#AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

#AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

prompts that hit in all the right places

showing up outside your enemy's door

only one bed

knife against the throat

“it’s always been you” kisses

exclaiming “because i love you” during an argument

rain kisses

''use me''

having to undress your love interest to be able to tend to their wounds, trying your best not to stare at their bare-chest

being pushed to the ground/wall with your hands pinned down

sexual tension when tending to someone's wound

“I didn’t know where else to go”

fake dating (it was real all along)

confessing your feelings to someone you think are asleep

“it’s not like I’ll ever see [that person again]” while said person's standing behind them, suitcase in hand, about to reveal they’re moving back into town

''make me''

a character claiming they’re not going to do ~the thing~ but in the next frame is seen ~doing the thing~

“nothing is ever going to happen between us!”

two strangers bumping into each other on the street, instant attraction (not love. attraction! think instant case of god you’re hot)

during a stressful situation, a character can be seen running back into their house ‘’forgot my keys’’ *runs back out* *runs back in* ‘’forgot my wallet’’

the italicized “oh”

“what is it that you don’t get? i’m not attracted to [this person]!” cut to scene of the person in question staring longing at the object of their desire

going to sleep on different sides of the bed but waking up entangled

going to sleep in different beds but sneaking into the other's to snuggle

forehead kisses but it's the male being kissed on the forehead

dancing together, one of them takes the other’s hand, kisses it

''what you're doing right now is really stupid but you're so cute i can't help but laugh at it''

''let's kiss just to see what it's like''

when someone's like… i don’t know… hurt or something… and the other person's like… tending to their wounds… and then just… wrap their lover their arms, thankful they’re alive

when a character is taken hostage by the antagonist, and their lover goes absolutely ballistic, doing everything in their power to protect their lover, and the antagonist has to restrain them, but it doesn't stop this character from trying to get to their lover, doesn’t matter what happens to them, doesn’t matter if they get beaten as long as their lover's safe

What are core values, and how do you pick them for your characters? (Part I of Core Values)

A core value is a fundamental belief your character holds, one that is so obvious to them that they cannot explain it. A character's decisions will always be guided by their core values. Some examples:

Integrity means a character will stick to their moral code; often links to the core values of Honesty, Trustworthiness, and Loyalty.

Justice means a character will seek to right wrongs, whether caused by someone else or themselves.

Autonomy means a character needs to guide their own path and not be told what to do by others.

Loyalty means a character will act in a way that will benefit those to whom they are loyal, whether that's a family member, friend, or another individual (or organization) that has earned their loyalty.

Survival means a character will do whatever it takes to keep themselves alive.

Family means a character puts family above all else; strongly linked to Loyalty.

Personal gain means a character will do anything for wealth or other commodities.

Reputation means a character is concerned about how they appear to others and will do anything to make sure others see them as they wish to be seen.

How do you pick core values for your characters?

Core values are the root of all motivation, but there are a lot of ways to figure out what they are. The answer to the titular question depends on how you like to create your characters.

Some writers start with a basic character 'picture,' like "strong-willed airship pilot on an adventure for lost treasure". Other writers start with a character-story hybrid, such as "grumpy, asocial wasteland survivalist who discovers what it means to be part of a found family."

Still others might have an entirely different approach, but these are the two I'll focus on today.

Building your character "values-first"

You may wish to decide your character's core values first to figure out what situations to put them in. Choose 2 or 3 to start. The "grumpy, asocial wasteland survivalist" character has values already baked into the concept. They value their Privacy/Autonomy and will prioritize Survival, but eventually, their Loyalty will prove more important. Try this: Write a blurb for each value you've picked that explains how this value affects their life.

Discovering your character's values as you write

On the other hand, you could start writing first and let the character tell you what they value based on their actions. For instance, let's say your strong-willed airship pilot just turned down a lucrative job because they want to be a trailblazer, not a follower. You didn't know they were going to do that! Here, your character has just demonstrated that they value Autonomy above Personal gain. Try this: Like in the above example, figure out why your character took a specific action, then translate that into a core value.

Add your answers for both exercises to your character bible for later reference.

How do you figure out your characters' motivations? Tell me!

I welcome additions to this post! If you have another method for figuring out what motivates your characters, I'd love to hear about it.

I'm going to make a few more posts about core values, including "how to keep your characters 'in-character'" and how to create conflict based on core values. They'll all be in the core values tag on my blog once they're up, and I'll edit this post with links as well.

Core Values Series

Part I: What are core values, and how do you pick them for your characters? (you are here) Part II: How can you make sure your characters stay "in character?" Part III: How to create conflict based on your characters' core values

#angst

Sad things you can do in a book other than killing of a character

Character death is sad, but it also has huge consequences on your plot that can’t be reversed. Not to mention, depending on your genre, character deaths are often reserved for later in the series as a way of telling the reader that things are getting serious. 

