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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:20 pm
http://bethanyharvey.com/blog/character-and-setting-integration-worksheet/
Quote this post to get the formatted version.
Background
What is your character’s name? Is this a normal name in your character’s culture? If not, why do they have an unusual name? How old is your character? Is your character significantly older or younger than average for someone in their situation? If so, why? What’s your character’s gender? How does this affect the character’s personal life and standing in their culture? Are the sexes considered equal or not? Are gender variations acceptable? What’s your character’s sexual orientation? Are all sexual orientations equally acceptable, or is one preferred? Does your character belong to the preferred group? What is your character’s nationality or ethnicity? Is the story set in your character’s homeland? If foreign, how do the locals react to them? Are they visibly different from the locals, or can they blend in? What’s your character’s family like? What’s the average lifespan in your setting? Are your character’s parents or grandparents living? What’s your character’s marital status? Is this normal for the setting, or is it cause for a scandal? Does your character have children? Would they be expected to have children, given their age and status?
Physical Appearance and Abilities
What does your character look like? What do people from your character’s home usually look like? How has natural selection played a role in their physical features? Does your character have a prominent feature that others might remember? How physically strong is your character? Is your character unused to hard physical work because the setting has advanced technology, or because they have servants to do everything? Or does your character have well-developed muscles from manual labor? Does life in your setting allow time to exercise for fun? How healthy is your character? Does modern medical care exist in your setting? Who has access to medical care? Does your character? Does your setting have modern dentistry? If not, does your character still have most of their teeth? How about eyeglasses? Is your character’s vision good, and if not, how well does the technology of your setting correct for it?
Living Conditions
What kind of housing does your character live in? Do they live in one place all year? How many people do they live with? Is it common for extended families or unrelated groups to live together? What purposes do structures serve? Shade? Warmth? Protection from rain? Protection from animals or people? What materials are available to build with? Where do they come from? How does your character get around? What personal vehicles are available? How fast do they go, and what fuels them? What kind of mass transit is available? How much does it cost to ride? Can you take it to another country, or just the next neighborhood? What does your character eat? What foods are common in your setting? Where do they come from? Who does the cooking? Does your character cook all their own meals, buy them pre-made, or hire someone to cook for them? Is there any religious significance to certain foods?
Knowledge and Worldview
How educated is your character? Can they read and write? Can everyone? If not, how did your character learn? Is advanced learning admired in your world for its own sake? Considered a luxury only for the rich and idle? Seen as a waste of time? Does the average person know that the earth is round? The speed of light? How humans evolved? The climate of the country 500 miles to the south? How an internal combustion engine works? How a spaceship engine works? What does your character do for a living? How well does this job pay? How respected is this job? Is this a common profession in your setting? If not, how did your character get into it? What are your character’s goals? What are their wildest dreams? What can they reasonably expect to accomplish? Is ambition admired and respected in your setting, or is it discouraged? Does it depend on the person’s background? How superstitious is your character? What are the unexplained phenomena in your setting? How do people try to explain them? Gods? Evil spirits? Ghosts? Aliens? Psychic energy? (If you’re writing fantasy: are they right?) Are certain things considered to bring good or bad luck? Are there rules one can follow to attract good luck or ward off bad luck? Is your character a great deal more or less superstitious than others? Why? What are your character’s religious beliefs? What is the dominant religion in your setting? Are there more than one? How much power does religion hold in government? How much effect does it have on everyday life? Does your character share the dominant religion? Are they a member of a minority religion? A cult? Was your character raised in a religious family? Do they share their family’s beliefs? If not, what inspired them to change their beliefs? How does your character feel about the laws? What is the punishment for breaking laws? Community service? Banishment? Execution? Prison? Does it depend on the crime? How much does it depend on whether the judge likes you? How much does it depend on the gender, race, or social class of the accused? Who makes the laws, anyway? Does your character have any part in this process? Who enforces the laws? How likely are lawbreakers to be caught? How far from home has your character been? Is it common to travel to other countries? Towns? Planets? How long does it take? How safe is it? If your character has ranged farther than normal, why?
