Writing Prompt: Mothertruckin’ Robots!

Character/Device: I’m super lazy, so today’s prompt just involves robots. Describe your ieal mechanical companion in great detail. What does it do? Why does it do that? can it feel emotion? How smart is it? Will you build an army of robots to take over the world, or use your power for good?

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I’m Great At Lists

I actually stole this from a thread on Scribophile, but in turn I’m pretty sure they took it from somewhere else, so I’m just spreading the love, because I think it’s awesome. It’s basically about what makes a good character, enjoy!

1-      Every scuffed shoe and stained collar provides reams of information for your reader, and makes your job easier.

2-      Every character, whether major or minor is motivated by something.

3-      Rather than describing your character through physical appearance, try creating a sense of who he is and how he looks based on what he does and how he moves.

4-      It’s only through writing and rewriting that characters finally gain their feet and become well defined.

5-      Good characters almost never see themselves as others do.

6-      Interview or observe someone who shares your character’s experience.

7-      Characters are what they do.

8-      Part of a character’s identity is what others say about him.

9-      If the circumstances change, is okay for the characters to change too.

10-  Physical description is not characterization.

11-  First impressions are important: when a character first shows up in a story, readers start to like them or dislike them right away.

12-  It is always good to give characters endearing imperfections. Humans are not perfect.

13-  Murder will only make a character into a villain if he commits the crime for selfish reasons, and if the crime harms people who don’t deserve to be hurt.

14-  No one likes to read the dull parts of a character’s life. In our own journals we tend to write down only what was interesting, skipping the boring parts of the day.

15-  Everyone alive has habits and characters should too.

16-  Don’t allow your characters to do stupid or illogical things.

17-  Character transformation can be one of the most powerful effects in any story.

18-  The highest character qualities are forgiveness and self-sacrifice.

19-  Characters shouldn’t always act in character. People are not always predictable.

20-  All stories are character driven.