So, until that moment, here’s a quick list of things you can do to tug at your readers emotions: 

1.- Destruction of an item of value. For this to work you’re going to have to set this up early on, it could be a childhood toy they need to sleep at night, a necklace they swear gives them good luck, and old family trinket or any number of things. The important thing is you show just how important it is to the character, make them happy and excited just to talk about it. Later on your character will feel loss and so will the audience. 

2.- Arguing. Two characters with a strong bond arguing can be heartbreaking, even if you know the argument is going to resolve itself eventually, going from cuddles and banter to cold looks and the silent treatment, can easily hurt the audience just as much as the characters. 

3.- Betrayal. When well done, it’s worst than character death. When you as a reader fall head over heels in love with a character, only for them to betray the rest, it’s heartbreaking, especially if when you read back the foreshadowing was there. It was so obvious yet you were all so blind! As blind as the other characters. Also, unlike character death, they’re still there, there to taunt you with their mere existence. 

4.- Failure. We have probably all felt that emptiness, that feeling as the world crumbles around us, haplessness, when we failed an exam in school or just couldn’t get the house clean in time for that visit. Take that feeling and reflect it into your characters, it doesn’t have to be an exam, it can be anything, a task they’re parents asked them to do and they tried their best, a mission, anything. Just let them fail and feel the world crumble. 

5.- Being forced to stay behind. Following from point four, if a character is not good enough they can be left behind, perhaps it comes from a place of love, an attempt to protect them from enemies too strong, yet it still hurts. Perhaps they haven’t failed, perhaps they are left behind for another reason, because they are “too valuable”, or because they’ll be more useful back home. Either way, watching those close to you go of to fight for what you believe in, without you, can be painful. 

6.- Finding out something they believed in was a lie. It can be something relatively insignificant, an assumption they never bothered to question. Or something world shattering. Allow me to offer up an example with an unimportant spoiler from my second book (it’s not even out yet but oh well): in this book, while talking about some law, Henry realises his daughter believes he and her mother were married. This is an assumption Itazu made and never questioned. It affects nothing, nothing changes, yet finding out her mother and her father were not the happy married couple she’d always pictured, it’s painful. 

This could also be something huge, finding out you’re adopted for example. 

7.- History. Oh, history, how depressing it can be. And if you have a fantasy world you have many opportunities to go into this. From slaughters to slavery, finding out how society got to where it is, the base on which it is built. Well, it’s pretty depressing. Obviously be careful how much inspiration you take from real world history and always be respectful and do your research! 

8.- Scarring. An injury can be painful, it can be scary. And depending on what caused it, leave you with traumatising memories. Now add to that a physical visible reminder on your skin you can never remove. Well, that can be pretty horrible. Imagine the scar came from a battle the protagonist longs to forget, but can’t because every night before going to sleep they can’t help but glance at their arm where the nasty scars forever lies. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

This another post I could probably do a part two on someday. Can you think of any books where any of these are done effectively? Do any of these happen in your owns book? Please tell me! I love hearing from you all. 

I think a lot about how we as a culture have turned “forever” into the only acceptable definition of success.

Like… if you open a coffee shop and run it for a while and it makes you happy but then stuff gets too expensive and stressful and you want to do something else so you close it, it’s a “failed” business. If you write a book or two, then decide that you don’t actually want to keep doing that, you’re a “failed” writer. If you marry someone, and that marriage is good for a while, and then stops working and you get divorced, it’s a “failed” marriage.

The only acceptable “win condition” is “you keep doing that thing forever”. A friendship that lasts for a few years but then its time is done and you move on is considered less valuable or not a “real” friendship. A hobby that you do for a while and then are done with is a “phase” - or, alternatively, a “pity” that you don’t do that thing any more. A fandom is “dying” because people have had a lot of fun with it but are now moving on to other things.

I just think that something can be good, and also end, and that thing was still good. And it’s okay to be sad that it ended, too. But the idea that anything that ends is automatically less than this hypothetical eternal state of success… I don’t think that’s doing us any good at all.

OC Interview Questions

Send me a number and a character (or multiple!) and they’ll answer the question themselves!

Who makes up your family?  How close are you to them?

Who is your best friend?  Tell us about them!

What is your favorite childhood memory?

What is your least favorite childhood memory?

What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?

Who do you look up to?

What do you think had the biggest impact on you growing up?

Are you a spiritual person?  If yes, what do you practice?

Where were you born?  Where did you grow up?  Where do you live now?

What is your favorite type of media (TV, movie, books, etc)?  Name some specific favorites (which shows, movies, books, etc do you like)!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? (on vacation or permanently!)

You’re given an unlimited budget to build anything you want!  What do you build and where do you build it?

What are your favorite music genres?

Do you play any instruments?  Which ones?  How long have you been playing?

Describe your perfect day.

What makes you laugh?

What’s the best way to cheer you up?

What makes you sad?

Describe your biggest pet peeve.

Describe your ideal partner.

What’s the easiest way to flirt with you?

Have you ever had a crush on someone?  Do you have a crush now?

What would you consider your main love language?

