When Im Trying To Create New Characters, I Often Find Questionnaires That Have Questions Like What Is

When I’m trying to create new characters, I often find questionnaires that have questions like “what is your character’s favorite movie?” Or “What is their favorite social media app and why?” However, these questions do not work for creating fantasy characters (like I am). Do you have any ideas for questions to help writers create fantasy characters?

This is a fantastic question, especially for fantasy writers. There aren't many resources dedicated to the creation and development of fantasy characters. I highly recommend exploring Dungeons & Dragons (DND) questions; they can offer valuable insights like this one.

On that note, if you'd be interested in a customized workbook solely focused on fantasy character creation, just give me a heads-up! Meanwhile, I've crafted a concise yet distinctive short questionnaire to get you started. (With unique questions, not the basics.)

Magical Essence 🌟✨:

Source of Power: 🌀💫 What magical abilities or powers does your character possess? How did they acquire or inherit these powers?

Magical Affinity: 🌊🔥 Describe their connection to elemental forces or magical domains. Are they aligned with specific elements or forces of nature?

Otherworldly Origin 🌌🔮:

Realm of Origin: 🏰🌌 Where does your character come from? Describe their homeland or origin realm—its landscapes, cultures, and inhabitants.

Mythical Lineage: 👑🌟 Does your character hail from a line of legendary beings, gods, or creatures of ancient lore? How does this lineage influence their identity?

Legendary Quests and Adventures 🗡️🛡️:

Heroic Exploits: 🏹⚔️ What legendary quests or adventures has your character undertaken? Describe their valorous deeds and encounters with mythical creatures or foes.

Artifacts and Relics: 🏆🔮 Have they encountered or possess legendary artifacts or relics? How do these items influence or aid their journey?

Creatures and Companions 🐉🦄:

Familiar or Animal Companion: 🐾🔍 Does your character have a magical creature companion or a familiar? Describe this bond and its significance.

Encounters with Mythical Beings: 🧜‍♀️👻 Have they interacted with beings like dragons, spirits, or mythical entities? Describe these encounters and their impact.

Destiny and Prophecies 🌟🔮:

Foretold Prophecies: 🔍📜 Is there a prophecy or destiny foretold about your character? How do they perceive and react to this prophecy?

Chosen One or Fate's Hand: 👑🌌 Is your character considered a chosen one or fated to fulfill a significant role in the world's destiny? How do they handle this responsibility?

Interactions with Magic and Society 🤝🔮:

Attitude Towards Magic: 🧙‍♂️🔑 How does your character view magic in their world? Are they a skeptic, a practitioner, or a scholar of magic?

Relationship with Magical Societies: 🏰🌐 Are they part of magical societies, guilds, or orders? How do these affiliations shape their actions and beliefs?

Struggles and Sacrifices 💔🌪️:

Internal Conflict: 🤔💔 What inner struggles or conflicts does your character face? Are there conflicts between their desires, duties, or moral beliefs?

Sacrifices Made: ⚖️💔 Have they made sacrifices or endured hardships in their journey? What are these sacrifices, and how do they impact their character development?

Fate and Free Will 🎭🌌:

Control Over Destiny: 🌟🔗 Do they believe in free will, or do they feel their destiny is preordained? How does this belief affect their actions and decisions?

Choices and Consequences: 🤷‍♀️🔮 How do their choices influence the world around them? Describe instances where their decisions had profound consequences.

I hope these questions help you start thinking about your story and your character. I mentioned things like dragons and magic to give you a place to begin, but you can totally explore other ideas beyond typical fantasy themes. Use these questions to spark new thoughts for your plot and character development, leading you to create a story that's unique and goes beyond the usual fantasy clichés.

my opinion as a ~professional librarian~ is that you really can't tell much of anything about a person's morals, politics, intellect, emotional maturity, or outlook on life based on the kind of books they like to read or tv shows they like to watch.

you can tell a lot about those things based on the judgmental shit they say about other people's taste in books and tv, though.

Types of side characters

1. Foil Characters: These side characters are designed to contrast with the main character, highlighting their qualities or flaws. Foil characters can provide a different perspective and challenge the main character's beliefs or actions.

2. Mentors or Guides: These side characters serve as mentors or guides to the main character, providing wisdom, guidance, and support. They often have more experience or knowledge in a specific area and help the main character navigate challenges or learn important lessons.

3. Comic Relief Characters: These side characters bring humor and levity to the story. They provide comedic relief during intense or serious moments and can help balance the overall tone of the narrative. Their wit, clumsiness, or unique personality traits make them enjoyable and entertaining.

