CCC Week 2: The Ensemble (You're A Glutton For Punishment)

I'm late to posting this.

I know, I know, I'm terrible. This was supposed to be up on Thursday, and it's Monday morning. But there were e-mails that involved projects, demos than involved me speaking in front of people (both terrifying and exhilarating, it was my nerd parachuting.. but... with like words...), holidays that involved copious amounts of liquor and me half alive from the above, editing the crap out of more things. So yeah, this didn't get done until now.

Anywho, we survived the first CCC (Creating Compelling Characters) Tutorial! And now we're on week two!

AS ALWAYS: This is entirely subjective and I'm sure someone's done this waaay better somewhere else on the intertubes. This is merely what I know, and it's served me well so far.

Alright, let's go. 

How To Create A Compelling Ensemble 

(With Minimal Psychological Trauma)

also known as "how to assemble for the non-avenger"

   Say you’re a glutton for punishment. You're like the author of this article. You don’t want just one main character for your story, nooooo, you want a fuck ton of characters all taking the same journey together. Like seven (that’s a lot in writer numbers). Ok maybe not seven the first time around, but five. Five characters. Five characters that all need different personalities, backgrounds, wants, needs, underwear and need to easily be defined by the reader. That's a lot of underwear.

this one pooped on your shoes

   I’m going to be honest, as much as I love me some ensembles (I'm that person that can, and will, find an excuse to bring up Firefly) they can cause nothing but anguish when writing. It’s a lot of planning, coordinating, keeping track and, frankly, it’s like herding cats. You have all these ideas for a bunch of characters but they’re all going in different directions, they won’t listen to you, you can’t get them to do what you want and one of them is probably pooping on a pair of your shoes while your chasing another one down. Meanwhile you think they’re all awesome, cute and fluffy, and if you can just get them to do what you want, everything will be perfect. You can all snuggle in triumph, and people will start calling you the next Brian K. Vaughn.

   That doesn’t mean it can’t be done. That’s why we’re here.

Why Do Ensembles Work?

zombies terrorizing your ensemble: optional

   First off, let’s define ensemble. An ensemble in this case is a cast of characters that will receive pretty much equal time in the story (more on this, later). You’re not focusing on just one person, but a group. While you may not tell as intimate of a story with each and every character within you allotted pages, the interaction of your characters and the diversity will enrich the story itself. People very rarely go through trials and tribulations alone, it’s within our nature to band together. With a group of characters interacting, fighting together, struggling together, loving, hating, helping each other up, back stabbing, whatever; you are exploring a lot of human nature through an array of personalities dealing with your conflict. If well crafted, an ensemble can make for a very compelling piece of story.

Our Types Of Ensembles

   It’s the same same as your Protagonist (Main Character) list. We have:

   Heroes: They may not always get along, but they are devoted to their cause and they can band together and get the job done. Sometimes these guys can be the underdogs of society, like the X-Men. 

   The Anti-Heroes: Usually the ruffians with morals. Taking a stand and saving the day isn’t in their wheelhouse, but they’ll do it if they’re forced to take a stand. They can however also be the survivors, the every-men in an extraordinary situation.

   Villains: Again, normally used for comedy. However you can get into instances where you’re writing something like Secret Six as their own title. 

As A Whole: Why The Fuck Are These Guys Hanging Out Together?

guy demonstrating ensembles don't always have to get along

   This is more important that you think. Why these beings are together will define how they interact as a unit. Are they together because they’re all friends and they have a pact? Or are they being forced to set aside differences and work together for the greater good? Are some eager to be in the group but others not? Get an idea of the dynamic you’re going for. A body of people that is built on the concept of “the family you make” will work differently than a body of people built on the concept of “we don’t play nice with others but we’re being forced to try.” Also consider how you want the group to grow as a whole. Will they become more tightly knit as your story progresses, or split in discourse? This may help you with even plotting your stories around  your group's key moments to how they reach their intended growth.

Tropes: The Five Man Band

   We’re back to tropes (taken from TV Tropes, once again check the site out if you can waste an entire day) with The Five Man Band. Again, tropes are the bones of the character, the base. This happens to be a very helpful trope when it comes to defining the roles of your characters within the ensemble. The Five Man Band doesn’t have to be five characters, you can definitely expand it for larger groups (and there are more associated Tropes that can be applied to an expanded team). However a group of five tends to be very manageable for such a large number and breaks down into the following-

The Hero: The leader of your group. May be clean cut and upstanding, bold and charismatic, serious or driven, or some combination of the three.

The Lancer: The second-in-command. Your Lancer is usually the opposite of the Hero to provide contrast. Say your Hero is a smart mouthed wild card. Then your Lancer is a stoic, calculated straight man.

The Smart Guy: Usually physically at a disadvantage, but makes up for it with brains. These guys are often the comic relief as well as a bit on the awkward side. They also tend to be young and the Big Guy’s friend.

The Big Guy: The muscle. Often not too sharp, but he’s not on the team for smarts.

The Chick: Not always a girl, but it’s often a role filled by a girl. The Chick is nice, sweet, optimistic, and often the middle ground and support of the group. They are considered the heart as they keep the peace between all of the contrasting members. If not any of the aforementioned things, they're just totally the token girl. DO NOT MAKE THEM THE TOKEN GIRL. I'll hurt you and throw Buffy The Vampire Slayer trades at your face.

Examples Of The Five Man Band Via Star Wars, Firefly, Astonishing X-Men, JLA and Runaways:

The Hero: Luke Skywalker, Mal Reynolds, Cyclops, Superman, Nico Minoru  

frank oz mentor not included

The Lancer: Han Solo, Zoe Washburne, Emma Frost, Batman, Xavin

she can kill you with her pinkie.

The Smart Guy: C-3PO, Wash Washburne, Beast, Martian Manhunter, Victor Mancha

one kitty who will not poop on your shoes

The Big Guy: Chewbacca, Jayne Cobb, Wolverine, Green Lantern (Hal), Chase Stien/Molly Hayes

because sometimes you just want to make a giant fist & punch the crap outta someone

The Chick: Leia Organa, Kaylee Frye, Kitty Pryde, Wonder Woman, Karolina Dean

anyone else still find it amusing they made the sparkly rainbow girl gay?

   These roles will shift if you have a continuing story. Your characters will evolve and grow over the course of the story and will inhabit different roles in the group, depending on the plot and their own personal arcs. The Hero may take a physical or mental beating so hard the Lancer may have to step in and assume the role of leading the team, maybe the Lancer leaves and the Smart Guy steps up, or some new characters enter the scene and they shift the dynamic. What I’m getting at is that while these tropes are what you should to establish your ensemble around, they are not definite and if you write your arcs correctly, your group will evolve and characters will assume different roles. If you ever watch your own social group dynamics, you’ll notice this (eerily) in real life too, as well as the roll you prefer to resume and roles you end up assuming. 

