It's Preptober!!

Happy October! Some people use this month to draw something everyday, some enjoy the Halloween excitement, and some (like me) take this month to get ready for Nanowrimo in November. I'm going to share my process for getting a story ready for the insane task of writing the entire thing in a month. When November starts, I'll also be posting daily videos to help and encourage you through the entire month's event. (Super excited for that!)

First, this week, we're going to talk about building characters. It's hard to have a story without characters. It's possible, but for a novel especially, you need at least one main character. Maybe you have an idea of who they are, maybe not. I like to start with pen and paper and figure out what I Do know, and start asking myself questions to figure out the rest. 

Some of the things you want to know or figure out about your character is what they look like, their gender identity, where they live or where they come from, and what it is they want. Their internal and external motivations are more necessary when figuring out the plot. You also want to know what their name is, who their family is (if they have family), and what their personality is like. Also, what are they good at? What are they bad at? What are their flaws and weaknesses?

I'll share my list of questions for character building in the next post, but before I leave you today! Beyond your main character, also consider what other characters play a major role in your story.