Experimentation
Character Creation Templates:
01/02/2021
Using this technique has helped to give me some insight into what aspects of characters need to be addressed to make sure that they are fully fleshed out as well as how important these details can be to help a writer place that character into a story.
Whilst creating the first character template, I felt that I should attempt to make a character outside of the fantasy genre since it would test me out of my comfort zone so, I tried to make a character who is in a modern mystery genre so that it would stand away from any fantasy aspects.
Creating an Anti-Villain:
04/02/2021
Joseph Parker shares some tips on how to create an effective anti-villain (Deviant Art, 2017): for this I will be writing a short summary of a villain that I will adapt with these tips. The villain i will use is bowser from the game Super Mario Bros.
(Nintendo, 1985).
Bowser is a large reptilian creature who's goal is to capture Princess Peach and rule over the Mushroom Kingdom with his army of goombas.
The first tip Parker shares are that Anti-villains come from humanization and respect. He discusses how a one-dimensional villain that he created was considered interesting by people who read the manuscript for his book, so he redrafted his villain to seem more human which also made it easier for the villain to fit inside the setting that he had created.
Bowser is a large reptilian creature native to the wildlands of the mushrooms kingdoms and has spent the last thousand years expanding his empire and recruiting a great army of animals and flora that reside within.
The Second tip provided it that Anti-villains need to-have necessities that are driven from the events of the main storyline, helping to give the character purpose from the perspective of the player as well as making the character's actions have meaning instead of them doing things for the sake of opposing the hero.
Bowser is a large reptilian creature native to the wildlands of the mushrooms kingdoms and has spent the last thousand years expanding his empire and recruiting a great army of animals and flora that reside within. Gathering these beings was not an easy task since the growth of the Mushroom Kingdom has led to the scattering of their habitats. Whilst Bowser's empire stands strong and prosperous, losing the majority of the Wildlands has taken its toll on what remains.
Parker's third tip is that the anti-villain is a hero from their perspective. This idea gives the anti-villain a better drive to their actions as well as providing some continuity to their disposition and background.
Bowser is a large reptilian creature native to the wildlands of the mushrooms kingdoms and has spent the last thousand years expanding his empire and recruiting a great army of animals and flora that reside within. Gathering these beings was not an easy task since the growth of the Mushroom Kingdom has led to the scattering of their habitats. Whilst Bowser's empire stands strong and prosperous, losing the majority of the Wildlands has taken its toll on what remains.
Since the Mushroom Kingdoms rise, the state of the wildlands has slowly declined from the excavations and implementation of great pipelines so resources could be pulled from nature at an accelerated rate. The destruction of his people's homeland has driven Bowser to try and stop this madness at its source; the tyrant known as Princess Peach.
The fourth tip given my Parker is to make sure that the anti-villain does not become a rival hero to the main character, which would make them lack the narrative weight to be the final boss in the story. This can be done by making them destructive enough that they are still a worthy fight for the main character as well as preventing any mutual respect that the hero may feel for the villain making the final confrontation seem insincere and not worth the build up.
Bowser is a large reptilian creature native to the wildlands of the mushrooms kingdoms and has spent the last thousand years expanding his empire and recruiting a great army of animals and flora that reside within. Gathering these beings was not an easy task since the growth of the Mushroom Kingdom has led to the scattering of their habitats. Whilst Bowser's empire stands strong and prosperous, losing the majority of the Wildlands has taken its toll on what remains.
Since the Mushroom Kingdoms rise, the state of the wildlands has slowly declined from the excavations and implementation of great pipelines so resources could be pulled from nature at an accelerated rate. The destruction of his people's homeland has driven Bowser to try and stop this madness at its source; the tyrant known as Princess Peach. There is only one way to draw out such a monster, she does not care for her people or their homes, even her kingdoms welfare, no all she cares for is her power.
So Bowser does what must be done, he tears down the great pipe monuments created by the mushroom kingdom wrenching the resources that fuel the tyrant's ever-growing hubris. That got her attention, that drew her from the stronghold and just like that he had her, swept her away from the kingdom that had been built of the backs of millions, now all he had to do is wait for the leaderless remains to crumble to the sands of time.
Parker's fifth tips is to consider the various options you have for your anti-villain with them ranging from delusional to miss-guided, they can kill the few to save the many. They can also be more correct than the hero due to their perspective on things.
(Note: this has been mixed in with the final paragraph so please refer to the previous answer.)
Parker's final tip is to consider the complications that could come from having the anti-villain as the hero of the story. This is because if your anti-villain is too relatable it can lead to the anti-villain become the hero of the story which can receive a negative response from the player due to them being pushed to the sidelines for the writer's characters.
(Note: I feel that I have also addressed this issue alongside the previous tip.)
Character Development Exercises:
09/02/2021
Masterclass discusses some techniques that can be used to help develop a characters complexity and to prevent said character from blending in with others. In this exercise, I will create a character using these steps instead of using a pre-existing character. (Please note that I have missed a few tips due to time constraints as well as preventing this task from being too drawn out, I will elaborate further in my reflection.)
Tip 1- Think about your character's favourite pieces of media:
Some of Jacob's favourite media come from sitting on the floor as a child watching cartoons, the carefree nature of each episode, not having to worry about what may come next. This was expanded further with his discovery of comic books. The pages pulling at his attention, drawing his eyes from cover to cover all beckoning him to unravel the tails that they tell.
