How to Create a CHARACTER (The Best Character Profile)
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- In this video I'll show you how to create a character from scratch using my awesome character profile. Watch me outline my character profiles + find my story's theme! I also show you how I organize my Scrivener for success. Preptober 2019 is off to a great start and I'm soooo excited to share my behind-the-scenes process with you!!
GET SCRIVENER: a.paddle.com/v2/click/49535/1...
GET MY CHARACTER PROFILE TEMPLATES: eepurl.com/gFYD8z
GET MY SCRIVENER SETUP + BONUS CONTENT: / abbieemmons
0:00 Introduction
1:17 My Scrivener Setup
7:53 The Importance of Characters
9:04 Finding Your Story’s Truth
12:07 My Ultimate Character Questionnaire
15:25 Character Goals
16:47 Backstory
20:47 Side Character Profile
22:04 Watch Me Create My Characters
________________________________
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✨ V A L U A B L E R E S O U R C E S✨
❤️GET BONUS CONTENT + SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL: / abbieemmons
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✏️VISIT MY AUTHOR WEBSITE: abbieemmonsauthor.com/
🎤LISTEN TO MY PODCAST WITH MY SISTER: anchor.fm/kate-and-abbie-show
💻GET SCRIVENER: a.paddle.com/v2/click/49535/1...
🎥 MY GEAR + WRITING TOOLS: abbieemmonsauthor.com/my-gear
MORE VIDEOS YOU WOULD LIKE:
→ HOW TO WORLD BUILD (LIKE A BOSS)
• How to WORLD BUILD (Li...
→ HOW TO WRITE THEME INTO YOUR STORY
• How to Write THEME Int...
→ HOW TO WRITE POWERFUL SIDE CHARACTERS
• WRITING POWERFUL SIDE ...
→ HOW TO ROCK YOUR CHARACTER VOICE
• HOW TO ROCK YOUR CHARA...
✨F O L L O W ✨
blog: bit.ly/2Kl21m8
facebook: bit.ly/2FS2Ikh
instagram: bit.ly/2rrgLb4
patreon: / abbieemmons
Business inquiries: abbie@abbieemmonsauthor.com
🎵WHERE I GET MY MUSIC: epidemicsound.com/
✨ A B O U T ✨
My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.
Story isn’t about “what happens” - it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. I believe that there is an exact science (a recipe, if you will) behind a perfect story. And if you know what ingredients you need, you can create your own perfect story with ease and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week on this channel - and if it’s something you’re into, be sure to subscribe and join this community!
"Powerful side characters that don't steal the show"
Me: *laughs in every fandom i've ever been in*
Facts :D
YES, I CAN RelATe
@Domagoj Čović I haven't, actually 😅 But from what I've heard, they do sound like great characters.
@Domagoj Čović eh I prefer Misa
@Domagoj Čović ryuk is kinda adorable in a shinigami type of way, excuse me
The “take your theme, make it a lie, and THAT’S your character’s misbelief” part genuinely blew my mind
i'm still trying to figure this out 🥴
Thats actually mindblowing!! Like if the main theme of your character is family values, they could be adopted and learn to deal with that or maybe they were stolen or maybe their values are all wrong!!!
@@yessica5231
I have the theme of not judging people for what they are. You should judge them for WHO they are and what they’re like as a person. It’s in a fantasy setting in which mages were once integrated into society, but because a few of them abused their power, the people decided to hunt them down and kill them.
One of my main characters’ parents have been killed by mages.
Another main character is a mage herself and she’s trying to stay hidden.
They both believe the all of the mages/humans are evil, generalising them.
@@yessica5231 wait I didn't get it, my theme is also family value but I didn't do that?
@@jarmoliebrand2005 WILD CARD: Your (mage) main character's father was a mage. Your main character's mother was a mage hunter that found him out (after they were in a relationship obviously) and turned him in/killed him herself. Now the mother has a complex about it because she finds out she's pregnant and the kid ends up being born a mage. She can't bring herself to give up the child and parents them in hiding/exile. In order to save face, she made up a story about the father being hunted down and leaves out the part where she turned him in.