Culture
How does your character speak? Are there formal and informal modes of speech? Under what circumstances is each used? Which does your character use most often? What are the worst curse words in your setting? Is it ever acceptable to use them? Does your character use them? How many languages do most people speak? How many does your character speak? What entertainment does your character enjoy? What forms of entertainment are popular? TV? Spectator sports? Stage plays? Holographic video games? Who provides the entertainment? Amateurs or professionals? Individuals or corporations? How much does it cost? What famous people does your character admire? How does a person become famous in your setting? What qualities are admired? Are celebrities treated very differently from unknown people? Can they live ordinary lives, or does being famous define them? What does your character do for fun? What leisure activities are available? Where do people gather to socialize? How much time does your character spend there? Does your character have a passion for a particular activity? Is this considered respectable or silly? What are your character’s views on human rights? Is xenophobia common in your setting? Is it taken for granted that “those people” (whoever they are) are inferior? Are foreigners and minorities restricted in where they can go? How about gender issues? Is one gender expected to take on particular tasks? Do they have different roles in politics or religion? Are men and women kept separate most of the time, or do they mingle? How are people who break these expectations treated? Are they seen as threatening? Eccentric but harmless? Are they respected or seen as somehow special? Does your character share the views of the dominant culture? If not, why not?
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Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:45 pm
For your enjoyment, I've done Ser.
Background
What is your character’s name? Serenity Reed Is this a normal name in your character’s culture? Pretty much. If not, why do they have an unusual name? How old is your character? Grows up from 13 to 18. Is your character significantly older or younger than average for someone in their situation? If so, why? She's a bit young, yes, but this is justified by most of the older generation being, well, dead during the time frame. What’s your character’s gender? Female. How does this affect the character’s personal life and standing in their culture? Are the sexes considered equal or not? Are gender variations acceptable? It's really a matter of class. There are moderate gender roles, but mainly in a class context. Variations are moderately acceptable. What’s your character’s sexual orientation? Are all sexual orientations equally acceptable, or is one preferred? Does your character belong to the preferred group? Asexual, leaning straight. I suppose that means preferred. What is your character’s nationality or ethnicity? White/British. Is the story set in your character’s homeland? Yup. If foreign, how do the locals react to them? Are they visibly different from the locals, or can they blend in? What’s your character’s family like? Parents alive but divorced. Patriarchal, with mother preferred. What’s the average lifespan in your setting? Are your character’s parents or grandparents living? 50~70. Mages can live much longer. Particularly magical peoples age slowly, living in a 'youth' state until about 70~80 years. REALLY magical people can live in the youth state for untold centuries. These magical peoples usually die from a 'recoil' of magic which steadily exhausts them until sudden death. What’s your character’s marital status? Is this normal for the setting, or is it cause for a scandal? Single. Pretty normal, to a point. Does your character have children? Would they be expected to have children, given their age and status? No kids. She's expected to marry soon and have a few, though.
Physical Appearance and Abilities
What does your character look like? Heavy build, mostly in curves. Wispy brown/white hair. Gray-brown eyes. Very pale. What do people from your character’s home usually look like? About like that, but usually darker in tone, since she is slightly royal and can afford to be pale and plump. How has natural selection played a role in their physical features? Uh, she's very... white? Does your character have a prominent feature that others might remember? White hair. How physically strong is your character? Not very. Actually pretty weak due to lack of physical activity. Is your character unused to hard physical work because the setting has advanced technology, or because they have servants to do everything? Or does your character have well-developed muscles from manual labor? She lacks muscles because she's never done much for herself, and avoided farm work for quite some time. She can do a bit of light lifting, however. Does life in your setting allow time to exercise for fun? When she was young she had a lot of free time, but that slowly faded away. She doesn't like exercise anyway. How healthy is your character? Moderately. She manages more meat than the peasants do, but little difference is there. Does modern medical care exist in your setting? Who has access to medical care? Does your character? Yes, in the form of healers. Everyone has access if the healer is available. Serenity would have an emphasis because her father, being a lord, would ensure safe passage, food, and forms of payment for the healer. Does your setting have modern dentistry? If not, does your character still have most of their teeth? Nope. But there's not much sugar to speak of that would be too terrible for teeth, so it's not really an area of concern. There ARE dentists, however. How about eyeglasses? Is your character’s vision good, and if not, how well does the technology of your setting correct for it? Ser's vision is fine enough. Glasses are readily available, though.