Tip 2- Write a short story about your character at a different age:
During his younger years, Jacob sort to push the limits of his reality and to break whatever expectation those around him held. What better way to do that, then to reach for the stars that we adored so much? So what if they had already done it before? Jacob would be the first 8-year-old to ever reach space, that would show the older kids, always talking of becoming firemen, singers and football players. None of them thought of what they could achieve if they put their minds to it but Jacob knew and Jacob would be able to see the stupefied looks on those idiots' faces when he was soaring high above all of them.
To Jacob's surprise, it was really easy to set up your own launch site, of course, anyone who had even looked at a copy of Captain Cosmonaut was probably being looked at by NASA with unrivalled jealousy. The trick was to build the ramp off of the highest point one could find, for Jacob, this was the roof of his mother's house and what a sight it was, Jacobs handiwork would be seen by all as a beacon of what modern man could achieve. A great cardboard runway spanning the two impossibly strong plastic containers that Jacob had found in the garage.
Now was the moment where man would be pushed to their limits, all the struggles for advancement coming together in this one great effort. Jacob rolled his ship to the start of the runway. Whilst the skateboard that he had to manage to acquire was not the most flashy vehicle to carry him to victory, it would serve its purpose and serve it well. All was ready, he was going to achieve his claim to fame and no one was going to stop him.
"Launch in 3..."
Jacob's pace quicken with anticipation, clenching his fists tight enough to drain the colour from them.
"2..."
It wouldn't be too long now.
"1!"
Jacob pushed his foot against the roof with all his strength causing the old wheels on his skateboard to squeal with excitement, drawing one step closer to the edge. The board roared along the runway, picking up more and more speed before lurching to the right. One of the containers had given out with a snap leaving Jacob off-balance. With a thud and a snap, none too familiar to the container, Jacob was lying face-up of the grass his eyes blinded by spots of light contrasted to the slowly encroaching darkness that surrounded his vision, he had failed and this was the price of striving for others feared to do.
Tip 3- Create a character profile:
When working on this tip, I looked to The Novel Factory's article (1999) on character profiles to help me
Name: Jacob Peterson
Age: 26 years-old
Job: cartoonist for Happy-Guy Studios
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 79kg
Build: Lean, not much muscle or fat
Hair colour: blonde hair
Eye colour: blue
Skin-tone: pale skin
Scars/Birthmarks: has a scar running along the outside of his right leg after breaking his leg as a child
Family members: Mother (Jessica Hardly), Father (Jack Peterson) and a younger step-brother (Clancy Peterson)
Personality: Very excitable, tends to always have a positive outlook on any situation he is placed in
Hobbies: has been collecting comics since he was young as well as collect various pieces of memorabilia from shows
and movies.
Strongest character trait: Always positive and helpful with the people he meets.
Weakest character trait: tends to be naive of the world around him and struggles to keep himself grounded in reality.
Role model: Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space
Tip 4- Write from your character's perspective:
I couldn't believe my luck. This job could set me up for life and all it would take is a few extra hours a week to get the education for it. Ever since I saw the ad for the position in the papers I knew that it was the best chance I would have to make my way in the world, after all, not many people could say that they worked for Happy-Guys.
I only wish that I could have shaped myself up a bit, don't get me wrong I didn't look as if I had been dragged off of the street or anything but the bed-head that had attached itself to my skull like some sort of brown fuzzy leech wasn't exactly making the most professional impression. But who knows, maybe the look as if I had fallen out of my bed straight into the interview lounge might lend some merit to an air of dedication as if the fuzzy leech was attracted to my pure creativity.
Never in my life have I ever seen anything like it, after crossing the threshold of the office block belonging to the all-might Happy-Guys studios, I was treated with a sight that shook me to my core along with the unnerving feeling that I had walked into a place that I did not belong. Thousands if not millions of cubicles lined up before me like one of those parades that they army usually put on, all immaculate but whole-heartedly cold and prickly as if they would strike be down at the slighted provecation.
Navigating my way threw such a throng wasn't easy, the endless and seemingly random appearance of people from amongst the walls was causing me no end of distress and confusion. Many apologies and bouncing from one side of the labyrinth's path to the other, I had finally manoeuvred my way to what appeared to be the end. To be honest, I'm surprised I didn't come out of there with a degree considering how troubling that was but at least it was over with.
The next task before me was a large, semi-circular desk that rested against the grey walled with three people positioned at either side and the centre of it. I sheepishly wander over to the person on the far left side of the desk and handed over a cut out of the advert from the paper. The woman gave it the briefest glance before point over to a set of double doors on the right side of the room. I gave a bleat of a "thank you" and made my way around the crowd that had formed around the desk, hoping to avoid entangling myself in the bustling mess.
One of the doors stood slightly ajar, with a slight written in bold letters saying "Human Resources". I dare not guess what that meant and prayed that I wouldn't end up as some sort of human cubical, shuddering at the image of ending up part of some evergrowing maze forced to house the horrors that resided in that labyrinth that I had crossed. Cracking the door open left me shielding my eyes from the light that emanated out of the room as I stepped through.
Tip 6- Create a character using real people as templates: Stanley Ipkiss
When coming up with the character to use in this task, I decided on Stanley Ipkiss who was played by Jim Carrey in the film The Mask (1994). I thought that the character of Stanley would be a brilliant template due to his nature of helping those around him whilst being down-in-the-dumps due to his misfortunes in life, which is built upon with his childish nature as well as him not being the smarted character in the room which helps the audience root for him since he is relatable.