I’m 14, I wrote my first book at the age of eleven. It sucked, naturally, the world was a jumbled mess and boring, the characters were one dimensional and there was no internal conflict at all; it sucked. But, that was to be expected, I was eleven. Now thanks to your videos I understand writing so much better and my characters actually feel like real people. Thank you so much Abbie, I’m finally happy about writing again and I’m really excited about this new story!
Yo, pog. I had a similar experience but my sister was into writing and since I was a younger sibling and was eight, I wanted to be like her so I wrote my first story then. I’m now eleven and I understand writing much better than I did at eight. I will never get good at writing short stories. Like, someone explain to me how to make a story so short have as much effect as a long story with everything you can’t do?
I am just now trying to write a story. I’ve been working on the main characters for more than a year now and I’m glad to know it’s possible and I’m not the only one. I’m proud of you guys for continuing to write!
@@wisvai279 “A man woke up in the middle of the night because of an eerie feeling. His room was completely dark, but he remembered a flashlight lying on his nightstand. So he reached for it… but couldn’t touch it. Then the flashlight was put in his hand!”
Go yalls young writers! Give us fun stuff to read in the future
I remember this one story I wrote in 4th grade, and W O W. You would not believe how cringe it is lol
My characters had no internal conflict whatsoever, and probably the main reason why it sucked. Plus, I didn't have enough motivation to make it good because it was pretty much forced and rushed
You know, I used to watch writing videos and feel so discouraged, like I could never meet all these do's and don'ts and write a real story. I almost hesitate to click on these videos any more, but I am *so* drawn to them. BUT, whenever I watch yours, I feel so encouraged, motivated, and inspired... I feel like, "Yeah... Yeah, I think I can do that.... Ok! Ok." It's so disheartening to watch these, "stop doing all these things" style videos, and so encouraging to watch yours! Keep being amazing! Thankyou so much!!! ❤️
I know, I know! Shakespeare did not get told to tick off 23 points, or however many, when writing a story and he did fine. Yet there are vital pieces of advice among the too-too-many that are out there. Abbie does a good job. About the only things that I do not believe in 100% here are her eyebrows.
Im writing on a story that I came up with in 2007! Finally getting it on paper!
Good luck! ❤
Same, lol
I feel your pain, GL
Cool! I can definitely relate with the feeling
Bruh I've been making my story since middle school
I found it funny when I got to the "what is your character's misconception about the world?" because I'm writing from a petty criminal's PoV and funny enough, in my story he is actually proven right at every turn:
People are stupid, check. People are low, check. People are gonna let you down, check.
In the end, his downfall comes from not trusting anybody and putting everybody in the same sac, including the good people who could have stood up for him.
You could put for that question that they think everybody's minds work the same or something along the lines of that.
So the misbelief is "everyone sucks, you can't trust anyone, ppl suck" and probably gives him some trust issues! A nice solid misbelief yay
I was just crying because everyone that I'm working with thinks my ideas are dumb and say that I don't know character development and sentiment, you just made my day!!
you can do it, i believe in you!! keep going!
Aww I’m sorry:( I believe in you don’t give up!❤️
Here's one of my favorite quotes ever and hopefully it can help you gain some confidence:
“If you have an idea that you genuinely think is good, don’t let some idiot talk you out of it.“ -Stan Lee
You can do this! If you think what you’re creating is great and you enjoy it, don’t let someone else stop you!
Almost every writer who wrote a popular great movie/book was told their work was not good. So don't worry about it. Also, if it's true, see it as a feedback to improve your writing.
Okay so this is 3 years later, so you probably don't need this advice anymore haha!
Is it bad that around the 20 minute mark when you started saying "This is a story about", my brain automatically went to "Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down" from the Fresh Prince? LOL It's after midnight...I need to finish making notes then go to bed or else my character profiles will make no sense whatsoever haha. Thanks so much for putting this together, Abbie!
Not bad at all! When the news talked about a crime that occured in West Philadelphia, the next part of the song "...born and raised... "
‘A character is nothing without a goal’ welp I’m nothing then....
Same
It's not necessarily something you're conscious of? Like what did you want to be before the world told you it wasn't possible? You're probably still longing to be that person, and find a way to make it work. Like if you wanted to be a superhero when you were a kid for example, you might still be trying to be a hero in ways that don't use superpowers, but not be so aware of doing this.
I mean if your watching these videos then your goal must be to become a better writer right?
@@ZaxorVonSkyler very good point there...
