Improving Thy Personae [aka – Your Character]
Chapter 1—Bios
It is best to first look at a Biography template as not what you have to put down, but as all that you can muster - never be afraid to go past the template and put in more details.
I will start with the HPFF Template.
Name—Okay, there isn't much you can do with this one, admittedly. But you can still think up your own original name. Have it mean something. It can be interesting to see what certain words, such as personality traits, mean in different languages. Or, you can skim through a baby name site for inspiration. Names are often passed down through generations, or specifically picked by parents – some are made up, and some are more general, but if we have a bunch of Joes running around that's not much fun, is it? And hey, think how boring Romeo and Juilet would have been if they last names were different.
Age—There is even less to do with this one. Just make sure that your age fits the site, or, if you really don't want it to, make sure you have a good reason for how old, or young, your character is - be it some magic spell in the person's past or being locked away in a prison for 30 years. Make it realistic – and if it's not, create a back-story for that.
Height—Again, much like Age there is not much to do here. Just pick a good height for your gender and race, unless again, you can back it up with a good reason. Is your character half troll? A goblin? Obviously that would come into play here.
Appearance—Now this is when things can get interesting. Appearance does not mean just 'put up a picture'. You can try and find a picture that works, or have one drawn, but you should always have the idea in your head first, and not the picture. Describe everything you can about your character -their hair color, eyes, skin tones, clothes... Any scars, tattoos, or significant marks. Anything that a person would see on your character, write it down here.
To help with this, image your character in your mind. And just begin typing all that you see, from what shows up first, to what takes more close examination to discover.
Again, though – BE REALISTIC. No creature is flawless – there are always unique imperfections that make people original. Don't make a 'perfect', typical Mary Jane.
Race—There isn't much you can say here, but what you do say means a lot. Race can drastically change your character; look what it can do to people in the real world. Take a minute, and decide, what race the person should truly be. This is not something to rush into. Is your character strictly human? A full wizard/witch? A veela, or a werewolf?
Parents— Parents can either be ignored, or accepted, but either way they have a deep personal impact on the character. This can go as in depth as just names, to full descriptions of them. But the meat of the history between the character and parents should remain within History.
Just remember – parents have a way of pulling our strings so easily, because they were the ones who wove them there in the first place..
Personality— This section is the insight to your character. This can show all the little inner workings of their mind. It can show deep, hidden trauma, which can lead to an eventual snapping, or a creepy inner peace that disturbs everyone around them with the character's peppiness. This is really important, next to History, since it will be the primary forces that drive your character. Again, though, NO Mary Jane's! Those characters are empty – and soulless, really. Put life into your character. Put character into your character. Put time into making your character to be like an actual person. Create volume, and depth to them. More specifically, make flaws for them, to both accept or overcome during your RP's. For isn't that what life's about? Overcoming your troubles?
Likes/Dislikes— The most important and clear ones should be listed here, since the bulk of this could have been covered in the personality if it is done well. You can make a list, or draw a conclusion of their general preferences here.
Power— Here, is where you can distinguish yourself as a good writer. There is an art in the fine balance of creative powers, and over powered-ness. Your powers should be unique, since that makes your character fun to RP with and to be RP'ed with. But powers can go overboard. You should normally limit them to the person's age and leave them room to grow as they got stronger with age.
Power, is the most over-used substance. If you think you can abuse it, and come in all-powerful, you're wrong. After all – that's not reality, is it? No. You grow into power. You learn power.
And all power usually has a price.
History— Okay, this, combined with personality, is the CORE of your character. The past influences the present, and the future. This is where you can say what happened to your character before they appeared on the forum. This shapes how and why they do things. If you can think up a good back story you make it so much easier for yourself down the road. If you need to think up a reason why your character would enter an RP, look at your pasts for reasons that could get them to suddenly appear. Without a good history, your character has no real drive....this is the backbone of your character, and without it, your character will be flat and shallow.
You are what you know and have lived through.
Not what you were born to do.
Okay. I know this is old! but all of you that are revamping your characters, or are completely new to the site, or doesn't have any experience with RPing, YOU! should take a good look here!
I don't know how long time Harry have put into this but this is a extraordinary good help for you who aren't so experienced in Rping. Or have a short bio.
*Albus*
Bump. Though I wish this would be stickied.
yea, i'll try!
why don't you recopy this and sticky it....it would be better if it was stickied so newbees have a guide=]
no...... I think my bio is good!!!
Here is a Link (http://www.harrypotterfan.com/forum/index.php?topic=4534.0) to my bio so you can see what happens when you put real effort into one.
And why is there so much spam being in here about RP's and such? You can whisper people to RP with them, you can take this to general, that stuff doesn't belong here, or at least in its own thread.
Wow...that is one heck! of a bio......impreesive
Bump
wait im confused. y did u say bump?
"Bump" means to bump a topic back to the front page.
ooooooooooooo
i didnt know...
well...i think my person is fine
Bump
Kiara, could you sticky this and clean out the junk posts? I think it would be nice to have it where everyone can see it without me having to constantly bump it.