It is October which means it is time to plan out that story that you’ve had in mind and get ready to write! I personally  like to start planning out my characters because my writing is very character driven, so that is what I am going to be covering in my NaNoWriMo Prep today. If you have no idea what NaNoWriMo is, it stands for National Novel Writing Month and is basically an event online where you are challenged to write 50,000 words in only 1 month. It takes place every November and whether you win or lose it is still a great, eye opening experience!

Things to Ask Yourself When Creating a Character:

What does my character look like?

Where is my character from?

What does my character like/hate to do?

What are my character’s fears and flaws?

What are the personality traits of my character?

What makes my character who they are?

What are my character’s goals and hopes?

These questions definitely get you started on creating a 3D character but make sure you search up some more questions to ask you/your character or even make some up yourself that you think are relevant to your story and character.

The next thing you are going to want to do is put your characters in different situations and write how they would react. TIP: Make sure you are answering as your character and not YOU. Here are a few prompts:

Your character is forced to choose between saving the world or their best friend. What would they do? How would they deal with the consequences?

Your character’s friends are making plans to skip last block. Would your character skip? If they do skip what would they do?

Your character is mugged on the streets. What would they do?

When it comes to creating a character, you want to make sure they have a backstory, even if you don’t bring it up in your story. You need to dive deep into their lives and explain why they are they way they are, what their childhood was like, any problems they have had, and really just every little detail you can cover. This makes your character more 3D rather than 2D.

I really hope you found these tips in creating a great character helpful and I hope you are all as excited for NaNoWriMo as I am! Keep your eyes opened for my next NaNoWriMo Prep in the next few days 🙂