Question 8 – 50 Unique Questions to Get to Know Your Character

This question might reveal what’s really important in your character’s life.

What does your character dream about?

Dreams are complicated, and considering a sample night of your character’s dreams may let you learn some new things about them. You can even go further and research the meaning of some dreams, or incorporate a dream into your story. Sometimes dreams reflect what one was thinking about before going to sleep, or what they didn’t even realize had been in the back of their mind. However, I wouldn’t include the cliché “prophetic dream” unless it is different from the usual.

Follow-Up Questions

• How did they feel in the dream?
• How do they feel after?
• Is it a recurring dream?
• Was it about something that had been on their mind, or seemingly random?

Character Profile

Memoir title: My Boring Life
What this says: Sarcastic, doesn’t think their life has anything worth writing a memoir about, probably doesn’t really want to write a memoir anyway

Question they get asked the most: “Why aren’t you at school?”
What this says: Is (or at least looks) under 18, often doesn’t go to school — maybe homeschooled, skips class, can’t go for some reason…

If found dropped $50, they would: Take it
What this says: Might need it, might not; the other options might not have even crossed their mind

Current mood: Good
What this says: Something good might have just happened to them

Favorite game: Scrabble
What this says: Probably likes games that require skill and/or intelligence, has a wide vocabulary, may or may not enjoy active games and sports

Color: Clear-cut, bold, primary colors
What this says: They think logically and are cynical, sometimes struggles to think outside the box

Self-description: Diligent, average, considerate
Others’ description: Procrastinator, funny, empathetic
What this says: This person and others seem to disagree on whether they work hard or not enough. Like many people, they think of themself as not very unique. Everyone seems to agree that they are kind and caring toward others.

Dream: They were falling, but seconds before they hit the ground it shifted into a lake, which they plunged into. When they tried to swim to the surface to breathe, they couldn’t find it anywhere. Then they woke up.
What this says: They are probably stressed, and something is making them feel stranded or not knowing what to do next as things happen quickly around them. Or it could have a literal meaning, like they are scared of drowning. (Of course, I am not a dream expert.)

If you have a WordPress account, to keep track of this series, follow the tag #50CharacterQuestions. For the 50 Character Questions page, click here.

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Question 7 – 50 Unique Questions to Get to Know Your Character

This question will compare what your character is like from different perspectives.

What three words would your character use to describe themself, and what three words would others use to describe them?

The two questions inside this are both essential to understand what makes your character unique. Not only does it give you six words to elaborate on their personality, it also shows what parts of themself your character thinks differently about than others. This may reveal their insecurity or overconfidence.

Follow-Up Questions

• How are the character’s words and everyone else’s words different?
• Are the words mostly positive, negative, or neutral?

Character Profile

Memoir title: My Boring Life
What this says: Sarcastic, doesn’t think their life has anything worth writing a memoir about, probably doesn’t really want to write a memoir anyway

Question they get asked the most: “Why aren’t you at school?”
What this says: Is (or at least looks) under 18, often doesn’t go to school — maybe homeschooled, skips class, can’t go for some reason…

If found dropped $50, they would: Take it
What this says: Might need it, might not; the other options might not have even crossed their mind

Current mood: Good
What this says: Something good might have just happened to them

Favorite game: Scrabble
What this says: Probably likes games that require skill and/or intelligence, has a wide vocabulary, may or may not enjoy active games and sports

Color: Clear-cut, bold, primary colors
What this says: They think logically and are cynical, sometimes struggles to think outside the box

Self-description: Diligent, average, considerate
Others’ description: Procrastinator, funny, empathetic
What this says: This person and others seem to disagree on whether they work hard or not enough. Like many people, they think of themself as not very unique. Everyone seems to agree that they are kind and caring toward others.

If you have a WordPress account, to keep track of this series, follow the tag #50CharacterQuestions. For the 50 Character Questions page, click here.

P.S. This is my 201st post on Words on Key! Thanks for reading!

You might also like: 10 Things I Noticed When I Read Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis

Book Review: Dreyer’s English (Young Readers’ Edition) by Benjamin Dreyer

A surprisingly interesting book about the basics for any kind of writing.

Question 6 – 50 Unique Questions to Get to Know Your Character

This question can be taken multiple ways, and is most important if you write in first-person point of view and/or with lots of description.

Question 5 – 50 Unique Questions to Get to Know Your Character

This question may seem basic, but it says a lot about your character’s mindset and what they enjoy.

What is your character’s favorite game and why?

