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...
Writing Homework!
Homework is a brilliant way to develop your character! You can take such a flexible approach depending on what you want to do, and it gives you a place to figure things out without it being memorialised for the whole site to see.
Rumour has it that our aloof, scary, white-haired boss was actually a timid, dark-haired student in his first assignment, but you didn't hear it from me!
Many classes begin with an introductory lesson to help you get into the swing of things. Your character's name, House, blood status, and age are all set already, which makes it easy to write those. From there, you can think about other things - your House includes traits of your personality, and your blood status might indicate your family, upbringing, and attitudes. For example, being a Pureblood Eagle suggests that you probably know about magic already and might have read ahead. Eagles are typically creative, witty, and intelligent, which can help give an idea of your character's "voice" - how they speak, how they think, and how they interact.
All First Year classes are freeform - you can write them in any format you want! They'll often have a suggested format to help guide you though, if needed. Otherwise, RPGs, diary entries, and letters tend to give you the most scope for creativity and character exploration, so why not challenge yourself? Homework is a great opportunity to learn about your character, discover their likes and dislikes, their strengths and weaknesses, and also get to know them a little better. A character who likes to work with their hands might struggle with History of Magic, or a character that has trouble following directions might have trouble in Potions.
Consider how your character would react in the specific scenario you've been given (by this, I mean - read the lesson RPG the teacher has written!). Sometimes, the Professor might put you on the spot, or do something unexpected, or the lesson might not be what you anticipated. Your character, therefore, might react differently depending on the task, which gives you another way to develop their personality. Is your character shy, but just been asked to give a presentation? Is your character always on the go, and been asked to work on an essay? Or, is your character a cheater, and trying to persuade someone to brew the potion for them? These can all dictate your character's reaction and behaviour throughout an assignment, such as the shy character stumbling through their presentation - or surprising themselves by delivering it with confidence and grace.
Another easy way to help determine your personality for assignments is your character's wand! Hot-headed, sensible, family-oriented - these are all more ways to guide your character through assignments and explore how they behave, which lets you as the writer explore why they behave that way! Backstory ideas can flow easily when it's just you and an assignment, so it's a brilliant place to brainstorm ideas for your development.
When I first write a new character, I tend to "caricature-ise" them - let me explain. People are nuanced and deep, but only when you get to know them. Before that, it's easier to assign a few traits to them and emphasise those. For example, being a germaphobe in Herbology, squeamish in Potions and Transfiguration, or snobby... anywhere, I guess. Loud, excitable, or mean are also ways to pitch your character's voice to help write assignments until you get to know your character more and they grow.
You can also use NPCs to help with homework assignments. Using them as a foil to highlight your own character's traits can also be helpful, such as a bookish played character with a lazy or distractable NPC, or vice versa! You can do the same with other users on site, but make sure you get permission from them and include it in the piece, and that you submit different assignments to one another!
Homework is also great for points, so make sure you're meeting all requirements too, so you can get points and galleons for it! Remember your sources, answer all of the questions, and have fun!
I hope this article helped! If you have any questions about developing your character, there are loads of people to turn to - the best point of call is the Backstory Team, lead by the lovely Theodora Havich. For specific questions about classes or assignments, ask the class Professor or the Assistant Teacher for help!
Have fun writing those assignments!