4. Love Interests: Love interests are side characters who are romantically involved with the main character. They add a romantic subplot to the story and can contribute to the main character's personal growth and development. Love interests can be supportive, challenging, or even create conflict within the narrative.

5. Antagonists or Villains: Side characters can also take on the role of antagonists or villains. They oppose the main character's goals and create conflict and tension in the story. Antagonists can have their own motivations, complexities, and backstories, making them more than just one-dimensional obstacles.

6. Friends or Allies: These side characters are the main character's companions, friends, or allies. They provide emotional support, camaraderie, and assistance throughout the story. Friends or allies often share common goals and values, and their relationships can help showcase the main character's growth and strengths.

7. Family Members: Side characters who are family members of the main character can play significant roles in shaping their identity and backstory. They can provide emotional connections, conflict, and a sense of history within the narrative.

8. Background Characters: While not all side characters have to be highly developed, background characters help create a sense of realism and immersion in the story. They populate the world and add depth to the setting, even if they have minimal impact on the main plot.

9. Rivals or Competitors: These side characters compete with the main character, pushing them to improve, overcome obstacles, or achieve their goals. Rivals or competitors can be a source of conflict, motivation, and personal growth for the main character.

10. Witnesses or Observers: These side characters serve as witnesses or observers of the main events in the story. They may provide insights, commentary, or serve as a narrative device to convey information to the reader.

For the ask game! 1. What was your writing-highlight this year?

My writing highlight this year definitely had to be my NaNoWriMo alternative, which was writing a poem every day for the month. It was a challenge some days to come up with an idea or even know what I was doing, but I made it! I pushed myself to hammer down those poems one by one and I did, even wrote a couple of bonus poems one night.

Thank you so much for the ask!

Make your margins wider in your writing

Writing what feels like a dozen pages only to figure out after that you haven't even gotten through half a page is a universal experience across all writers.

What I'm about to tell you is one way I've found helps getting through that psychological toll.

One day I was writing my novel (a-luchador-detective-versus-a-lady-vampire sort of affair) when I got a certain idea. I picked up my copy of Authority by Jeff Vandermeer that I had on the desk and decided to make the line length in my work the same as that paperback edition. Margins were widened and line spacing was adjusted, leaving me with a sort of narrow manuscript.

You've no idea how much my productivity went up.

Logically, finishing a line became much faster, which lead to quicker finished pages, which produced a longer-looking manuscript. Of course, this doesn't mean that my writing was immediately faster per se,

but the feeling of being faster placebo-ed me in a way that increased my output.

Now I'm hitting my daily word-count much more consistently and I believe this was partly responsible.

Humans like numbers going up, if we wouldn't both videogames and billionares wouldn't exist. Seeing my page count increase is a reward to my brain which gives me a boost to get to the next page. By decreasing the length between rewards I'm put in a more constant progression loop, no longer feeling the slog of going up a hill and being met with a thousand more.

And at the end, if I want to check my actual progress, the real gauge will forever be the total word count, which we shouldn't obsess over, anyways.

The journey to create a novel or other piece of long-form media will always be more of a marathon than a race, and should be undertaken with the mindset of a marathon. All progress is incremental, and you should not be emotionally punishing yourself for not finishing a quarter of your book in the last week, as if that were somehow possible.

The length of a novel is such that any time-saving and efficiency-increasing life hacks we apply would only be reducing our-time-finish by weeks at the most, so why the rush?

I believe the key to writing faster is to write constantly first.

Can't be fast without stamina. So go ahead; write and make writing easier on you.

end of the year - writeblr ask game ✨

anyone else in the mood to become chatty? feel free to send a number (or two) from the list below to the person who reblogged this! and then reblog yourself if you want to get some asks ^^

what was your writing-highlight this year? what made it special and how will you reflect on it next year?

what did not go so well this year? how do you feel about it and what is a positive thing you learnt from it?

did you achieve everything you wanted to this year? if not, how will you go about it?

what is your favourite line you wrote this year?

what is your favourite book/story/poem you read this year?

did you make any new writeblr friends? give a shout-out! if not, it's time to praise one of your old besties <3

what are three songs you put on your WIP-playlist this year?

what are three things you're looking forward to next year?

create a meme or moodboard that captures your past writing-year!

which character(s) turned out differently from what you had planned? how so?

which scene was harder/easier to write than anticipated? why?

if your character(s) had their own new years resolutions, what would those be?

how did you change as a writer? did you learn anything new? started to plan instead of pants? share your wisdom!

time for writing wrapped! what would be your top three used sentences?

time for shameless self-promotion! answer with a piece of writing you want others to see/read! (if you have nothing posted/published this year, any other year is fine too ^^)

wishing you all all the best and may your writing-wishes for next year all come true <3 ✨