Some people like shooting hoops all day long. Others enjoy doing a thousands-piece puzzle with a cup of tea. One might prefer games purely luck-based, or they like gathering with friends for roleplaying games or video games. These four examples are just some possibilities, and they already hint to a person’s strengths and hobbies.

Follow-Up Questions

• Who do they like playing it with, or is it single-player?
• Why do they like this game?

Character Profile

Memoir title: My Boring Life
What this says: Sarcastic, doesn’t think their life has anything worth writing a memoir about, probably doesn’t really want to write a memoir anyway

Question they get asked the most: “Why aren’t you at school?”
What this says: Is (or at least looks) under 18, often doesn’t go to school — maybe homeschooled, skips class, can’t go for some reason…

If found dropped $50, they would: Take it
What this says: Might need it, might not; the other options might not have even crossed their mind

Current mood: Good
What this says: Something good might have just happened to them

Favorite game: Scrabble
What this says: Probably likes games that require skill and/or intelligence, has a wide vocabulary, may or may not enjoy active games and sports

There is a 50CharacterQuestions page now, which can be found here. You can see all the questions in the series so far, as well as some information on what it is.

If you have a WordPress account, to keep track of this series, follow the tag #50CharacterQuestions.

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Question 4 – 50 Unique Questions to Get to Know Your Character

This question, while not describing your character as a whole, will be an immense help deciding what they say and do in the story.

PART 3 of the Collaborative Story

A couple weeks ago I wrote the beginning of a story and invited anyone to continue it by typing in a box at the bottom. We are on Part 3 now — and here it is.

Question 3 – 50 Unique Questions to Get to Know Your Character

This question is a twist on the usual “What would they do with a million dollars?”.

Question 2 – 50 Unique Questions to Get to Know Your Character

This question can tell you some things about the character’s personality and how other people see them.

Question 1 – 50 Unique Questions to Get to Know Your Character

This question will help you know how your character views their life. It might give signs to whether they think positively or negatively, and their general personality. It might tell you how much they would enjoy doing this activity.

Writing

(I had no idea what to name this, so bear with me despite the odd title.)

Recently, I made a new category on Words on Key: Writing Tips.

As a random teenager who has never gone to college, published a book, or taught a class, you might be thinking that I am not qualified to give writing advice. And you’d be right.

What I do know about writing is that I love it. Also that I don’t want to only follow the rules of it. The reason I love it is because there are no rules.

When I give writing advice, it might not be what you’ve heard before, and it might not be something you agree with. Because it’ll be about my own thoughts, and there will never be rules, just ideas.

Here’s my first idea.

Part 2 of the Collaborative Story

A bit ago I posted something called Help me write a story!. I offered the first few paragraphs of three different stories and invited anyone to continue writing either of them in a box at the bottom.

No one continued the story, which was kind of sad, so I convinced my nine-year-old brother to help (his blog). Here’s what he wrote.

Help Me Write a Story!

Here is my proposal.

I will write a short first part of a story, and below the story there will be a box. Anyone, after reading the part, can type in the box a following short part. If it is the only submission, it will go next, and if not, I will choose one for the story. If no one contributes that time around, I will either write another part or ask someone I know to. We can see how long and where the story goes.

INFOGRAPHIC: An Editing Checklist for Fantastical Hobbyists

I decided to try something new, and made an infographic instead of the typical blog post. I had fun doing it, so I’ll probably do it again at some point. Click here to download it (don’t worry, it doesn’t take up much storage space).

INFOGRAPHIC: An Editing Checklist for Fantastical HobbyistsDownload

P.S. Since I couldn’t have the best downloading quality without being a paying customer, the zoom may be a little weird for the download on a computer. I suggest you click on it, then set the zoom to 50-75% by pressing Ctrl + -, because otherwise it’s way too small or way too big.

The 10 Best Writing Tips I’ve Learned

What is good writing?

A question without a simple answer.

I am no expert at writing — or anything, for that matter. You need many years to gain expertise, and I haven’t had many years yet. But I do love writing, and I get better at it every day. Here are some things I have learned from online, other people, and my own experience.

If you are interested in this post, stay tuned!

Also!

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I decided to try something new, so coming soon is a helpful infographic: An Editing Checklist for Fantastical Hobbyists.

Learning Oxymorons with Coronavirus

Well, the coronavirus has taken a lot away from us. But at least it’s stopping us humans from destroying our planet so much! And, even “better,” it helps us learn oxymorons!

Effect vs. Affect

Effect: noun
Affect: verb
Affect is “to change,” and effect is the result.
The effect the coronavirus has on people’s daily lives
How the covonavirus is affecting people’s daily lives