Living Conditions
What kind of housing does your character live in? Largish estate, made of stone. Two floors, with servant quarters, surrounded by the basic castle stuff like the hawker and stables and blacksmith inside a wooden gate. Do they live in one place all year? Yup. How many people do they live with? Is it common for extended families or unrelated groups to live together? They live with a number of servants, and some people sleep in front of a communal fireplace in the front hall. What purposes do structures serve? Shade? Warmth? Protection from rain? Protection from animals or people? All of those, mostly warmth and protection. What materials are available to build with? Where do they come from? Stone and wood. The area is forested, with some good hills of stone. How does your character get around? She walks, since she fails at riding a horse. She does eventually learn how to awkwardly ride a dragon without falling off. What personal vehicles are available? How fast do they go, and what fuels them? Horses and pack animals, fueled by food stuffs. Ships of various sizes are also available, mainly for travel away from the island. They are fueled by special magic crystals. What kind of mass transit is available? How much does it cost to ride? Can you take it to another country, or just the next neighborhood? Ships. Kind of expensive, actually, to the point that most common folk can't afford it. Most ships only go to major cities on other islands, but large expeditions go to other countries. What does your character eat? Basic soups, some cooked meat, fruits and some vegetables. She's a little picky due to her upbringing. Likes bread and cereals, as well as white meat. What foods are common in your setting? Where do they come from? Potatoes-taken from trading elsewhere; soups; cooked meat (cows, chickens, sheep, sometimes horses and dragons); wheat and corn. Who does the cooking? Does your character cook all their own meals, buy them pre-made, or hire someone to cook for them? Servants make the food. In common houses the women combine to make the food. Is there any religious significance to certain foods? Dragon is sometimes viewed as a sacred animal, acceptable only to eat during fall festivals. Not all people eat dragons, however, some people viewing them as pets.
Knowledge and Worldview
How educated is your character? Moderately. Best than most. Can they read and write? Can everyone? If not, how did your character learn? Not everyone can read, but Serenity can. Is advanced learning admired in your world for its own sake? Considered a luxury only for the rich and idle? Seen as a waste of time? Learning is something most commoners don't think about, but is looked upon as good for mages and scribes, and other learned aristocratic men. Does the average person know that the earth is round? The speed of light? How humans evolved? The climate of the country 500 miles to the south? How an internal combustion engine works? How a spaceship engine works? This is a bit before a scientific revolution. What does your character do for a living? Nothing. She tries as hard as she can to keep it this way. Often she does freelance magic, however, in exchange for food and board. How well does this job pay? ...Badly. How respected is this job? Quite respected, actually. People can barely function without mages around. Is this a common profession in your setting? If not, how did your character get into it? It is rather common, yes. What are your character’s goals? To be as well-known as a layabout mage can be. Specifically, to be a wizard with as little work as possible. What are their wildest dreams? Being a wizard! What can they reasonably expect to accomplish? ...Being a wizard. Is ambition admired and respected in your setting, or is it discouraged? Does it depend on the person’s background? Ambition is known as a trait of royals, who can actually reasonably expect to be able to put their plans to fruition. How superstitious is your character? Not very, but she's suspicious of the dark and tends to believe very easily in stories of monsters. What are the unexplained phenomena in your setting? How do people try to explain them? Gods? Evil spirits? Ghosts? Aliens? Psychic energy? (If you’re writing fantasy: are they right?) Ghosts are common, but not everyone believes in them. Monsters exist, but few have been seriously documented. Some believe in higher powers--they may or may not be right about gods or God existing. (I plan on merely hinting the existence of 'stars'.) Are certain things considered to bring good or bad luck? Are there rules one can follow to attract good luck or ward off bad luck? Mages are often seen as lucky. Anything vaguely phallic is considered mildly lucky. Wild dragons and certain 'dark' creatures are unlucky; tamed dragons and pretty creatures are lucky. Is your character a great deal more or less superstitious than others? Why? More than others, because she's got some psychological trauma concerning her powers. What are your character’s religious beliefs? There's something out there, I guess. What is the dominant religion in your setting? Are there more than one? How much power does religion hold in government? How much effect does it have on everyday life? The stars which fell to earth were gods, or sent by some higher being. That is, if you believe the stars fell at all, or that they were stars. Mages are sometimes viewed as holy people, to an extent. Does