@@LaurArt_UK its a joke..
I saw this video was up, yelled out “oh my god it’s time”, stopped everything I was doing, and am now watching. Obviously I’m very excited about this. 😂😂
SAME 🤣😂
LOL! I had the SAME reaction!!! Her videos are incredibly helpful.
Haha same XD
Me too! 😅😍
czcams.com/video/xZuQTd57NXg/video.html
do watch
Thank you for everything you do, where I study Creative Writing degrees arent really well structured and not enough funding goes into them to better the curriculum so you end up taking little workshops offered on campus that are amazing but you dont have enough time for everything there is to learn and the class size is 20 or more people so one on one feedback from the teachers is a very rare opportunity that is necessary. I'm so happy I was able to find your channel because here the face 2 face feedback is not necessary because of how well you explain the science behind writing stories that mean something.
Your videos took me out of my writers "block", I hadn't written anything i was happy with for a long time and your advice made my own courses at college make soooo much more sense, and i was able to create stories that matter to me and that im proud of. Thank you so much for that. I know 5 buck will never cover how much you're helping aspiring writers, but it's what I can help with right now. Thank you so much for this, have the greatest success with your projects!!!
I found your channel recently and have devoured your videos. I have made a massive amount of progress in outlining my novel from your videos. The way you explain each part of the story structure so in depth and so different from other videos I’ve seen. They usually just list the parts of structure with brief descriptions of what what each point means. But you really go in depth and give questions to tie the character motivations into it. It has been a game-changer for me. So thank you so very much for making such awesome videos! I can’t wait for the next one in the series!
I've recommended her videos to others in my writers' group.
There are other good videos, but if I were to recommend just one, it'd be Abbie.
Yess! Her yt channel is so, so, so great and has amazing content
I almost tried outlining my novel without working out my characters. So I need to rewatch your videos and I'm enjoying every second.
I’m fourteen and have been trying to write since I was like in sixth grade
And it was always very difficult to dissect my own ideas like the theme
After watching your videos, I now see how simple it can be and how I can improve my writing.
Thank you so much Abbie! Keep up the good work! ❤️
When the time on Abbie's computer is the exact same time you're watching the video at O_O
JomoWhore Holy crap, why is this happening? xD
@@taramohaamed you know it girl!
I love that you create a soundtrack. I get inspired to write characters and their plots when I'm randomly daydreaming while listening to music at work. Good to know I'm not alone in my music-noveling 😄
I always interview my characters. I was surprised at how easy and revealing it was the first time I tried it just as an experiment. Even without knowing what I was going to talk about, the convo just zoomed straight into personality and emotional triggers. A lot of fun and revealing. Definitely recommend it.
I am liking the sound of the donuts in your book. 😛
If anyone is looking for a really good example of character backstory, I would read the first chapter of Renegades! I'm currently reading it now, and the opening flashback was not only written so well but also gave us so much information that we needed to understand why the protagonist is who they are. Not sure if anyone has any other examples, but lmk if you do!
It might just be me, but whenever I hear something about something I read or watched, I’m like “Oh my God, that exists??”
I’d never heard of Renegades online or anything before… Good series! :)
thank you so much. I know this video was released long ago but I still use it for every character profile I make. Im actually only ten years old and I aspire to make a book. I already have so much ideas.
Just finished the first draft of my first book ever which I had the idea for in 2010 🤩
You just uplifted my bad mood. I am back to being happy and ambitious again. Thank u 😍
I've been a subscriber for a while now. I'm amazed and impressed at how your production and content have improved.
It was fun and good to begin with, but now, it's so jazzy and professional. It appears you even have (or are) a great stylist for yourself and the "set."
I'm about 4/5 done with my current novel. I was already applying some of your principles (gotten elsewhere, though). When I finish this one, I'll apply more of what you suggest. I'll use your templates on the following novel & see how they evolve, adapting to my own style.
Thanks!
Thank you for your passion in this video. I made notes to learn your process. Your style of delivery and teaching is awesome! Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for your kind words! They mean so much to me, and I am thrilled that the content I make encourages you to chase your dreams and make your story MATTER!
So excited for this video!! Love the character questionnaire you’ve put together and I’m excited to try it. So many straightforward yet useful and deeply probing questions. Thanks Abbie!!
