Welcome to a new blog with Valerius King, bartender extraordinaire and member of the Social Media Team! This blog is going to be all about YOU. Well, not personally, but we'll be looking at the million and one ways to develop your character!
Our focus for today is...
Profile Texts!
"So tell me about yourself" sounds like an interview question from hell, and these basics also form the fundamentals of a profile text, so it's no wonder some people balk at the idea of writing one! They don't have to be intimidating, though, so let's break it down into the bare essentials.
Your Profile Text (often referred to as a 'PT' on site) is... well, all about the basics of your character. This is information other people should know about your character in order to RP with them, but also information for you to keep somewhere safe. For many people, this is where their character's name, age, date of birth, blood status, wand, family, favourite classes, and so on and so forth live. When it's thrown at you like that, though, it's not quite so... digestible.
An easy way to think of Profile Texts is breaking it down into subheadings - for example: 'Basic Info', 'Magical Attributes', 'Family & Life', 'Likes & Dislikes', and 'Personality'. Below is an example of what you could include for your character!
- Basic Info:
- Full Name
- Nicknames (you could also include who calls them these!)
- Age
- Date of Birth (this could be the date e.g. 30th September, and/or the IG date, Sunday, Week 1)
- Height (you could include current and 'adult' height, or just say 'short', 'average', or 'tall'!)
- Build
- Hair (length, style, colour, and texture)
- Eyes
- Magical Attributes:
- Blood Status
- Wand
- Wand Hand
- League Position
- Boggart
- Riddikulus
- Erised
- Amortentia
- Patronus
- Family & Life:
- Parents
- Siblings
- Pets
- Other Household Members
- Financial & Social Circumstances
- Likes & Dislikes:
- Favourite Things (Classes, Food, Activities, People, Games, Hobbies etc)
- Dislikes & Hates
- Fears & Aversions
- Personality:
Still with us? Great!
Writing a Profile Text is an art, not a science! This structure might work great as a launching point, but you should always feel free to include or exclude things that are helpful and relevant. You can find much more detailed guides online by searching up 'character basics sheets' which can give you even more content, from how your character walks, to how they smell, to nervous tics - and more!
If you have VIP, you can code your profile text to give it a little more 'oomph'. If you're not a confident coder, there are plenty of templates around - you can find some in the VIP Room on site, or search templates on Tessisamess or Tumblr WoX Coders!
No VIP? No problem! You can still have fun with your PT using text symbols to have a little more ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ fun ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺!
I hope this article helped! If you have any questions about Profile Texts, there are loads of people to turn to - the best point of call is the Backstory Team, lead by the lovely Theodora Havich. Don't forget to cast your eye over the Profile Text Rules too, just to make sure you're on the right side of things.
Most importantly, have fun! The limit is your imagination, so go wild!
