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Jan. 10th, 2011 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittydesadeWorldbuilding exercises, week 2!
2. Create your protagonist characters
Yes, this is an important part of worldbuilding, too.
The nature of your characters will determine how much of your world you'll need to build for background purposes. Think about how much of the world we live in affects how we think, talk, dress, act, and react. Your character's thoughts and responses, actions and questions, will be affected by the world in which your character grows up. You don't need to answer everything in exhaustive detail, but you do need to figure out some basic things. We'll get to the details later.
Again under 'summary information', write a paragraph of up to seven sentences detailing your protagonist(s). This will also give you an idea of how cluttered your cast may or may not be. Just go off the cuff, list the most striking features of your protagonist, whether that's physical appearance, grace, intelligence, background, a personal possession, a pet, or a relationship/set of relationships. Keep in mind that all those will need to be developed later. It's also okay to say "I have not yet decided A or B." You'll have to circle or otherwise choose one later, but it's okay for right now to have some options open.
Story One - My main character is a brooding, semi-anti-hero in a trenchcoat. He's very jaded and cynical about the world for reasons yet to be determined. He's physically uncoordinated, not noticeably so but he's not very good at fighting and his depth perception is off. He's tenacious, though, and fiercely loyal to the few people he feels are worth it. He's in love with someone who doesn't love him back.
My secondary character is a sexy dancing catgirl and sometime spy for the anti-hero in the trenchcoat. She is equally jaded and cynical for other reasons, possibly including sexual abuse of some kind. She refuses to sleep with the main character, for some reason, maybe she eschews sex with anyone despite her profession implying certain things. She can't fight formally but she's a scrapper, and has violent reflexes. She's also very good at sleight of hand and spying.
Another secondary character is a swordfighter. He's young (they're all young?) asian, and skilled in martial arts although he complains that this makes him a stereotype. He also eats a hell of a lot, possibly because of a high metabolism or possibly from being augmented in some way. He and the catgirl have some sort of connection I don't know what yet. Something that is both intense and not necessarily very nice. He himself is not a very nice person, although he works with the protagonists.
A tertiary character is the pocket ninja.
Another tertiary character is an older, spindly former fighter.
Story Two - My main character is a woman of indeterminate age, somewhere between of-legal-adulthood and late twenties/early thirties. She is athletic, rides a skateboard or a pair of rollerblades as her main source of transportation through the city. She dresses in pale colors when it rains and when it's gray, dark colors at night. She wears a transparent rain slicker. She is some form of Asian/Caucasian.
My secondary character is a snarky young boy, a hacker, who regularly skives off school but is chastised into making up the work. He keeps hitting on older women because he believes it keeps people from underestimating him and makes people think he's an adult (he's about fourteen), but he lacks the experience or willingness to be skeevy in order to pull it off. He is, however, very brilliant and part of the reason he's balking at schoolwork is because it's boring. His father, however, can't afford to send him to private school or for tutoring so he has to make up his education elsewhere.
Another secondary character is snarky young child's father. Raising him or her by himself, he is tired, harried, and still as attentive as he can be. His job is somewhat rewarding but doesn't pay as much as maybe he should be paid, and he doesn't get to spend as much time with his son as he wants. He takes stimulants, mild ones, to be able to get through the day and be as involved with his son as he wants to be. He also isn't as good a housekeeper as he wants to be. He knows the main character because she is a courier? security worker? something, they work together, sometimes she babysits the son.
Another secondary character is a big scary black man molecular biologist a la Blade Runner, based on Kevin Greivoux. Specializing (at the moment) in creating mythological creatures or creatures out of stories and legends on a small scale, animatronics, robotics, something. Artificial creations without reproductive capabilities. He has an almost childlike innocence to him (or is this overweening/too much subverting the Big Black Scary Man trope?) and although he isn't married, he would love to start a family. Basically he plays the part of the innocent bystander sucked up into all of this.
The final secondary character is an older woman, mid forties to early fifties, and a teacher. She may be the young child's teacher, and if so she gives him extra credit assignments and extra duties to keep him interested in the lessons. She can sort of keep up with him, and the extra help she gets to deal with him she gets from online. She is very practical, very maternal despite being divorced and having given up custody of the kids to her husband. She also has a hidden flaw of some kind (alcoholic? mental illness for which she takes medication? something else? degenerative disease, drug addiction?) that prevents her from believing herself a good mother.