This is SO incredibly helpful for plotting out my story and made me consider questions I haven't asked myself. Thank you so much for this!
im actually baffled that all of this information is free and on youtube. man as soon as i start publishing ill make sure to pay it back to you on your patreon! you r awesome abbie thank you for all your videos
I just want to say thank you so much Abbie for your amazingly detailed videos! I'm a new writer and so far I've been finding your methods super helpful! Loving it :)
I can't get over how helpful this is! thank you
27 MINUTES YESSS. So much content this week 🥰😭
Your templates helped me a lot when designing my characters, so I would just like to give a heartfelt thank you for sharing them. You're amazing!
I just spent the past hour outlining three of my most important characters (protagonist, love interest/secondary character, and the protagonist’s mentor) and it helped me so much in terms of the plot and how their personal goals and journeys intertwine. This was incredible for my story and skills as a writer. Thank you!!
I just randomly found your channel and this video actually jumpstarted my story again and helped me realize something huge about my main character. I can't even begin to thank you for this and I can't wait for future videos!
Abbie: I create a playlist that is what I imagine the soundtrack of my book to be
My story: Has a comedic scene where the characters are trying to make a cake
My brain: *YoU gOtTa Do ThE cOoKiNg By ThE bOoK*
This video is great. I really appreciate you going through every step so thoroughly, it helps a lot. After watching this I went away and started creating my character profiles and it brought me so much joy, I had to come back and thank you!
I just have to say that your videos are absolutely brilliant. Thanks for creating these and clearly putting so much thought into the organization and delivery. Super helpful!
I’m starting to write a story with characters I’ve been working on for a while now. This video and your channel really helps me understand writing and characters and storytelling so much more. Thank you.
For such a simple and sensible solution, I really needed to hear you spell out the truth of the story and the lie of the character. I've struggled for a few years in how to fit character growth, plot, and theme together. Never thought to really use the latter inverted to build the former, and I feel so dumb for not coming to that solution on my own. Thank you so much for these videos! They're great food for thought and you have a nice video personality that's easy to watch and listen to :)
Yesss! More scene cards!
The theme of A Series of Unfortunate Events is really interesting because it turns the 'truth' part upside down. The truth in that story is that most of the time everything won't work out, the lie that the characters believe is that everything will work out for them. And their journey is that through all the experiences they have they discover that people are willing to help but fail most of the time.
Awesome character profile sheet you got there Abbie. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Abbie!!
I just started preptober, late to the game, but work has been holding me back, literally pausing you video, and writing my main two characters.
Hi Abbie! Just wanted to say I came across your channel about a month ago and was so excited that I'd finally found a channel that would be able to help me achieve my goals of writing a book. I have now learned new writing techniques and important story elements that I would have never learned had I not found your channel. I've made so much progress in my writing ever since I found your channel. Thanks! :)
So excited for this series!! It's definitely gonna help me with my own NaNo planning :D
Honestly, this may be just me, but it feels like you're the first person to give tips on writing that actually make sense to me. I've tried learning how to write before and was only given vague tips on how I should make characters and plots. I have probably around seven ongoing ideas for stories. Most of which I want to make into graphic novels, but even then, watching these videos has showed me so many errors in the way I design characters and plots and they actually show me how and why to fix them. Thanks for being so straight forward and open minded.
I love that you included the Myers-Briggs! I do that. I found this episode the most useful and eye-opening, though I still have many to go through. :)
Fantastic Abbie...thanks a million!!!
Ahhhh yayyy I waited for this!
This has made me so excited to write about my characters!!! I love this!!! Thank you so much for sharing.
I love your advise. You are pretty awesome. Excited to keep watching. The reversing of the truth is brilliant 👍👍
U made me believe on my ideas and just calmed me down by writing along❤️
This video and template helped soooo much! I can’t thank you enough.
I am 15 and trying to write a story, mostly as practice for when I am older and actually ready to write my own stories and publish them. I am going to create the characters, the structure of the story and some parts of the world and see how it goes. It's mostly practice and I doubt it will be good enough to post anywhere but we all need to start somewhere. It will be a good way to practice my English too.
🎉 congratulations Abbie 😮
Thank you from the bottom of my heart
Thank you, Abbie! I was stuck in my character profile for 2 weeks! Hahahaha You helped a lot! So much inspiration
Been waiting for this for a week😂
This, along with so many other videos of yours, has helped me so much! You have no idea!
