A Guide to Making an Interesting and Appealing Bio

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A Guide to Making an Interesting and Appealing Bio
Topic Started: Aug 5 2008, 11:06 PM (283 Views)
Yves Beauxfort	Aug 5 2008, 11:06 PM Post #1
Le Rat de Ténèbres qui Aime Aimer Posts: 826 Group: =SB= Newscaster Member #1,933 Joined: August 14, 2007 Gender: Male Favorite System: Game Cube Favorite Sonic Game: Sonic Adventure Current Mood: Complaisant / Lonely	Note: When I say he, I'm using it in the French sense of gender use. I mean he/she. This guide is to be used in conjuction with This (link) profile sheet. Section 1. The Concept The first question you should ever ask when you're creating a fancharacter is "who is this?" This is the single most important decision you will have to make; you will model your entire bio after that answer. Right now we're looking for a big picture answer, a vague but easily understood generalization that we can later add detail to. Part I of concept: Basic Themes I cannot emphasize enough: YOUR CHARACTER MUST HAVE A PURPOSE BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO DEVELOP HIM. Whether that purpose is to be a romantic interest for another character, or to reveal some evil in society, or to provide comedic relief, a character must have a reason (or, in the more complex case, reasons) to exist to be interesting. In Starwars, Luke was the hero sent to fight evil and restore balance in the universe. Obi Wan was the fatherly teacher. Darth Vader was once a paragon of good, claimed by evil and turned into a slave for that evil. Darth Sidious was the manifestation of evil. Each of these characters have definite purposes thematically and in the plot, and they each communicate certain ideas George Lucas has about life. If you have a foggy, or uncertain conception about the point or ideas your trying to get across, your bio will be equally foggy, and won't go anywhere. Bios that don't go anywhere are boring, plain and simple. There are three requirements for what your character represents. First, you should care about the idea or ideas your trying to communicate. This is especially true with primary characters. If your character is an aristocrat aimed at revealing the weak and fickle nature of the rich, but you don't give lickety split about wealth or social class, chances are, you'll get bored doing the character, and won't make your point/character interestingly. Second, you should know what you're talking about. If you're trying to say something about how delicate innocence is, but you haven't the faintest idea what innocence really is or why it's particularly delicate, chances are you'll just seem pretentious. Granted, authors have to use some imagination when creating their character; it's doubtful that Charles Dickens was ever in Oliver Twist's shoes. Still, if you're going to develop a character around a set of themes, you should be fairly sure that you have some keen insight into those themes. I reiterate: If you only have a foggy idea of what the character is trying to say, your bio will be foggy. That's failure. Third, the themes your character is involved with should be things that your readers can relate to, and hopefully learn from. If you're writing to a bunch of kindergardeners, the ideas behind your character should not be inextricably wound up with sex. Similarly, if you're writing to a board full of teenagers, your ideas should consist of that which a teenager can understand and apply to his own thoughts. Final note on themes: The ideas behind your character do not have to be completely contained within the character. Actually, it's very likely that they won't be. Instead, the ideas will probably be revealed through how the character interacts with other characters. For instance, if you're trying to say how the self-centeredness of your character ultimately does her more harm than good, this would not be revealed through the personality described in her bio (though it could probably be implied). Instead, you can make this point through how that personality leads her once she is used in a story or roleplay. You don't have to make the ideas behind the character obvious in your bio... You just have to know what your building this character to do, so that you can plan your bio accordingly. No one could predict that Darth Vader was going to be saved by his son just through reading his bio beforehand, but the history and personality that led to that