Backgrounds: This Is Short Because You Should Know Better

   Make them different. Period. It doesn’t have to be dramatically different. If you’re doing a book about a bunch of Hispanic kids trying to form their own bicycle gang you’re obviously not going to make your core cast a variety of races, but not every Hispanic kid’s upbringing is the same.

   Even if they’re siblings, they’ll have a different backstory from one another. If you have a brother or sister, ask them about your guys’ childhood. While possibly not drastically different, it’s going to be slightly different then what you remember. That lens we all view life through is slightly different. Even if we come from the same home.

    That said, if you have an ensemble you want to be from all walks of life. Holy crap, just go nuts with that. It's not the 1950s, not every character has to be white and from an All American home. There's variety out there, use it, study it, embrace it.

Wants: Not Everyone Wants The Same Thing

some people just want a unicorn

   Everyone wants something different. We’re not talking about a big conflict like a war where everyone wants it to just be over. No. Beyond wanting it over, your group all wants something different from that outcome. Some want to go home to their girl, some want to return home to the farm to see ma and pa, some want their money so they can blow it all on hookers and blow, some just want it over so they can get the hell away from everyone else and drink in peace. Everyone’s wants are going to be different, which means everyone’s motives will be different, which means this feeds into and effects everyone’s interactions with one another. And you need to keep track of all this.

Conflicts: AKA More Crap That Is Important & Needs To Be Unique

Like the Protagonist article, we’re looking at: 

Man vs. Man (Wolverine vs. That Four-Eyed Boyscout): Pitting them against a person. 

Man vs. Nature (Wolverine vs. Mutant Prejudice): Pitting them against an outside force. It could be the elements, it could be human nature, it could be rampaging nanobots. 

Man vs. Self (Wolverine vs. Lifetimes Of Regrets): Against themselves in some way. Issues, mental scars, a part of their self  that they struggle with confronting.

"i know you drank my last molson's, you big prick!"

   Except now, we need different conflicts for each character in our ensemble. Now, not every character needs to have all three conflicts, but they should have an external conflict and an internal conflict (and if the external conflict conflicts against the internal conflict, pat yourself on the back because that's good stuff). Some of them can be similar, but as with life we’ve all got our own conflicts for the most part. If you resolve some of the conflicts, new ones can arise.

Page Time: Not Everyone Will Be Equal

   Page time is my way of saying the amount of time the character appears in the comic. When you get down to story structure for your piece, there’s going to be a point where you’re outlining the story and looking at how often each character will get some page time. Chances are, you’ll have one or two more characters prominent in the main story than the others, with the rest taking apart of subplots. It just tends to work better this way, because you can cover a considerable amount of story and utilize each character according to the plots and subplots. Also as your main plot comes to a head, you'll tend to see that you'll have the characters who were in the subplots come back to join in on the resolution. If you have an ongoing comic, the arcs will change and new plot lines will emerge, and you can have characters rotate between main plots and subplots. 

You Seriously Need To Get Your (Non Creepy) Stalker On

pro tip: observing like this may get you arrested

   As I said before, it's very easy to have characters that are all the same. They’re all little you clones running around, or they’re about as engaging as a piece of cold toast. However people are more often than not, more faceted than toast (if you disagree you may want to start hanging out with different people). And we all don't act the same, much less act like you (or how you think you act). So you should be watching other human beings. Constantly.

   Really watch people, and observe how they act around one another. When you're with your friends even study them. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all act differently in a group, and we act differently to the various people within the group. People assume roles (like your tropes), and people’s body language while in a group reflect this interaction. Your ensemble for your story will be the same.

Embracing Variety: The Spice Of Life, It Must Flow

variety of the not-so heroic kind

  This is particularly important for comics. While you’ll be working with an artist who should in theory know about design, you need to have a least some idea of how all these people will look visually different. Having a bunch of characters all looking the same is not only confusing, but uninteresting. Try to get a basic idea of how everyone looks. Don't be afraid of casting, as I mentioned in the first tutorial. It helps a lot with translating a character from your mind onto the page and giving your artist a springboard to work from.

Example, from a very old (see: the first) script of mine entitled Bootlegged:

"SHERMAN MCDOWELL is front and center; this big, broad guy with eyes that’ve seen things. Maybe looks like Adam Baldwin circa Full Metal Jacket"*

   Also, names. Try to variate the names of your characters. Names too similar will confuse your audience and make them have to work harder in keeping track of everyone in the story. Making it a chore to keep up with who's who tends to pull people out of a story and thus, makes them more prone to really not giving a shit. You want them to give a shit. So don't name everyone John and Mary. Use your imagination and Google to infuse some variety in the wordage that'll be in the words your audience reads.

Consistency: Don't Be That Asshole Stray

   How many times have you watched a TV show or read a comic where a character you love goes completely off the rails in the non-fun-sweeps-week sort of way. A person that supposedly learned his lesson two episodes ago is back to his original shitty self without any rhyme or reason, or a good guy does a complete heel turn and turns pure evil. Whatever it is it’s so uncharacteristic of the character and goes against what’s already been established or developed. So you’re pissed because none of this makes sense and if you’re anything like me you jump on the internet and winge about it like the professional geek you are. 

what i looked like when i used to watch glee

    So a little piece of magic advice here. Practice consistency for all characters. Big character shifts are only acceptable when there’s some crazy possession stuff going on that makes you character as insane as a shit house rat. Even then, people will question your writing ability if there’s no foreshadowing. Consistency though is big for an ensemble. Growth and shifts in the ensemble are natural, but big jumps out of character don’t work. And trying to force your characters to do something in a situation that is completely out of character is a huge no-no.

Consistency: If your character would never do it, you drop it and the hell walk away. Don’t try to shoehorn them into a story they wouldn't be apart of. 

In The End, Keep Studying

   You have all this stuff, and if you bring everything together, all of these details, you should have a group. Maybe not the greatest group in the world, but your group. You know how you can make them better though?

 Keep studying.

why haven't you read this again?

  I know, I said this before (and I'll keep saying it). But you have permission to read comics, books or watch TV shows and movies and tell people you're doing research. An excuse to read comics and watch Netflix, how cool is that? Very. Watch and read things that have ensembles, and study how the ensembles are written. Remember that ensembles work as a whole, but they also need to work separately. It's a delicate balancing act, but there are some fantastic writers out there who make it work, make it fun, and make it powerful. It's your job to read and watch their stuff and break it down. Figure out the basic elements and why they work so well. Applying that knowledge to your own work is incredibly invaluable. 

 
   Also, again, make sure to check out bad pieces and break them down. While you may want to walk away due to the fact it's so bad, if you muscle through and take the time to analyze you can pick up on what's wrong. You'll become aware of or entirely avoid these pitfalls in your own work, and strengthen your chops as a writer.





Did this help? I hope so. In closing, you can do it! I believe in you! So onward young padawan!

start abusing using the excuse of 'research'

Next Week (See This Thursday): The Antagonist aka Advanced Mustache Twirling

*using my own crap for examples weirds me out.

