First Drafting Basics - Character Journaling

So we've pretty much gone over the basics, but there are still a few things I want to talk about.

Technically, you could start writing that new story now. You got the spark, you let that spark grow and solidify, and you've battered out what needs to happen with that super fun synopsis.

But there's one more thing I like to do: character journaling.

Or something akin to that, anyway. *shrugs*

I looooooove filling out character charts. Or any kind of form (yeah, I do enjoy doing the taxes, haha) where I just throw answers in blank fields.

But I'm going to be honest, once I start writing that rough draft, I probably look at those charts like...once? And not because I've memorized everything about the characters (far from it), but when I start writing...I don't care what the MC's favorite food is or favorite childhood memory.

So what I do is simple:

-Give them a name and a vague age (I haaaaaate pin-pointing ages, and let's be honest, I don't know the ages of most of my characters)
-Maybe find a picture on Pinterest (I don't know the eye color of characters either, though I do usually know hair color)
-Jot down what they want
-Jot down what they fear
-Anything about their history that I know

And then I write a page of two in their POV (even if they're not a POV character in the draft). I just want to see how they think about things and how they view the world. This not only gives me a chance to know the character and their voice, but I can even do a little worldbuilding.

For The Red War, I wrote the same scene from 5 POVs: the royal parade. There was Marywyn, watching it for the first time, falling in love with all the colors and finery. There was Princess Connaven, wishing everyone would stop staring at her and trying to act like her slippers didn't pinch. There was Duren, totally not even noticing what was going on. Jaran, supposed to be guarding, but loving every minute of the excitement. And Wisdom, deep in a book and missing out on the entire thing.

Character sheets are important, especially for beginning writers. They help us get the important information (fears, weaknesses, descriptions, etc) that we need for our characters.

But I think too much time can be spent filling them out. And then you still have to figure out the character voice once you actually start writing.

Character journaling does both at once. :)

There you have it! Next week should wrap up this little mini-series. Hope you've been enjoying it.