event should certainly have been preplanned. ~ Part two of concept: A general model Now that you've got the themes for your character, you need to create a basic character to build on. I know of two effective ways of doing this. 1. The first idea is to simply take your theme(s), and make it into a character. If your themes are primarily involved with greed and murder, make a vicious character who kills for gain. If your theme is how selfishness leads a person awry, make a very selfish character. Of course you will make your character MUCH more complex later on, but this gives you a basic model that you can work with in "section 2: The Personality" 2. The second approach is to take an existing person or literary figure who closely resembles what you want to express with your character, and to use him as the basis of your character. For instance, if you're trying to make a selfless hero, it might be effective to think of a hero in your life, and to base the character off that person. This will give you a much more clear idea of what your working toward than the first model, at the expense of originality. If you use this model, the main thing you'll try to achieve in section 2 is making your character unrecognizable as that person. Although their purpose may be the same, your main goal is to so utterly twist the character as to make him as original as possible, while maintaining the basic essence. You are using the character or person as a basis, as an inspiration, NOT as an excuse not to work. ~~~~~~~~ Section 2. Personality This is where you make your character. This is where you add all the intricate detail to your general summary, and make your inspiration original. To do this, I like to use this template: Quote: II. Personality A. Goal: B. Likes: C. Dislikes: D. Fears: E. Attitude Towards Life/Death: 1. Self: 2. Friends: 3. Family 4. Strangers 5. Rivals 6. Enemies F. Attitude Towards People: ~1. Males: a. Family (spouse included): b. Friends:[/b][/i] c. Colleagues/Rivals: d. Enemies: ~2. Females: a. Family (spouse included): b. Friends: c. Colleagues/Rivals: d. Enemies: G. Attitude Toward Money/Power: H. Attitude Toward Work: I. Attitude Toward Danger: J. Attitude Toward Fighting: K. Attitude Toward Anger/Forgiveness: F. Mental Condition: G. Self-image (what they think of themselves) H. Public-image (what others see in them) 1. Strangers 2. Friends 3. Rivals 4. Family 5. Enemies Answer each of the questions posed on this template to define exactly who your character is, what motivates him, and how he behaves. In answering each number, be thinking about how it helps to develop him. The goal (or, preferably, goals), for instance, would tell us what your character is after in life. We can guess from his goal what a large part of his personality is like. If he's out to dominate the world, we can guess that he's probably an ego-maniacal villain. If she's out to please her boyfriend, we can guess that she's a hopeless lover. From your character's five main goals alone, the reader can get a fairly good summary of what the characters like. What I'm saying is this: Don't just put something in each section to put something, but try and get your answers to tell about your character. If he's evil, tell us how he's evil through who his friends are and how he treats them. If he's a coward, show us through his fears. This is where you put all the details that make your character unique. Let every number tell us more about who your character is as a person. Remember, your character's personality should be built around the themes you decided on in section 1. Ronald Weasley was made to be the insecure bumbling character in Harry Potter's shadow (among other things, of course). This did not happen because Ms. Rowling happened to make him jealous and insecure. J.K. Rowling made Ronald insecure and jealous so that he could be part of a major theme in the books involving jealousy, trust, and friendship. A note should be made here, and it goes for the entire bio but is particularly important here; this is the single most broken rule in this section: While you want to be detailed, DO NOT INCLUDE DETAIL THAT DOESN'T MATTER. Everything you put should be told with a purpose. If your character's favorite kind of food doesn't say anything about him, leave it out. Details that don't mean anything are boring wastes of space that distract from your main points. If you ever wonder whether or not a detail is important, ask yourself "what would the reader not know if I left this out?" If the answer is nothing that matters, strike it. For instance, let's suppose your character has a taste for classical music. What does this reveal about him? If it's part of a set of traits that reveal him to be pretentious and old fashioned, it probably helps to tell the reader about the kind of person your character is. On the other hand, if you're only putting it for the sake of detail, and the character would be absolutely the same without it, it's pointless. Also, if an otherwise meaningless detail is important for a story, (let's say your cat's taste for cheese becomes an important plot device), but doesn't add to the personality, you should leave it out. Such things can be told in the roleplay or the novel. William Strunk, a famous professor of English sums it up best in his guide to writing style: Quote: [rule] 13. Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell. In the same way, a bio should not contain unnecessary details. I cannot emphasize this enough. Keep your bio to the point. Describe your character like a narrative. Every detail we learn creates a more and more complex character, leading us toward a final conclusion that it all adds up to. If a detail doesn't add, it subtracts. (End rant, XD) ~~~~~ Section 3. The External Character Once you have your personality figured out, you need to put them into a body, in a setting. To do this, I use this template: Quote: I. Basic Profile A. Name: B. Nicknames: C. Species: D. Gender: E. Age: F. General size: G. Physical appearance/attire: H. IQ: I. Known Relatives: J. Birth-date: K. Birth-place: L. Items of note: M. Current Residence: N. Occupation: O. Social Class: P. Economic Class: Q. Alignment: This is fairly-self explanatory. Just make sure that you're external character matches the internal. If your character is a brilliant mastermind, don't give him an IQ of 60. If he's a champion boxer, don't describe him as petit. Simple stuff here. ~~~~~~ Section 4. The History My main advice to your history is this: Let is be the story that explains the character's personality. That's the whole point of the history--to give the reader an example of the character in action, and to explain why he is the way he is. People aren't just born the way they are. They are made, largely, by what their life is like. The same should go for your character. If, earlier, you decided that your character is distant and insecure among his friends, your history should tell why. Maybe he was betrayed in his youth, and lost the ability to trust people, or perhaps he was born into a lower class than most people in his school, and grew up feeling inferior. Bottom line, the history section's purpose is to compliment the personality section, only instead of telling the reader what your character is like, you're showing the reader what he's like, and all the while, you're explaining why he acts that way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Section 5. Powers, Abilities, and Weaknesses Every character is original when it comes to powers, and I will not say what kinds each one should and should not have. I will only say that if a character has incredible powers, it should have staggering weaknesses. I'm sure everyone is familiar with god-modding, and is capable of avoiding it if they put their minds to it. I like to use this template, as it was designed to force the user not only to create powers, but to think about its applications and uses: Quote: IV. Skills and Ineptitudes A. Powers: B. Combat abilities: C. Examples of Attacks D. Basic Fighting Style E. Talents: F. Weaknesses: ~~~~~~ Relationships One last section before we're done! Good news, it's a simple section. Here, you just put a list of characters associated with yours. This can be useful for cross-referencing related bios, as well as explaining the character's place in a larger story. It can also be used as a place to discuss relationships important to the character that were not covered in the history section. The respective template: Quote: V. Relationships A. Spouse/Divorcees: B. Friends: C. Rivals: D. Enemies: ~~~ Well, there you go! I'm open to criticism ^^ I plan on revising this sooner or later, so if you have any criticism, or have ideas on things I could reword, rewrite, subtract, or add, my ears are open ^^ Edited by Yves Beauxfort, Aug 6 2008, 02:03 PM.
	I am but a rat enamored with light. ^^The above is a link to join the club xP^^