Creating Compelling Characters: The Protagonist

   Here we are! Are you excited for this four week learning extravaganza? I’m excited. I've had a pretty decent couple of weeks. Bad things I yell about on Facebook aside I am now published and am brimming with excitement at the prospect of some new projects. Also I’ve got a lot of info for you guys. So let’s get started with part one of this thing.

   As always this is entirely subjective and only a small portion of what’s available online.  This is all a mixture of things I've learned from others and things I figured out myself that work for my own process. Also I’m sure someone else did this way better/less snarky/more thorough/professional than me, so take all this with a shot of tequila grain of salt.

How To Create a Compelling Protagonist 

your first task: figure out which one is compelling and which one is an empty vessel

What The Hell Is A Protagonist?

   Just to cover all the bases, here we are talking about the main character. Protagonist is a greek word which means “One who plays the first part”. In most works this is the person we want the audience to connect with and root for. Often times hero and protagonist are used interchangeably, however not all protagonists are heroes. What I'll be attempting to teach in the next couple of weeks is how to create both protagonists and antagonists that have verisimilitude, or the semblance of being true or lifelike.

Fact: If you use verisimilitude in everyday story conversation people will assume you're super smart and not that you spend the bulk of your writing career in your underwear watching Netflix and staring blankly at your word processor.

See? Already. Knowledge. Power.

Types Of Protagonists: Pick You Poison

   There are a lot of subsets your protagonist can fall into. However for the sake of brevity we’re going to just cover the main three. These can be split into many more different categories, but again. Time. Your attention capacity. My attention capacity. More ground to cover.

Beer The Hero: You see the hero a lot in comics. He’s the good guy, the boy scout, the one who’ll save the day. He truly believes in the battle of good versus evil. Superman is instantly recognizable as the hero, however not all heroes have to be brawny. Intelligence in any field could give them the upper hand, or simply being a crafty bastard. These guys and gals are courageous and selfless, though that doesn’t mean they don’t have their share of personal problems.

make fun of the demigod's jewelry, i dare you

Whiskey shots The Anti-hero: The guy or gal who doesn’t want to be the hero. Often what’s considered the ‘classic’ anti-hero is the thief, rogue and rebel (Mal Reynolds). Although some times they are the bumbling everyman who ends up with a sentient alien car (Shia Labeouf playing orange Shia Labeouf with explosions by Michael Bay). You can also have the vigilante who takes matters into their own hands as the anti- hero (Batman). Usually these guys fall into the underdog category, and many of the older, weathered ones are cynical as hell. While prone to breaking the rules they do however have some sort of moral code and will rise to the occasion when need be. Do to the underdog/counter culture aspects of our society these guys have become immensely popular over the years.

i was going to use han as the rogue, but it's been confirmed by his maker he didn't shoot first

Tequila after a couple of beers The Villain: Villains can be the protagonist, however the writer has to develop the villain in a way that the audience sympathizes with them. Villains are often used in comedies as protagonists. In this genre they either have a heel turn moment where they suddenly become good (Megamind), or succeed in a way that may show their accomplishments weren’t entirely fulfilling (Dr. Horrible). Villains as protagonists can also be used in drama (Wanted), though it’s to a lesser extent and can really blur the line between Protagonist and Antagonist. 

lackey voiced by david cross: optional

Tropes:  The Bones Of the Character

   Tropes in this case come from the time sucking black hole of genius, TV Tropes (enter at your own risk). Tropes are devices and conventions used in writing that as a writer you can rely on your audience’s mind to pick up on. For characters these can be basic personality traits and conventions we can use as the base of our character. The trick here is to use them in a way that gives them a certain personality and possibly even a look but doesn’t entirely define them and make turn them into a giant cliché. Smaller details we’ll be talking about later will help us to avoid this. Maybe they’re the naïve young upstart, or the smart mouthed wild card, or the cynical war hero. It’s good to know what they are essentially boiled down to their raw elements. This also becomes helpful when you need to describe or pitch your character in your story. When someone describes to you Wolverine for the first time they don’t get into all the details about how he fought in various wars, ran off to Japan, fathered a child but his wife was killed and he left but the kid survived unbeknownst to him then all of this other weird bullshit went down. Beyond metal claws and healing factor they’ll tell you he’s a badass loner with a chip on his shoulder. Boom. There. 

patriotic space jesus

Back Story: Not Everyone Is A Disney Character Who’s Parents Are Dead

   Back stories are important. While you don’t necessarily have to tell your audience that Joey Blogs is an asshat because he always got what he wanted and all dumb shit he got away with in high school was because his father had a ‘boys will be boys’ attitude, you as a writer should know it in some capacity. You don’t need to know every single  detail about their life down to the hospital they were born in, but it’s good to at least know some basic information like if they had a good childhood or not or if they moved around because their parents were in the army. For a hero it’s good to know where they got their sense of morality, for an anti-hero it’s good to know why they’re cynical or where they base their morals, and for a villains it’s good to know what made them join the dark side other than the excellent cookies. 

he's been working for the sith for a long ass time

   Let it be known that not all heroes have to have an idyllic upbringing on a farm, nor do villains have to have a particularly shitty childhood. Draw from your life if you want, or do a little research. We’ll touch on that later.

Casting Call: What The Fuck Do They Look Like

   You don't have to freak out and think about what they wear down to the brand, or the number of pouches on their costume (it's not the 90s anymore, so show some goddamn pouch restraint). Just a basic description will do. "He's a skinny nerd with big glasses and he dresses like he has no sense of fashion." works fine. Gathering reference photos for your illustrator if you're writing a comic will help with translating the character's look. A lot of people find it helpful to cast a certain actor or actress as their character, which can help visually as reference as well as 'performance' wise as certain people tend to play certain characters in movies. I find this really helpful myself, and I usually have a giant folder full of pictures for each script. Also when I write out a character description sheet or a script, I'll make sure to list the actor or the actress and perhaps a movie they were in as how the character looks and acts. 

what do diana agron and 90's seth green have in common? they're both in my scripts.

Wants: We All Have Them, Including Your Character

    As well all know, everybody wants something. Whether it’s rescuing the girl, White Castle, wanting to be kept the fuck alone in your swamp, getting the bounty lifted off their head or reaping the rewards of buried Mayan treasure, your character wants something. You need to know what that is, and how it propels them through the story. Do they strike out to get what they want willingly or begrudgingly? It will help drive their conflict.

Conflict: Everyone Being Happy Is A Boring Ass Story

   This is where a lot of characters can fumble. If they have no conflict, if they can just breeze through the story with little trials or opposition, your audience can get bored because the journey is just too easy.  No tension, no weight to the situation, no satisfaction. While conflict doesn’t have to be a literally life and death situation. It should be tantamount to that though. As I said above, what a character wants should also be integrated into their conflicts in some way (i.e. Tony Stark REALLY wants to drink however Pepper Pots won’t talk to him if he starts drinking again and there’s a giant robot he must save the world from and he can’t do it wasted).

