even if you just write done names and minor details... that is okay! You don't need to know everything about the character. If you can add physical descriptions and images, that is great. But if you don't have those details, that is okay. The more information you can put into the item, the better. Still, it's not that bad if you only have minimal details. If you don't know what name to use, I recommend using the genre of your novel and goole to find name generators. You can also look up popular names for certain years, for locations (like college) or you can even look up something like "penguin names" and there are sites available to help. Key factor here is that you have something to refer back to for later, so during the writing process you don't get stuck trying to create a character and come up with names that fit the story. Do this now and you will thank yourself later.  |
MESSAGE THREAD
by Dawn Embers
by Battywynš¶Prep!
by NormaJean AKA CHEER QUEEN
by Token-Jester
by Battywynš¶Prep!