2. Create your protagonist characters
Yes, this is an important part of worldbuilding, too.
The nature of your characters will determine how much of your world you'll need to build for background purposes. Think about how much of the world we live in affects how we think, talk, dress, act, and react. Your character's thoughts and responses, actions and questions, will be affected by the world in which your character grows up. You don't need to answer everything in exhaustive detail, but you do need to figure out some basic things. We'll get to the details later.
Again under 'summary information', write a paragraph of up to seven sentences detailing your protagonist(s). This will also give you an idea of how cluttered your cast may or may not be. Just go off the cuff, list the most striking features of your protagonist, whether that's physical appearance, grace, intelligence, background, a personal possession, a pet, or a relationship/set of relationships. Keep in mind that all those will need to be developed later. It's also okay to say "I have not yet decided A or B." You'll have to circle or otherwise choose one later, but it's okay for right now to have some options open.
Story One - My main character is a brooding, semi-anti-hero in a trenchcoat. He's very jaded and cynical about the world for reasons yet to be determined. He's physically uncoordinated, not noticeably so but he's not very good at fighting and his depth perception is off. He's tenacious, though, and fiercely loyal to the few people he feels are worth it. He's in love with someone who doesn't love him back.
My secondary character is a sexy dancing catgirl and sometime spy for the anti-hero in the trenchcoat. She is equally jaded and cynical for other reasons, possibly including sexual abuse of some kind. She refuses to sleep with the main character, for some reason, maybe she eschews sex with anyone despite her profession implying certain things. She can't fight formally but she's a scrapper, and has violent reflexes. She's also very good at sleight of hand and spying.
Another secondary character is a swordfighter. He's young (they're all young?) asian, and skilled in martial arts although he complains that this makes him a stereotype. He also eats a hell of a lot, possibly because of a high metabolism or possibly from being augmented in some way. He and the catgirl have some sort of connection I don't know what yet. Something that is both intense and not necessarily very nice. He himself is not a very nice person, although he works with the protagonists.
A tertiary character is the pocket ninja.
Another tertiary character is an older, spindly former fighter.
Story Two - My main character is a woman of indeterminate age, somewhere between of-legal-adulthood and late twenties/early thirties. She is athletic, rides a skateboard or a pair of rollerblades as her main source of transportation through the city. She dresses in pale colors when it rains and when it's gray, dark colors at night. She wears a transparent rain slicker. She is some form of Asian/Caucasian.
My secondary character is a snarky young boy, a hacker, who regularly skives off school but is chastised into making up the work. He keeps hitting on older women because he believes it keeps people from underestimating him and makes people think he's an adult (he's about fourteen), but he lacks the experience or willingness to be skeevy in order to pull it off. He is, however, very brilliant and part of the reason he's balking at schoolwork is because it's boring. His father, however, can't afford to send him to private school or for tutoring so he has to make up his education elsewhere.
Another secondary character is snarky young child's father. Raising him or her by himself, he is tired, harried, and still as attentive as he can be. His job is somewhat rewarding but doesn't pay as much as maybe he should be paid, and he doesn't get to spend as much time with his son as he wants. He takes stimulants, mild ones, to be able to get through the day and be as involved with his son as he wants to be. He also isn't as good a housekeeper as he wants to be. He knows the main character because she is a courier? security worker? something, they work together, sometimes she babysits the son.
Another secondary character is a big scary black man molecular biologist a la Blade Runner, based on Kevin Greivoux. Specializing (at the moment) in creating mythological creatures or creatures out of stories and legends on a small scale, animatronics, robotics, something. Artificial creations without reproductive capabilities. He has an almost childlike innocence to him (or is this overweening/too much subverting the Big Black Scary Man trope?) and although he isn't married, he would love to start a family. Basically he plays the part of the innocent bystander sucked up into all of this.
The final secondary character is an older woman, mid forties to early fifties, and a teacher. She may be the young child's teacher, and if so she gives him extra credit assignments and extra duties to keep him interested in the lessons. She can sort of keep up with him, and the extra help she gets to deal with him she gets from online. She is very practical, very maternal despite being divorced and having given up custody of the kids to her husband. She also has a hidden flaw of some kind (alcoholic? mental illness for which she takes medication? something else? degenerative disease, drug addiction?) that prevents her from believing herself a good mother.