   There are three types of conflict you can put your poor protagonist through.

Man vs. Man (Batman vs. Joker): Pitting them against a person. 

Man vs. Nature (Batman vs. Corruption): Pitting them against an outside force. It could be the elements, it could be human nature, it could be rampaging nanobots. 

Man vs. Self (Batman vs. Survivor Guilt): Against themselves in some way. Issues, mental scars, a part of their self  that they struggle with confronting.

   An excellent story employs all three seamlessly. A good story will have it’s protagonist go through at least both; an outer conflict as well as an inner conflict. This means your guy is going up against another force that’s greater than him; be it demons, a guy who steals cakes, nature or a fifty foot zombie squirrel. While at the same time he’s also battling his own inner issues. If you really want to show your skill as a writer, have your outer conflict to reflect the inner conflict. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a good example of this. The B-Horror genre the show is based on allows the stories to use the Monster Of The Week as a reflection of the Inner Teen Problem Of The Week. It’s not always so easy though, so if you can’t get the outer to reflect the inner, don’y sweat it. You will get better with practice.

"goddamit do i want pizza, or chinese?"

Stalk... Erm.... Research People (yeah research, that sounds better)

    In order to create many different types of characters beyond one protagonist that sounds and looks and has all your issues, you need to observe people. If you don’t, one of two things tends to happen. They A) sound just like you, or B) sound like six year old reading for a detergent commercial. In order to learn about the different nuances in speech, personality, interaction and even body language, you need to start people watching.

discreetly

   Watching people, studying them, can be done anywhere. Personally I like working at a coffee chop located in a very tourist-centric area of SF with giant headphones on. I will intentionally sit myself in a spot where I can watch the counter and the door and do my work there so I can observe all of these people from all walks of life and various nations. I can turn on music to block out all the noise, but if I wan to eavesdrop a little and maybe study someone’s accent or how they’re talking, I can mute my music and no one’s the wiser.

   It’s understandable if you’re not comfortable with that level of people watching. But go to the mall, or to a tourist hot spot, a farmer’s market or even a concert. Buy a churro or a bag of local carrots and just look at the people around you. You can even go to a party or a friend's house and watch people you know. How do they talk? How do they move? how do they interact with others? How are they dressed? Do they have anything or do anything that makes them stand out from the rest?  

Acting: Take Class And Feel Incredibly Uncomfortable

   I did this, and I was awkward an felt extremely vulnerable at times. However, it was also a shit ton of fun and I learned many things I still use to this day in my writing. Even a basic acting class will teach you about how different personalities move, carry themselves, act and even talk. It’ll give you a wider range of skills and personalities you can apply to your work. You're acting through your character when you write them, so literally doing some acting will help you understand how to inhabit a character and avoid the problem of your character acting just like you.

Study: The Good Stuff & The Utter Crap

    You’re going to hear this repeated a lot by me (this and stalking people). But seriously, watch a movie or a TV show you like and watch it over and over. Find a book or a comic you like and read it over and over. Figure out what makes their characters so compelling. Also don’t be afraid to read bad stuff. You’ll learn what not to do from bad work, you'll figure out why it's not working, and it will make you more self aware of your own writing flaws. You will also begin to realize your own tastes.

"multiple universes? the fuck?"

The Part Where I Give A Download That Allows You To Cheat 

   Well maybe not cheat, but it will make your life much easier. Included in this link is the Character Development Template. This a sheet that asks some essential questions bout your character that will help you keep them consistent and give you an idea about what type of person your character is. You can use the sheet to develop any type of character. Protagonist, Antagonist, the guy on the corner selling hot dogs, whatever. It will help though. Printed out and keep it near you when you are writing your story and refer to it when need be.

Bring It All Together

   So I've thrown a lot of information at you. You know their type, have a trope, have some back story, you know what they look like, know what they want, what their conflicts are, you've studied different personalities, read your favorite comic over and over to learn what makes a character intriguing, read some crappy comics to learn what not to do and filled out some paperwork. Elements like symbolism, consistency, and dialog aside (we'll be touching on these in later weeks), you should have enough info to form a well thought out, fake life form. 

Give yourselves a pat on the back! Go forth! Apply this knowledge!  Tell me what you think in the replies!

disclaimer: do not try to fly

Next week. The Ensamble Cast (aka managing a shit ton of personalities)

Update!

   Does anyone remember the cards? The life changing, wonderfully clever business cards my entire career will be built on?

   They have arrived.

if it's wrong to think these are sexy, I don't want to be right

   So go on etsy and pay some totally cool artist to make some cards for you instead of some big fancy printing company. 

   In other news, people seemed to like World Building 101. The response was positive, and I got requests to do the Character tutorial. So I will be doing a character tutorial. However it’s going to be big. How big you ask?

How To Fake Life*

A Four Part Series On Creating Compelling Characters

Part 1: The Protagonist

Part 2: The Ensemble

Part 3: The Antagonist

Part 4: The Dialog

   This is in four parts because I sort of have this crazy love affair with creating characters. It’s a problem. Not quite like my caffeine problem, but it’s up there as there is some form of a high involved. I also have a lot of information/techniques/shortcuts that I’m wanting to post and I think it helps to break all of it down into key sections. There’s a lot to cover and consider. Also I know it can get extremely overwhelming when you have someone info dump ten pages of tips ranging from Cambellian theories about hero archetypes stored in the collective consciousness to the virtues of politely stalking strangers. All the muppet pictures in the world couldn’t make that bearable.  

the monomyth! wakka wakka!

    So yes, stay tuned. It won’t be coming out immediately due to another project. But, it will be coming out.

*crappy title subject to change

Warm Up: Creative Challenge

  “Don’t look away, son.” Ishhel told the scrawny boy crouched in the hay. “Focus.”

  Jargeth nodded in response and shifted his weight on his hunches. It was hard to concentrate in the stables, even in the furthermost stall. Outside the stall’s gate riders nosily bustled about the pens; hauling feed, hay or rigs to and fro. There were the roars of stubborn creatures spitting and snapping in protest, and the clucking of ones eager to be brushed down and talked to. The entire building was hot and damp as the acrid odor of scat burned nostrils.  

  But there was peep from the egg in front of him that made him forget the noise, the sweat and the stench. For the better part of the day cream colored bits and pieces of the shell had been chipped away from the inside. But now, this was the moment. A snout no bigger than Jargeth’s palm protruded out from the hole of the egg. It squeaked and clumsily pressed onward, calling for assistance. 

   “Can I help him?” The boy asked, unable to turn to Ishhel in fear he would miss the moment. 

   Ishhel watched a large chunk of shell begin to separate from the rest. “In a moment.” With a groan the father rose to his feet. “I need to leave, but I’ll be right outside the gate.” 

