Following on the last post about Chinese number superstition, I decided to do another on a related topic. So ancient Chinese had various fortune telling methods, one of which was looking at people’s facial features. For example, long ears or a long gap between the nose and the upper lip were considered a sign ofContinue reading “Chinese Superstition- Physical Oddities and Polycoria”
Category Archives: Characterisation
Dissecting Character Grids (5)- Memories
Here, I think we are starting to get to the meat of a character, an important aspect that shapes a character’s personality, worldview etc. Before I dig into actual tips, I think this aspect is generally easier to fill for a character who’s older or with a wide variety of experiences. Or maybe that’s justContinue reading “Dissecting Character Grids (5)- Memories”
Dissecting Character Grids (4)- Past-times
Firstly, I’m back! Well, actually this is my 2nd week back but you gotta give me some slack since I went straight back to work on Monday after arriving back in Melbourne on Sunday 10am. I didn’t realise how tired I was until I was nodding off on the train back to home after workContinue reading “Dissecting Character Grids (4)- Past-times”
Dissecting Character Grids (3)- Moods & Feelings
If you followed this blog from the start, you would know that I started off with just character moods but then I found that often what I put down is not a mood but rather a feeling (yes, I’m pedantic with definitions and technicalities). I tried to just focus on moods but it didn’t workContinue reading “Dissecting Character Grids (3)- Moods & Feelings”
Dissecting Character Grids (2)- Talents & Flaws
So this is the 2nd post in the series where I dissect specific components of the character grid, a method I use to flesh out my characters. Since I tend to fill in Talents and Flaws in a block, I’m just going to combine them in a single post. Before I delve into the tips,Continue reading “Dissecting Character Grids (2)- Talents & Flaws”
Dissecting Character Grids (1)- Relationships
Now that I’ve been using the 10 by 10 Character Grids for a while now and found that I liked them as a way to let me get into my characters, I thought I will start a series to explore each element of them in greater details, which is basically creating a tips series forContinue reading “Dissecting Character Grids (1)- Relationships”
Characterisation- Feelings
I’m working tomorrow so my normal Friday post is shifted to today. Today I’m going to share another list I had compiled- feelings. During my novel writing process, my beta reader told me that one of my trademarks is that I delve too much into protagonists’ heads and not enough into their feelings. So duringContinue reading “Characterisation- Feelings”
Characterisation- Moonlake’s List of Moods
I won’t be able to post tomorrow so I’m posting in advance today and it is about yet another list I’ve created as a result of my 10 by 10 exercise for characterisation, which is on the possible moods that a character typically goes through. · affectionate · aloof · angry · anguish · argumentativeContinue reading “Characterisation- Moonlake’s List of Moods”
Characterisation- Moonlake’s List of Personal Values
Before delving into the actual topic of this post, I have to mention that I edited the previous post about Catalyst Events and Elements yesterday rather than going with 2 separate posts on the same topic as previously planned. So in today’s post, I’m going to share yet another list I had created that aidsContinue reading “Characterisation- Moonlake’s List of Personal Values”
10 by 10 Character Grid
Today I’m going to share another technique that I learnt from one of these writer self-help books (again the The Creative Writers’ Workshop by Cathy Birch for those interested) that I’ve adapted to my use and found extremely useful in terms of filling out characters. This time, the procedure is really simple: you use aContinue reading “10 by 10 Character Grid”
Moonlake's Fiction Space 