Really enjoyed your video. Watching your videos has really helped me with my writing so I’m really looking forward to next week.
I have watched what I can, but full-time job calls. My prep tomorrow morning will include this video and I can't wait. :D
Saw this and dropped all my responsibilities to watch. Thank you so much for all this helpful info!
Thank you so much for your advice. I really struggled with my first novel and stopped writing it altogether halfway through. Now I'm starting a new one but I'm starting in a more organised way and I can already see why I've been struggeling so much in the past. So thank you so much.
Wow this is just what I needed! Thank you so much!
Thank you for making these videos. I have been wanting to write a book forever and always lost steam because I tried to be a pantser. I was overwhelmed by the outlining process, but your videos and templates are SO HELPFUL. Thank you!
I just found your channel and I just wanted to say thank you! I always tought that there was something "wrong" with my brains because my book ideas are always starting from themes and topics and I find it very difficult sometimes to then try to come up with plot and characters etc. Your videos have helped me so much and I'm so happy that my outlining isn't ongoing struggling anymore. Greetings from Finland and keep up the good work! :)
You have such good quality content ☺️ glad I found your videos before this November
This is absolutely amazing. Thank you!
The characters actually set the mood for my stories a lot of times
thank you so much abbie for this!! i finally hv THAT confidence to write my story ugh finally
you're crushing it! thank you for these amazing videos, I downloaded your templates and checked out your site, so helpful and fun and motivating!
Ohhhh my god! This is such amazing content!
One thing I recommend because it helps me is to make a music playlist of music that reminds you of your story. or do it with specific characters. it really helps me get in the writing mood! :)
Great video Abbie, I'm doing your Scrivener tutorial, brilliant.
LOVED this video!
The CZcams started recommended your videos for me and I'm SO gratful for this. I started writing my first storie and your videos help a lot. Thank u so much for your work!
My greentings from Brazil!
So grateful for your channel!
Why didn't I see this before??? THIS IS GOLD.
New fan here and I love your templates for character profiles! This was a struggle, but bam I am doing better thanks to you. cant wait to watch more of your videos while i write my first novel.Thank you for what you do.
Thank you so much for this video! I was struggling with planning a story I had been thinking of for a while now. This has helped me so much to organise my planning :)
It's my first year in Nanowrimo gaaah I'm so excited! I love your videos! Thank you so much for sharing!
This is insanely good advice/help
Thank you, Abbie. Wonderful help.
this was so freaking helpful. I've been trying to dive into my same story concept for over a year but couldn't organize anything properly. I'm so excited to hop in this time!!
AMAZING VIDEO, ABBIE!
Loving this organisation 💕💕
Oh. My. Crumpets. Your WIP sounds E👏P👏I👏C! Also, an Abbie Emmons high fantasy??? I NEED. I'm so stoked for your stories!
I love you so much. ❤️ You are smart, on point, and easy to follow even for someone who is a ‘hobby’ writer like me. 😊
When you finally get a useful ad. Thanks for this! Just woke me up to an idea for my first work. :)
Watching your videos really made me unblock a lot of things. I had an idea but couldn't go on. Diving deep into the charachters really did the trick. Thank you !
Thank you so much Abbie. This is awesome. I will crush these template's and prepare for next weeks video.
Thank you so much for all that you share.
I have spent…x number of hours 😅 (we’ll leave it at that) going through the character profile worksheets you’ve made. Well spent hours I might add. 💕
When I get to the end of one them I have such a tighter understanding of my characters and stories. Thank you again for sharing. I believe I will be using these again and again in my writing journey.
This is very helpful. Thank you so much for sharing your templates. ❤️
your content is awesome. lots of useful information, well explained, pleasent to listen to. You create the effect that after watching any of your videos, I want to do my own writing "homework" based on your tips. Thanks a lot Abs
OMG (Think screaming muppet in a frenzy)….I've been looking forward to this video all day. SWEET!
All the templates are super helpful! I recommend 💯
THANK YOU THIS WAS SO HELPFUL
This is super helpful! Thank you!!!
Oh my gosh the way you write your notes and brain dumps is exactly like me 😂😂 So energetic and so many CAPS lol!
Thank you for the great video and the template sheets!