   Jargeth sucked in a breath as his hands began to tremble. Hearing the click of the gate’s latch made the moment sink in even more. A numbness of anticipation washed over him from the top of his shorn head to his caked feet. He leaned in even more, fixated on the egg. 

   With a desperate peep the snout pushed the large flake of shell out and the head finally emerged. It was shaped like a wedge of cheese; the eyes shut, the nostrils flaring and the spines on the top of it’s head pliable. The thin, scaled jaws parted for the first time and the hatchling drew in it’s first full lungful of air. It’s pink, glistening tongue protruded slightly out in exhaustion and it let out the the squeakiest roar Jargeth at ever heard.

   “It’s- it’s ok.” He exhaled out raggedly. Scooting closer he extended a set of trembling fingers to the hatchling’s nose. 

   The snout sniffed his hand before nudging it. 

   “I’m here.” Jargeth bit back tears as he ran his fingers up the slick muzzle. Moving his thumb gingerly across the eyes ridge he could feel the lids were welded shut with sanguine afterbirth. Wiping it away, he lost his breath.

   The hatchling slowly opened it’s eyes. The first and second lids timidly parting, followed by a sweep of the third. They were a deep navy, reminding Jargeth of a clear summer night in the meadows. What was most important was that they focused on his own speckled grey eyes. 

   Jargeth could not speak as he staring back into the animal’s gaze. Slowly as not to startle it, he slipped both hands around the base of the egg and lifted it out of the hay-lined basket it had been set in for hatching. He drew the large, half hatched egg to his lap, cradling it as he kept gazing into the face of his mount. Taking his sleeve he carefully wiped the smears of membrane off the hatching’s face, revealing ruddy brown scales underneath. 

   The hatchling nuzzled his wrist appreciatively before continuing to struggle it’s way out. 

   Jargeth put his fingers at the lip of the shell’s breaking point and began to breaking large pieces off. Quickly the rest of his new friend came into view. Spindly legs tucked under a fat, leathery body, a tail hugging the curve of the belly, and a set of wings neatly folded against the spiny back. 

   Freed of it’s egg, the hatchling fell into his lap and awkwardly unfurled itself. It stretched out, wriggling the toes on it’s paws and clumsily shaking out it’s tail. 

   Jargeth slipped off his vest and wrapped it around the hatchling, doing his best to wipe it down. He was careful around it’s thin wings, the webbing between the bones a sheer network of blood vessels that could easily be torn. 

   “Is he out?” His father asked from outside.

   “Yes.” Jargeth answered as he attentively massaged the ribcage of his hatchling as he has seen other boys do. The newborn began breathing easier, relaxed to his touch.

   “Did he imprint?” The voice beyond the gate asked in earnest.

   “Yes.” Jargeth smiled, moving to other muscle groups to get the hatchling’s muscles use to the outside world. He’d be standing in a day, running alongside him in a week, and when he reached his right of passage in seven years they’d both be flying. 

    Ishhel slipped back into the stall to see the boy holding the hatchling. “A crimson.” He said, kneeling next to the child. 

   “A warrior.” Jargeth smiled toothily, rubbing the hatchling’s cheek.

   The hatchling clucked in contentment and nuzzled his boy’s chest. Letting out a sigh, the navy eyes squeezed shut as it began to doze. 

   “Both of you in good time.” He chuckled while patting the boy’s back. “I think he needs to recover from hatching first.”

   “He is tired.” Jargeth agreed. He felt the soft puff of warm air on his shirt as the bundle of scales and teeth molded against him.

   “Well let’s run him back to the house.” Rising to his feet, Ishhel helped Jargeth up before opening up the stall. “Remember, he goes everywhere with you until he’s too big.” 

   “I’d never leave him alone.” The boy responded firmly as he walked out with the hatchling swaddled in his vest.

   “Good,” Ishhel said, allowing his son to lead the way out. “because you’re brothers now.”

fin

Image pulled off of Io9's O-Deck Creative Challenge. Now onto my article.

Warm Up: Creative Challenge

   As Albert climbed out from his window onto his water tower perch, he fell in love with the city all over again. It happened every night, for everything was different when the sun sunk behind the buildings and the lights flickered on. When the sun shone it was nothing but a grey anthill, hardly interesting in it’s colorless sprawl as the heat of the day cooked the cement. However the city became a creature all it’s own at night. Neon made it shimmer like winking eyes. The heat and toil was replaced with cool breezes and carefree behavior. It’s veins pulsated with yellow headlights, and it’s mouth was the mouth of thousands. It breathed, it laughed, it cried, it moved with every cell that made it up.

   Albert steadied himself, surveying the street below, smiling absently. He swore the air even tasted different at night, like a sweet kiss. However as he adjusted his glasses the bearded, pale surveyor took a deep breath to collect his nerves. His eagerness to come out and walk amongst the simpletons always got him ahead of himself. Then again he yearned for a terrifically dull night, and lulled himself by thinking there may be no need for him that night. Albert would simply go about his hours of darkness meandering and watching the regular people careen about their Saturday night in their usual blur of chaos and heedlessness. Perhaps chat with his regulars, but nothing too critical.

   “Albert!” A thin, eager voice pierced the air. 

   “Liza?” He looked towards the navy space where he had heard the utterance. His hopes for the mundane dashed by the anxiety in the tone. Liza’s head appeared first, then the rest of her appeared. She was sylphlike in build, yet gauzy in presentation as thin ropes of the ether billowed out from around her. She was new to the hereafter and had yet to learn to properly materialize. 

   “Sorry that took so long.” She said, frustrated with her own presentation. “But there’s a stiff up by the park. He passed a minute ago but he can’t get out of the body.”

   “Trapped soul?” Albert’s thick black eyebrow arched skeptically. “That’s rare.” He sniffed.

   “Well,” Liza’s doe like eyes darted down to where her bare feet hovered above the busy street. “we think he doesn’t want to come out.” 

   “Did you talk to him?” Albert asked, shifting his weight more towards the window. 

   “I tried, but I think he was scared he was dead and talking to a ghost.” She mumbled in defeat. “But you need to hurry up, you don’t have much time to ease him out before they come and take his body away.”

   “Alright, let me get my things.” Albert said as he began to climb back in the window “Meet me there.”

   “See you soon.” Liza’s voice dissipated as she turned into nothing more than a crisp huff of air.

***

   When Albert reached the park, blue and red lights bounced off the trees. He slowed down as he heard the voices of the paramedics and the clacking of gear being hastily unloaded from their ambulance from beyond a hedge. Tugging on the strap of the satchel he had brought along, he paused briefly at the base of an oak to see if he could find a vantage point. The brush blocked his view just enough to make considering placement difficult.

   “This is what happens when you live so high up.” Liza said.