Timothy Ulysses, Crusader	Aug 6 2008, 01:43 AM Post #2
Oh no... I've become too attached to my avatar! I can't bear to change it! Posts: 2,185 Group: =SB= Governors Member #6,733 Joined: March 17, 2008 Gender: Male Favorite System: Xbox Favorite Sonic Game: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood Current Mood: Bored Blog Wait... I have a blog?	And I thought the other bio template was incredible... This is beyond words. A tad complicated, but nothing a good roleplayer can't deal with. Well done.
	"I've heard legends of that person, how he traveled the breadth of the land reducing all he touched to rubble..." Spoiler: click to toggle Pearls of wisdom (Currently looking for quotes that AREN'T mine): Spoiler: click to toggle Spoiler: click to toggle Venoma3d TUC...just just...dah why do I bother <__> Spoiler: click to toggle Timothy Ulysses Crusader So, let's recap; Shadow's ring bracers aren't just some peculiar and incredibly dubious fashion statement; they are in fact devices (whether they be magical, mystical or technological in nature) used to contain his godmodded powers to a more bareable level that remains safely under nine thousand. They are also used to hide his emorific wrists. Am I following this properly so far? Spoiler: click to toggle SuperShadowgal If you do not use proper grammar, Lady Fury shall kick your a$$! Spoiler: click to toggle Timothy Ulysses Crusader According to the Laws of Awesomeness, if the need is dire and the circumstances call for it, Amy automatically trumps all other characters. Spoiler: click to toggle Timothy Ulysses Crusader Amy Rose without a doubt; how can you not love Spontaneous Hammer Generation and Extraordinary Rage as powers? She owns many robots with her super pwning hammer. I think her problem is that if caught by surprise, she automatically drops her hammer, no Dexterity roll required (in case you're wondering, that was possibly another one of my epically failing jokes). Besides, to REALLY start beating things up, she needs to be 'in the zone'. The trigger seems to vary from time to time, from "Don't interrupt me while talking to Sonic," and "I'm pissed because I can't find Sonic," to "So-and-so insulted me," and "It's that time of the month again." Plus she's like Mr T in that due to the Law of Sheer Awesomeness, she can beat the crap out of anyone she wishes (downing an Egg Fort singlehandedly is a prime example of her awesome factor). It's a shame she can't pity foo's; then she'd be the epitomy of destruction. Thumbs up to the day Lady Fury learns Pity Foo'. Spoiler: click to toggle Um... help? Spoiler: click to toggle Wowzaa1 Banned because I LOVE YOU. Timothy Ulysses Crusader BANNED: For... wait, WHAT? Spoiler: click to toggle sMy PANCAKES Remember kids... naplam is used on OTHER people. NOT yourself. Spoiler: click to toggle Quote: Bones of Terror: Good, now Timothy have some company when he is online. Rouge X Darkness: About time. Shadow's missing his blades TUC, time to give them back <3 Timothy Ulysses, Crusader: What's that supposed to mean exactly? Rouge X Darkness: It means you can stop being an emo about being the only person from Down Under on here My fancharacters and my highly acclaimed Master Codex of Superpowers! ___________________ Artwork by Sniper, gif by sMy PANCAKES. Yes, ALL of my characters wield or have been influenced by magic or magical items. So? Spoiler: click to toggle Friends: sonicblaze, wowzaa1, DragonFlame, Beta Ray Banhammer, sMy PANCAKES, Miracle, FireFly, Talancir, lilsonic, Godzilla Firestorm, Cy-Fox, the King of Hyrule (wait, what?), ??? Please note that I won't add you without your asking first (because I'm paranoid or shy, one of the two). I have Facebook AND MSN! PM me for details. For the last time, YES, I hate Shadow!