your character share the dominant religion? Are they a member of a minority religion? A cult? She thinks her powers are a cosmic joke, and if there is something out there, it's laughing at her. This merely depresses her. Was your character raised in a religious family? Do they share their family’s beliefs? If not, what inspired them to change their beliefs? Non-religious, but her mother's side believe in a higher power. To a degree she shares that belief. How does your character feel about the laws? She cares not for them, even less so if they are against her. What is the punishment for breaking laws? Community service? Banishment? Execution? Prison? Does it depend on the crime? How much does it depend on whether the judge likes you? How much does it depend on the gender, race, or social class of the accused? Many different and interesting things, usually magical/physical-damaging in nature. Men have a tendency to be worse off for breaking laws, unless the offense is particularly terrible. Who makes the laws, anyway? Does your character have any part in this process? The lord usually decides local laws. Royals above in rings make laws, and the king makes the biggest laws. Serenity doesn't have any effect on this. Who enforces the laws? How likely are lawbreakers to be caught? Some mercenaries go after particularly notorious large-scale offenders, but primarily things are enforced by the local lord and his band. Magic can simplify and complicate finding these people. How far from home has your character been? Barely miles at first, then all over the country. Is it common to travel to other countries? Towns? Planets? How long does it take? How safe is it? It's common to travel around in your area depending on what you do. Land outside of your area/country is unheard of if you're a commoner, but traders travel around a lot. If your character has ranged farther than normal, why? She ran away.
Culture
How does your character speak? Slight British accent, but comparatively southern/American compared to higher aristocrats. Pronounces her Hs. Are there formal and informal modes of speech? Under what circumstances is each used? Which does your character use most often? Formal=pronounced and controlled, big words, few contractions, pleases and thank yous, no vulgar language. Informal is all around loose. Serenity uses a combination, but leans toward formal with her considerable vocabulary. What are the worst curse words in your setting? Is it ever acceptable to use them? Does your character use them? There is a combination of American/UK slang words. Serenity doesn't use them, so there don't crop up much. How many languages do most people speak? How many does your character speak? Most people only speak English. Other countries have different languages. What entertainment does your character enjoy? Books, concerts, and plays. What forms of entertainment are popular? TV? Spectator sports? Stage plays? Holographic video games? Plays and small musical performances are popular. Who provides the entertainment? Amateurs or professionals? Individuals or corporations? Amateurs, for the most part. Professionals are usually employed by aristocrats. How much does it cost? Street performances are usually free. Plays cost a little so that common folk can often afford to attend. What famous people does your character admire? Famous wizards. How does a person become famous in your setting? What qualities are admired? A person can become famous through monster slaying/taming, magical feats, or particular talent in the arts. Are celebrities treated very differently from unknown people? Wizards are usually revered. Can they live ordinary lives, or does being famous define them? They can usually live ordinary lives, for the most part, unless artistically inclined. Most wizards are left alone. What does your character do for fun? Read, play with dragons, and be lazy. What leisure activities are available? Reading, sport, hunting, watching plays. Festivals are popular and occur in nice intervals. Where do people gather to socialize? How much time does your character spend there? The front hall/squares. Serenity avoids these places. Does your character have a passion for a particular activity? Reading, magic, and eventually dragons. Is this considered respectable or silly? Both, somehow. What are your character’s views on human rights? People are people. Is xenophobia common in your setting? Is it taken for granted that “those people” (whoever they are) are inferior? Are foreigners and minorities restricted in where they can go? Xenophobia occurs, but is not particularly important outside of Lewanna. Inside, however, the different peoples are very aware of which 'country' they belong to. How about gender issues? Is one gender expected to take on particular tasks? Do they have different roles in politics or religion? Are men and women kept separate most of the time, or do they mingle? Magically there is little separation. In non-magical society, however, most women are of the house, and men of labor. How are people who break these expectations treated? Are they seen as threatening? Eccentric but harmless? Are they respected or seen as somehow special? Eccentric but harmless, to slight threat. Does your character share the views of the dominant culture? If not, why not? She hates her entire society, because she doesn't understand it or want to be a part of it.
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