   “I can’t help it, the view’s nice.” Albert quipped as he tilted his head up to see her in the oak’s branches. Some of the other wanderers of the hereafter were with her up in the tree, less billowy in presence, but translucent none the less. They were like a dozen or so birds roosting; clustered together and gazing down at the mortal. 

   “Why’s he so scared?” Betty chirped like a little chiffon robin. “It’s swell out of those old meat sacks.”

   “Not everyone takes to it so easily.” Wes lisped out. 

   “You better go help ‘em.” The burly Jack exclaimed in his deep voice. “He’s really scared. You gotta pull him out, Al.”

   “Easier said then done.” Albert sighed as he left the tree. He felt a chill as they began appearing around him, following him as a curious gossamer crowd. “No," He swatted the air "everyone stay behind. I don’t need an audience.” 

   The wisps reluctantly disappeared,  helping to boost his confidence. While no normal person could see them, he still didn’t need so many looking over his shoulder. As he trampled through some brush over to the site, Albert stopped where he was sheltered by the hedge from prying eyes. Pushing his glasses back up his nose, he took a moment to study the situation.

   “I’m not getting a pulse here.” One paramedic said, shaking his head as he set the equipment down.

   "Alright, call it in while I get the bag." Said the other, standing up and heading over to the open back end of the ambulance.

   “I’m going to need to get a good grip.” Albert muttered to himself as he studied the grey, limp husk they were hunched over. Beyond the young clean shaven figure, beyond the blood and the exit wound in the chest, he could see the soul huddled inside. Taking a jar out of his satchel, he unscrewed the cap and took a glob of a viscus substance out. Capping it he quickly tucked it back into the bag before rubbing the substance into his hands. His nose twitched to the odor his palms began to reek of. "He'll be a Frank."Albert drew a ragged breath before sprinting forward from the safety of the hedge. “My god, FRANK?!” 

   “What the-” The paramedics were caught off guard at the spindly man in the tuque lurching towards the body. 

   “FRANK?!” Albert pushed the one still near the body aside and gripped the curled, chilling hand. “FRANK IS THAT REALLY YOU?!” He shook the body with his free hand, pressing harder into the palm with the other. Sure enough, he felt it. Like a cobweb delicately clinging to his fingers. 

   “Sir you need to get back!” The paramedics both barked in unison as the one at the vehicle raced back.

   "NO! NO! THAT CAN'T BE YOU FRANK!" Albert pressed more, getting a better grip on his cobweb. "Come on, just let go." He hissed under his breath. 

   "SIR GET OFF." They yelled, grasping him by the back of his jacket.

    “COME ON!” Albert kept a hold on the cobweb as he broke character. While he flew briefly through the air he saw the formless puff of ether come along with him. Landing shoulder first, he skidded on the grass to a halt. Unable to afford the luxury of leaving, Albert kept hold of his new charge, bounced to his feet and darted off into the brush before the paramedics could call for backup.

   Albert was quick to put some distance between himself and the paramedics before he stopped to catch his breath. Huffing for oxygen, he slumped onto an abandoned park bench and  gazed at the line he was holding. The amorphous cloud attached to it slowly began to sculpt itself into a figure. The poor soul’s eyes were sunken with horror, and if they could it was clear they would be weeping. 

   “Why did you do that?” The soul trembled, fading in and out of focus. “I don’t want to leave, I have-”

   “Shhh.” Albert kept a firm hold of him. “I’m sorry, really, but you wouldn’t have wanted to be nestled in there when they preformed the autopsy. Or when they cremated you, or sunk you in the ground or anything.” 

   “But-I-I wasn’t ready.” He whimpered, turning nearly clear in the process. 

   “No one ever is.” Albert reassured, having pity on the new thing before him. “Can I take you home and talk to you?”

   He planted his chin to his chest, curling further into himself.

   “What’s your name?” Albert asked softly.

   “Geoff.” He mumbled.

   “Geoff, I can help you. But we need to talk in a place where I don’t look crazy to everyone else.” Albert said.

    Geoff paused, his eyes darting back and forth in consideration “Wh-what’s your name?”

   “Albert.”

   Geoff looked up before looking back at Albert. “Albert, there’s,” he rolled his lips into his mouth before forcing the rest out “ghosts above us. They’re watching us.”

    Albert gave a lopsided smile, biting back a chuckle. “I know, it tends to happen.”

   “You’re a ghost too silly!” Betty shouted from where she hovered above. 

   “Will you shut up?” Jack hissed.

   “Alright, all of you go off and haunt somewhere.” Albert ordered with a roll of his eyes. “Geoff and I are talking in private.”

***

   “How can you see me?” Geoff asked as looked out of the window of Albert’s apartment in the poorly kept building. The water tower built practically on top of the structure obscured most of the view, but what could be seen was beautiful. “How-how can you touch me?” Geoff turned around. His were eyes like large puddles rippling out into the rest of his form. “You took me out.”

   “I’m what they call a Necromancer.” Albert responded in a matter-of-fact voice as he poured some coffee from the listlessly decorated kitchenette. The entire space was rather dreary, grey and practical.

   “I thought those only spoke to the dead.” The soul said as he moved himself closer to the peculiar man. 

   “Some do, but I’m from a long line of people in the industry." Albert explained before taking a long pull of his coffee. "I know a little more than your average necromancer.”

   “There’s an industry?” Geoff gawked, blowing himself back a bit in the process.

   “A very small one.” Albert shrugged. “What matters though is I’m here to help you transition.”

   “To what?” Geoff put out more fog than before, unstable and unready. 

   “Whatever you’re to transition to when you’re ready. You can move on, you can reincarnate, you can haunt, whatever suits you.” Albert explained with a scratch of his chin. “I really wish I had been able to coax you out of your shell instead of yanking you out like that. It would make this a lot easier to take”

   Geoff tilted his chin down and left out an airless sigh. 

   “I’m sorry, but I just didn’t have the time." Albert apologized as sincerely as he could. Tracing his thin fingers around the rim of his mug, he bit the inside of his cheek in guilt. "I know that’s going to make the beginning rougher than it should be.”

   “I had a lot of life left.” He muttered, threatening to float away into nothingness. 

   “Your type’s the worst kind.” The necromancer admitted. Training his eyes downward, he studied the pale woodgrain of his floor. “But there’s a lot beyond the corporeal. It’ll take some time to let that sink in.”

   Geoff turned and gazed out the window again onto the shining city. “And there are others?”

   “Quite a few.” With his mug Albert gestured out to the city beyond. “They’re good souls for the most part. Wanderers, haven’t quite found their transition.”

   “They seemed alright.” Geoff skeptically mumbled.

   “Yes, they mean well.” Albert said before another sip. “You can’t take Betty too seriously though, she may look young but that’s her soul. She died when she was ninety-two and thinks this whole thing’s the bees-knees. Her words, not mine.”

fin

I think this one is reaching a bit, but it's a warm up comp and isn't that what those are for? From io9's O-deck Creative Challenge.