Hoffman	Aug 6 2008, 01:16 PM Post #3
Hero of Pancaek Posts: 295 Group: B-Rank Guardian Member #6,259 Joined: February 26, 2008 Gender: Male Favorite System: Snes Favorite Sonic Game: Sonic 3 & Knuckles Current Mood: Apathetic!	Complex equals versatility, and Hoff likes this. Hoff seal of approval'd ~ Somebody sticky this thread immediately.



Duck of Death	Aug 6 2008, 08:46 PM Post #4
I LUV CHEESE Posts: 2,857 Group: E-Rank Legend Member #4,510 Joined: December 22, 2007 Favorite System: Genesis/Mega Drive Favorite Sonic Game: Sonic Unleashed Current Mood: WAAAAAAAAAW!!	Well done Yvette. Better than Heaven Demolishers. My hero XD.
	Made by Smy Pancakes. I AM WOWZAA if your wondering.


Shauna	Aug 9 2008, 09:08 AM Post #5
Sonic Blast's Jedi Posts: 231 Group: C-Rank Guardian Member #9,173 Joined: July 10, 2008 Gender: Female Favorite System: Dreamcast Favorite Sonic Game: Sonic Adventure Current Mood: content	Wow. I can tell this took a lot of effort. Well done. I like the Star Wars reference. Lol.
	Hankuna Matata What a wonderful phrase. It means no worries, for the rest of your days Friends Vermillion, MoD, Dragonflame, Cap, Mista J [ ask to be added (; ]


seadra147	Aug 20 2008, 05:20 PM Post #6
JARGON PINCIR! Posts: 181 Group: E-Rank Guardian Member #9,094 Joined: June 25, 2008 Gender: Male Favorite System: Wii Favorite Sonic Game: Sonic Shuffle Current Mood: SEADRA IS SO KOOL!	All of those examples...Well done!
	friend... Spoiler: click to toggle My friend is Eon. phuny frases Spoiler: click to toggle 1) This is NOT BREAKFAST! IT'S SPARTAN MEATBALLS AND PING! 2) Unriner faces are the value of Pluto! 3) Gerbil knit the boot! 4) Mewtwo is the salomi of Magikarp! 5) Jabbermonkey had my lawn...for...breakfast. 6) How bouts slice of toilet with that? 7) Pearls are the new WHYPINGASWRINGINGnet.com! 8) I have to assassinate the muffin man's diaper changing station. 9) The post below is a joke.


Ereki	Aug 20 2008, 07:09 PM Post #7
Chaos Spear Posts: 216 Group: D-Rank Guardian Member #9,139 Joined: July 7, 2008 Gender: Male Favorite System: Wii Favorite Sonic Game: Sonic Adventure 2	Woow..<< This took quite a while to read, but this will indeed help many profiles creators, including me. ^^ Thank you very much for this guide, Yvette. I really should have noticed this earlier.
	- = Ereki's Daily Day By Day = -


Golden	Aug 23 2008, 09:33 AM Post #8
Presents for everyone! Posts: 2,258 Group: S-Rank Hero Member #866 Joined: April 11, 2007 Gender: Male Favorite System: Xbox 360 Favorite Sonic Game: Sonic Adventure 2 Current Mood: Confuzzled Playstation Network ID: bac0nbitz Xbox Live Gamertag: bac0nbitz3	Looks awesome for someone who needs it. I really wouldn't know, though, because this kind of stuff comes naturally
	Cookie? Hanshin Nightfall Character List Spoiler: click to toggle 1. NO CANON SONIC SPECIES I'm not using any species that have been used before. This refers to major ones like hedgehogs and echidnas, and even not so popular species like bees. 2. NO CHAOS EMERALDS It gets really boring when all you have to do to activate a power is to yell "CHAOS [Insert name]" and blow them away. I'm removing Emeralds entirely, that means not just powers but storyline as well. 3. NO CANON SONIC CHARACTERS This has been a rule of mine since I started, but I'm expanding it. Instead of my characters having no interaction with canon characters, they will not even understand that they exist at all. 4. NO CANON SONIC SETTINGS Continuing with the trend, my characters will not participate in specific canon locations. They may participate in an RP that is simply "Mobius" but will not abide by any canon details. 5. NO UNNECESSARY POWERS In past characters I have often given them something extremely useful or powerful. I am removing that from my new sets. The only powers available will be reasonable magic and physical limitations within the bounds of the character.


Rad Red	Dec 12 2008, 09:07 PM Post #9
Guardian of the Master Emerald Posts: 1,129 Group: B-Rank Hero Member #6,471 Joined: March 5, 2008 Gender: Male Favorite System: Wii Favorite Sonic Game: Sonic Adventure 2 Playstation Network ID: Unknown from M.E. Xbox Live Gamertag: We Can Blog Blog? What blog?	This... This is amazing... I love it <3 In fact, this has seriously made me consider scraping all my previous fan characters and starting from scratch with this. Also, off-topic but, your sig has made me a FalcoxKazooie shipper. That has got to be the best crack pairing I've ever seen (no offense). Edited by Rad Red, Dec 12 2008, 09:26 PM.
	The servers are the seven chaos. Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the chaos. Only you can do this! Stop the Chaos Emeralds! Spoiler: click to toggle ^IT'S OVER WE WON!!!^


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