30-Day Character Study

During this challenge, you will choose one character whom you want to study deeply and complete prompts and activities designed around developing a deeper understanding of that character. Prompts aren't only writing, and one does not have to complete them all. You may complete one prompt or all thirty. You may complete the prompts in any order. Some prompts include additional questions to spur your thinking on a topic. You do not need to answer all--or any!--of these questions in order to satisfy the prompt.

Finished fanworks meant to be read/viewed as stand-alone pieces are welcome to be posted as separate stories on the archive.

If you want to publicly share challenge pieces that are not finished fanworks, you should create a single story on the archive for flash writing, sketches, notes, research, links lists, and other material that you develop during the challenge. Do not post each of these items as a separate story. You may also share this content on our Dreamwidth or LiveJournal, or post a link there to the tag where you are collecting your challenge responses.

This challenge opened in November 2017 .

Prompts

Choose your prompt from the collection below.

View Prompts

1. Drop Everything and Read, Part One. Take at least a half-hour to read what the texts say about your chosen character.
2. Down Memory Lane, Part One. Think about your character’s childhood (or the early days of their existence if they had no childhood). What was the environment and daily life of their formative years like? Did they have siblings? What was their relationship to their family like? Who were their friends? What made them feel sad/angry/frightened? What made them feel content/excited/happy? Who were their teachers?
3. Strong Points, Part One. Think about at least three strengths of your character - talents they were born with, skills they have learned, positive character traits… Write a scene in which your character really shines at something.
4. Home Sweet Home, Part One. Think about a geographical location where your character lived. Learn more about what life in that location might have been like: the climate, topography, seasonal changes, flora and fauna, or anything else related to that physical location.
5. What’s On The Menu? Your character’s food choices will be influenced not just by taste, but by their culture, environment and circumstances. Try to find out about what foodstuffs might typically be available to your character. What would be their everyday fare? What would be a special treat? Where does it come from? Who does the cooking?
6. Artistic Licenses. Take at least ten minutes to peruse fan art about your character. If you are working on a rare character about whom little has been drawn, you may substitute looking at fan art about a group of characters to whom your character belongs (e.g., Dwarves, female characters, commonfolk, craftspeople, etc.) Think about which fan artists best capture how you imagine your character and why. Think about how your character's appearance does (or does not) support other aspects of their traits and history.
7. Affiliations, Part One. Think about an important relationship your character has to another character in your verse. Spend at least a half-hour exploring that relationship in any way you choose. For example, you might read and research the other character, write or draw about their relationship, create meta or headcanons--your choice.
8. The Mirror Cliche. Authors are often discouraged from describing their characters by having them look at their reflection in a mirror (or a pool, or a puddle, or whatever). For this one exercise, we want you to embrace the mirror cliche! Write a scene where your character sees their reflection. What do they see? What do they feel as they see it?
9. Weak Points, Part One. Think about at least three shortcomings of your character - things they are bad at, mistakes they make, bad habits… Write a scene in which their failings play a pivotal role.
10. What's in a Name? Research the meaning of your character's name. Think about how that name fits the character but also what the name might more subtly imply about your character.
11. Drop Everything and Read, Part Two. Take at least a half-hour to read meta and scholarship written about your character. If you are working on a rare character about whom little has been written, you may substitute reading about a group of characters to whom your character belongs (e.g., Dwarves, female characters, commonfolk, craftspeople, etc.)
12. Down Memory Lane, Part Two. Think about the rites of passage your character went through. These can be mundane things like learning to walk, their first kiss, or taking an exam; formal ceremonies like a coming-of-age ritual, graduation or wedding; or life-changing events. Which steps did your character take on the way to who they are?
13. Home Sweet Home, Part Two. Where does your character live? What are their domestic arrangements like? What do their sleeping/dining/cooking/working areas look like? Where do they go to pee and poop? What about their tastes in interior decoration? Take the time to think about one habitation of your character in as much detail as you can come up with.
14. Big Ideas, Part One. Create a visual representation of the big ideas you've learned about your character. This can be a quick list in a notebook, a series of sticky notes, or a graphical representation … or whatever you want to make or imagine!
15. Big Ideas, Part Two. Using one of the big ideas from Prompt 14, revise an existing fanwork so that this idea is more strongly emphasized or create a new fanwork that brings this idea to the center of the piece.
16. Down Memory Lane, Part Three. Imagine your character keeping a box of little mementoes that are important to them. Write a list, make a sketch, or create a fanwork where these mementoes feature.
17. Affiliations, Part Two. Think about a group your character belongs to--perhaps a cultural group, a profession, a family or clan, or any other group of affiliated characters. Spend at least a half-hour exploring that affiliation in any way you choose, whether reading and researching the group, writing or drawing about the character's relationship to the group, collecting links and resources, writing meta or head canons, or anything else you can dream.
18. Fan Art/Fancast/Fanmix. Create fan art of your character. Don't have an artistic bone in your body? You can substitute finding three images of different people who would fit how you imagine your character to look, or three sets of clothing/costumes that the character might wear, or make a fanmix of songs that relate to your character.
19. Strong Points, Part Two. Revisit the list of strengths you’ve thought about for Prompt 4. This time, write a scene in which your character’s strong points cause them trouble.
20. Who Are You? Using what you've learned about your character, take a Myers-Briggs type personality test for your character. What do you learn about the person? What surprises you?
21. In Dreams. Your character is asleep and dreaming. What are their dreams typically like? Write or sketch a dream sequence that explores your character’s subconscious.
22. What Do They Think About You, Part One. How do characters close to the one you’ve chosen (family, friends, significant other…) see your character?
23. Drop Everything and Read, Part Three. Take at least a half-hour to familiarize yourself with fan fiction created about your character. If you are working on a rare character about whom little has been written, you may substitute reading about a group of characters to whom your character belongs (e.g., Dwarves, female characters, commonfolk, craftspeople, etc.)
24. Weak Points, Part Two. Revisit the list of shortcomings you’ve come up with for Prompt 9. This time, write a scene in which your character turns a weakness into a strength.
25. An Atlas of Everyday Life. Draw a map of a location familiar to your character. The location may be as small as a room or as vast as a realm. Include details important to your character's life or connection to this location.
26. Happy Holidays. What special days does your character observe? Research or invent the customs of a holiday your character loves to celebrate. (See Darth Fingon's Elven Holidays and Festivals or the Thain's Book for more information on canonical Middle-earth holidays.)
27. Beyond the Tales. Create a links list of at least eight sources of information that will help you understand an aspect of your character's life. For example, you may collect links that help you better understand the character's profession or a pursuit important to that character (e.g., hunting or harp playing). You may collect links on magic or mythology related to that character (e.g., telepathy or the trickster archetype). You may collect links related to the setting where the character lives, relevant real-world history, or anything related to that person at all. You do not need to read all eight sources; the idea is to have a starting point for future research and reference.
28. Down Memory Lane, Part Four. Imagine your character writing or dictating their autobiography. What parts of their story would they hush up or change to make themselves look better? What parts would they blow out of proportion? What parts would make them cry?
29. What Do They Think About You, Part Two. How do characters unfriendly towards your chosen character (rivals, enemies, ex-partners…) see them?
30. Show It All Off. Create a fanwork about your character: any format, any genre.