Warm Up: Concept Art Prompt

   I kept telling myself the pay was good as I strapped the canvas bags onto the muttering, slobbery lipped camel. The sun was coming up over the dunes, whipping the cold black night back with it’s early pink rays as I loaded up the post. I kept playing the pitch in my head over and over to keep me going. The pay for a postal run across the dunes from the Midway Sand to the major cities was high. Hazard pay they called it, ten thousand cube for three months of work. Young men and women only, those over thirty summers need not apply. No one I knew up in the high rocks had ever seen that that much. Not even those blessed to be grey.

    Without warning the camel lowed and twisted it’s elastic neck around. It bared its sand brown teeth, exhaling a rank steam of air that smelled of stomach acid and fermenting grains in my face. Dropping the straps I leapt back, no longer thinking of the pay and the pitch, but my overwhelming desire to keep myself intact.    

   “You be careful with that one, Lan.” Marguile said as he limped out onto the deck with a sack clutched in his shoe leather hands. He was built like every other tawny thing tough enough to live out in the sand, but carried a hitch from the last Water War. His gaunt, pockmarked face was unperturbed by my ride’s temper. “He’s the stubbornest fucker I’ve ever seen.”

   “Ain’t that reassuring.” I grabbed the reins of my mount and gave the beast some slack to settle down. “Makes me wonder how much you like me.”

   “Well enough.” Marguile let out a wheezy cough. He swirled his tongue around in his mouth and spat out a viscus wad of mucus and lung tissue out onto the sand. “You were last draw for the season is all. Last draw before the ice gets last camel. Last camel’s always the meanest piece of shit out of the entire lot we get.”

   “Good to know.” I muttered. The camel had settled down enough for me to rein the beast in a little and tidy up the straps for the bags. As I glanced over my shoulder to ask a question I caught a look at the delapidated Midway Sands Outpost that made me lose my train of thought. The submarine jutted out like a grey rock formation that had been partially swallowed by the salt crusted sand. A homemade balcony at the top hosted a an umbrella and a place to barbecue sand rats we picked off from the lookout point. The rusting structure loomed over the lifeblood of Midway Sands; the water tank. It also provided shade from the hottest turn of the day for Marguile’s hastily assembled crate wood office. It had been there where my post had been taken off of the spent camel that arrived from the Oregon Wastes but an hour ago. I couldn’t help but think of that rider, feral eyed and so spare his clothes hung off of him like an unstuffed crowman. He was in the sub, hooked to some fluids Marguile said would help him along. 

   “Don’t start second guessing this.” The old man growled at me. He tossed the provision sack at my chest, forcing me to catch it. “I don’t got anyone else here, and I sure as hell ain’t going to do it again.”

   “Who said anything about second guessing.” I said, rummaging through the supply bag to make sure my de-sal caps and ammo clips where in there with everything else. Nothing else was as important than those two provisions. “I’m not gonna let you take my ride.” I said. “Been on a list for over a year to get to this point and I’m sure as hell not going to let some old desert goat take over. Young man’s game.”  

   “I’d take that personally if it weren’t for the fact you left me booze.” He said, narrow eyed and purse lipped.

   “Drink it sparingly, not like I’m going to come back and hand you some more when you run out.” I smirked as I pulled and tucked it in a front pocket before slinging the bag over my shoulders. I began thinking about the trail, the time I’d have to make to get to the Hong Kong gate as the sun began to lurch further out. I was suddenly more anxious as I went over the times. “I got land to see, tales to be forged.” I quipped to hide how shaky was was. However as I reached to grab my gun that was lying on the deck, my hand trembled. I looked up and caught Marguile’s pale green eyes watching me scrabble around like a jittery hare.

   “Despite what you hear, there’s actually salt lakes.” He sniffed, ignoring my jumpiness. “Might be smaller than when I was last out there, but if you follow them and act smart you’ll be safe. Don’t try eating anything in them though.” 

   “Sounds alright.” I picked up my gun deliberately, taking the clip out and loading it. “What about the predators?” 

   “Sand cats and bandits. Bandits are tastier by the way.” He shrugged, shifting his weight and tugging his keffiyeh down to cover his forehead as the suns beams lapped across our faces. 

   “That’s good to know.” I racked a bullet in the chamber and slipped the gun on, slinging it back behind me with my provisions sack.  Tilting my face up to the sky, I could feel the heat coming as the sky was settling on the day’s grey. Pale clouds lurched above, teasing with their hidden moisture. 

   “You’ll be long gone by the time they open up.” He said while squinting up at the clouds with me. “Either dead or waist deep in liquor and girls.”

   “Really hope it’s the latter.” I sighed, tilting my head down and reaching my hand out towards Marguile. “Any words of wisdom?” 

   “Don’t be stupid.” His handshake was firm, tight. “And when you get your pay, pace yourself.”

   “I'll do my best.” I said. Taking a deep breath I dug my boot into the sand, half hoping it would sink in so far I’d be swallowed up. “Nice meeting you Marguile.”

   “Same.” He said in a way that gave away a twinge that came from saying goodbye for good far too many times. “Now git.”

   I nodded, tugged on the reins of my camel and turned out towards the dunes. As I headed out I took a deep breath of the encrusted air and forced myself not to look back. 

   The camel lowed, chewing on it’s cud. 

   “You and I,” I huffed “we gotta get along.”

fin

This prompt comes via io9.com. As it's a warm up it's rough, but hopefully entertaining.

World Building 101: Like Legos, But With Way Less Foot Injuries

   I was asked recently to explain world building in writing. In the past I’ve avoided trying to teach anything this. Because whenever I stand in front of people and talk about how-to stuff I never sound like I know what the fuck I’m doing. This is due to the fact that I am scared I don’t know what I’m talking about (even if the answer cannot be anything more than subjective one) and someone is going to jump up and call me out. Then stricken with the label of being uninformed on the (entirely subjective) subject I am attempting to teach, I would go crawl into my cave and ask my pet fish if he's embarrassed of me. 

they always look so disappointed

   And I’ve occasionally said I wouldn’t mind being an instructor. Yeaaaaaah.

   Crippling fears of being outed as a moron aside, I have decided that it’s good for me to attempt to give some how-to’s as apart of the whole ‘you need to actually write shit on your writing blog’. That and that whole building up confidence thing. So here we are; you, I, and this uncomfortable silence known as a written tutorial. We’re going to do this, and hopefully neither of us are harmed in the process. So, without further ado...

World Building

(aka how to make your setting believable and engaging)

that's a wallpaper. click on it. you're welcome.