Freebie!  Come up with your own question for the character to answer!

imagine your OCs (family version)

i recommend you to write or draw your ocs in these scenarios to better understand how each of them would act

WHOLE FAMILY

there's just one last slice of pizza (who eats it? who gives it up for the rest? who throughts it in the garbage can? who tries to make a deal?...)

playing UNO (plus someone has to grab 16 cards)

watching a horror movie (who enjoys it? who is scared to death? who doesn't give a shit and is texting someone else? who eats all the popcorn?...)

there's a huge spider in the bathroom (who is terrified by it? who kills it? who gets it out of the house without harming it? who doesn't give a damn? who reports it for home invasion? who eats it?...)

car traveling (who's driving? who plays the music? who asks "are we there yet"? who feels dizzy? who's sleeping? who asks stupid questions?...)

having dinner with one of the kids' boyfriend/girlfriend (who acts normal? who makes puns and dad bad jokes? who tries to scare them away? who gets along the best with them? who starts bringing up random facts to impress them?...)

going to gramdpa/grandma's (who's eating all the candy? who's having debates with gramdpa/grandma? who's the one that just wants to go home?...)

going to IKEA (who gets lost? who doesn't? who follows the arrows? who wants to go to the kids section? who wants to buy everything? who grabs all the pencils?...)

adopting a pet (who's the one that doesn't want it at first and ends up loving it? who's the one that doesn't want it at first and at last? who's the one that wants it at first but ends up bored? who loves it from the beginning to the end? who chooses the name? who feeds it? who walks it (in case of being a dog)?...)

playing mario kart (who wins the race? who gets so emotional that starts screaming? who cries because of the screaming one? who waits to be the last one so that they can get the best objects? who distracts the others?...)

going camping (who sets up the tent? who wakes up first? who sleeps 'till 4pm? who gets bitten by all the mosquitoes? who wants to go back home after 1 hour? who wants to go for a walk and who doesn't? who tells scary stories at night?...)

cleaning the house (who doesn't want to? who doesn't give a damn because they clean every day? who ends up getting distracted by old stuff? who gives up after 3 minutes? who ends up cleaning everything?...)

new years's eve (who stays up till 3am? who goes to bed at nine? who skips the family dinner to go out with friends? who gets drunk and sings random 80's songs? who suggests to watch stand up comedy?...)

series preferences (who likes friends? who prefers seinfeld? who likes more brooklyn nine-nine? who wants to watch game of thrones? who chooses orange is the new black? breaking bad? stranger things? american horror story?...)

playing monopoly (who buys everything? who sends everyone to jail? who plays the bank? who eats the little houses when the others aren't watching? who gets angry when nothing goes as planned?...)

whatsapp group chat (who sends pics from holiday? who says hi every day? who leaves them read? who doesn't even read them? who sends memes?...)

grandpa/grandma died (who cries for weeks? who cries for ten minutes? who doesn't cry because they didn' have a good relationship with them? who is a little bit sad for a moment and having a party after it? who says "i told you they wouldn't last one more week?...)

PARENTS ONLY

everyday life (who's the one that cooks better? who's the one that washes the dishes? who wakes up the kids? who does it loudly and who does it calmly? who gets asleep first? who prefers going outside and who preferst staying at home when kids are out? who lets the kids watch adult movies and who doesn't?...)

having to tell kids about Santa (who explains it carefuly? who tells them without hesitation? who tells them that it's actually Satan but someone misspelled it many years ago and now everyone pretends it's a fat old man? they don't have to because they atheist?...)

the school calls them because one (if not all) of their kids tried to burn the building down (who's being serious and wants to punish the kid(s)? who congratulates the one that did it?...)

choosing summer holiday place to go (who wants to stay near the house and just go to the beach or buy a pool? who wants to go as far away as they can afford? who can't go because they have to work/study?...)

having to tell their kids about sex (who tells them short and clear? who makes a hole PowerPoint presentation?...)

bed situations (who ends up grabbing all the blankets in winter? who sweats more in summer? who wakes up at 3am because they have to pee? who is the big spoon?...)

SIBLINGS ONLY (at least 2)

halloween time (who wears scary costumes? who wears sexy costumes? who doesn't want to celebrate it? who goes trick or treating? who goes to a party? who stays at home watching horror movies? who goes out with friends until 4am? who takes advantage of it and takes a gun outside?...)

someone breaks something when parents aren't home (who blames it on the other/s?, who tells their parents the truth when they arrive? who tries to hide it? who tries to fix it?...)

they kill someone (who starts panicking and wants to tell the police? who proposes to bury the corpse at a random place? who proposes to eat the body so the police never founds it? who actually calls the cops and blames it on the others? who takes a selfie with the corpse and posts it on snapchat?...)

they're playing and one of them got hurt (who hurts them harder? who blames it on the one that got hurt? who acts like nothing happened? who jokes about it as a coping mechanism? who helps the one that got hurt?...)

everyday life (who makes the rules? who's the one they have rules for? who doesn't follow the rules? who's the boss when parents aren't home? who gets the best bedroom? who tells the other/s they're adopted? who shows the other/s adult movies in secret?...)