Disclaimer:
   First off, I’d like to say that there are many ways to World Build. It’s like writing, or drawing, or walking, talking, sex or getting arrested. Everyone does it differently and there is no set way of doing it correctly. Better yet, it’s like a giant tub of legos. Rainbows of colors and cube based shapes, all stirred together with the instructions long lost to the attic. You have a large, flat peg sheet to build a structure on before you, but no creative stifling directions that tell you where or where not to put the gun turret. So this will is sort of be an explanation of how I assemble and some tips I’ve picked up a long the way. But you can always change it up. There’s no instructions for your Lego box.

remember to wear shoes

   Now for the loosely structured and entirely subjective steps

Step 1: Figure Yo Shit Out

 You think I’m an ass right now. You’re saying to your screen “Well no duh, Blog Writer Person, I’m HERE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THIS.” Chill and don’t make the face.

   What I mean is sit your ass down, relax, and jot down the basic elements you want in your world. Make a little list, write a paragraph, have a few drinks to loosen up so you can allow yourself to write ‘Magic geese on Io with eskimo clothing & feudal Japan weaponry’. Whatever you need to do, just get the gist out. That way you know what to start looking for. You can always add to this list later. Nothing is set in stone here.

'futuristic amish town where everyone wears turtle hats'

Step 2: Reference, Reference Everywhere

  Long ago in Twitterland someone who I can't remember said being a writer means you’ll always have homework. Surprise! World building is homework. Whatever world you’re molding out of your idea soaked grey matter with your own two clammy hands requires research. You need to read, to hunt out locations, to talk to people, to study pictures. Actually there’s a whole lot beyond what I’ll suggest you can do. It’s fun, daunting and possibly scary all at the same time and can sometimes take weeks, hell maybe months. Also, it’ll be ongoing if your project is such. 

   In research and reference Google is your friend. Also libraries, believe it or not they still exist so check them out. Talking to/observing people is also a good thing to do. Museums, classes, zoos, whatever can help you understand key elements of your world try and experience or learn about them. If your world is a primitive alternate universe where people wear tribal clothing, ride ostriches and battle elephant-sized mega ferrets, google various tribes like the Zulu and spend a day at the zoo observing the ostriches and ferrets. Take pictures, jot down notes, sketch, soak it up. Think about it as an adventure to discover your world.

 hallucinogens optional

   A perfect real example of this I have is of a project currently in limbo. The world I was building was sci-fi, but set in 1930’s San Francisco. I did this partially because I live in San Francisco, so researching would be a little easier. Regardless, I still googled for a full day and collected hundreds of pictures of the 1930’s online, then put them in a folder on my computer. After that I found the California Historical Society in the city and went there and asked questions. They gave me an address to the San Francisco Historical Society as well as some book titles. So I bought the books on Amazon and then hoofed it to SFHS. I found original street maps, newspapers, pictures, interviews, censuses and the like. Did I need all of it in the end? No, but I have it all in case I need it in the future. Also I read all the books so at the time I was familiar as hell with the world I was about to manipulate. 

Step 3: I Have All This Shit, Now What?

   You have your reference, and your legos, but how do they work together? Do you put the green brick with the blue brick? Where’d the yellow brick go? Did the dog eat the yellow brick? When does it start looking like Middle Earth?

how. the. fuck.

   Obviously there is no set way to go about this. However like gathering your reference, this can take awhile. You may go through various drafts. You may just get so into the politics of Zagmor 89 that you write 10 years worth of backstory entirely in ballads the Zagmordians sing on Chronicle Day. You may just write out a timeline. You may write essays on the breeding cycles of the fauna and the various environments. Some people get extremely technical and make sure everything is scientifically possible, some draw everything out as reference sheets and write notes on the sides of said sheets, some people drink a lot and cry on their keyboard.

what actual writing looks like

   Personally, I love me some details. I start out big and then work my way inward. It’s like zooming in more and more each time. I find this better than starting from such a detailed pinpoint and then working outward. I feel you have more wiggle room, but that’s just me. Big bricks first, tiny plastic flowers the vacuum keeps sucking up last.

   I will do an overall summary of the world, then I break it down into articles about the ecosystem, then civilizations, and finally the history. After all that I’ll summarize the history with a bullet point timeline I can refer to when writing on the fly. Some things will get more info written about them then others, and in the beginning not everything has to be filled out. Key locations get a lot of information. I also write about how mechanics work if I’m dealing with elements like that. Occasionally I will sketch stuff out just to work out visuals in case I really need to nail something down. But there’s always that one (or three) thing that I’m vague on that I’ll leave be if it’s not a huge plot point immediately. Then two weeks later it’ll come to me on the bus or something. 

In Summary Of What I Do

-World (Earth or not earth? What year is it? If you saw this world from above what would it look like?)

-Ecosystem (What's the climate like? Can anything live there naturally? Has the ecosystem been disturbed in any way?)

-Civilizations (Are there different species or races? What's their social structure like? What kind of tech do they have?)

-History (What are major events that have shaped the society? Is there religion?)

-Walk Away For A Few Days & Then Return To Be Critical Of It

   As I understand not everyone can pull an essay out of their ass about the history of the imaginary world they are creating, I attempted to google a list I could handily post below to give you a template. Then voila! You could just fill out a questionnaire and discover your world likes pina coladas and getting caught in the rain! Apparently no such thing exists that is of reasonable size.

 *whomp whomp*

   There is this list from the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Of America website. It is however of Tolkien length and detail. There may be some Welsh based fae language in there, I dunno. I just kind of skimmed it, said ‘yup’, and then bookmarked it. So good luck there. 

Step 4: OH GOD I HAVE WRITTEN SO MUCH HOW AM I GOING TO FIT ALL THIS CRAP IN JKXIOBOEFBJSFNX....

   First, have a cookie.

aww see? ya did good

   Now here’s the big, dirty secret of it all. All this world building really wasn’t for the reader, it was for you. In order to give them something believable, you needed to learn about the space you’d be working and playing in. Just because you wrote an intricate interplanetary political system run by a giant parliament doesn’t mean your readers need to be as intimate with it as you are.

your audience may consider it unnecessary while they wait for the laser swords 

   They also don’t need to know the 100 year history of the castle or the mating ritual of the birds if it doesn’t facilitate the story. You can gently drop tidbits of info throughout your story, little breadcrumbs if you will, to enrich the world and make it more tangible. If done correctly it really does breath life into the world and makes it become a character in and of itself. However remember not everything has to be divulged. You can over explain if you’re not careful. Occasionally you can get away with it (if you’re drawing you can get away with putting detail in more so than writing massive amounts of exposition), but unless you’re Allen Moore or George R. R. Martin, it’s safe to assume less means more. 

   Also another good rule is when you’re trying to get any information across (in general) is Show, Don’t Tell. As in, if you have some crazy jet powered velocipede the people of your world use to get to work, don’t have someone sitting around talking about how their’s is in the shop. Show a character on that bad boy during rush hour. 

   I think we’re done here. Are you in one piece? I think I am, I always had nine toes right? Did you like the Lego thing? Did you like the tutorial? Should I do more of these? I want to do a Character one because that’s cake compared to this bastard.

   Now go play with your Legos.

and don't be that asshole that leaves them in the middle of the floor at night