The White Board - JBP

read the things they write

ask their go-to movies

observe the way they treat their pets

check out the songs they listen to

ask them if they prefer tea or coffee

converse with them under the stars

do they like summer over winter?

observe how they act when they’re mad

do they sleep with lights off or on?

when they watch the skies, do they observe the moon or the stars first?

would they rather eat alone?

how do they treat those who are ‘inferior’ to them?

the way they approach strangers when they’re lost

if they like texting better than calling

how they act when they’re scared

if they like rewriting their notes for an exam

during what situation do their eyes shine the brightest?

the things they say when they’re partly intoxicated

how they act when they’re alone and with their friends

how they look at the people they love

In the real world, people are desperate to believe in magic. You see it everywhere, from spirit mediums on TV to the horoscopes in the daily paper.

The idea that there’d be an institutional refusal to believe in magic is just so alien to the demonstrable facts of human psychology that it would seriously hurt my suspension of disbelief.

Talking cats and setting things on fire with your mind is one thing, but a human psychology that lacks an inclination toward magical thinking is simply bizarre.

Then it hit me.

The public’s refusal to believe in magic in urban fantasy settings is a stand-in for the perennial nerd fallacy that non-nerds are stupid, and only the special, nerdy elite have the objectivity to understand the world as it truly is.

Now that is a writing prompt. Tell me more about the magical assassins whose job is to kill scientists who endanger their secrets.

Actually I’d also read the fuck out of the AU where the population of the world decided in the Renaissance that electromagnetism doesn’t exist, actually. Especially played completely deadpan with the worldbuilding and exposition done as though electromagnetism actually is magic, and the science correct.

Bonus if the occasional very innocent and badly educated kid comes out of reading it thinking that electromagnetism really isn’t real or that there used to be a conspiracy to pretend that it wasn’t. Like how I once thought mitochondria were fantasy because of Madeleine L’Engle, or like that poor Amazon reviewer who read Jo Walton’s Farthing and thought England really did make a truce with Germany and avoid WW2.

ensorcel — v. enchant; fascinate.

gloaming — n. twilight; dusk.

rampant — adj. unbridled.

resplendence — n. an unbelievably majestic quality.

yonder — n. the far distance.

raconteur — n. a person skilled in telling stories.

selcouth — adj. unfamiliar; marvelous. 

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writing a cocky character (1,2,3,4)

writing a emotion character (1,2)

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Playing the quiet character.

Portraying the shopaholic.

Portraying a mute character.

Portraying a kleptomaniac.

How to play the stalker.

Writing distant, indifferent characters.

How to write a character who stutters.

Writing a character who is sassy.

A guide to playing a southern character.

Portraying characters with crushes.

How to portray a teen mom.

How to play a character who is mean.

How to portray a character high on cocaine.

Writing a character who is high on amphetamines.

Playing an efficient male character.

Portraying the asshole.

Playing a character who suffers from shyness.

How to play a mentally ill/insane character.

Writing a character who self-harms.

Writing a happy character.

Writing a character who suffers from night terrors.

Writing a character with paranoid personality disorder.

How to play a victim of rape.

How to RP a blind character.

Writing a leader.

Writing a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Writing a character with depression.

Writing a character who is homosexual.

Writing a character with schizophrenia.

Playing a fe/male character.

Writing a character with Nymphomania.

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How to write a character with HPD.

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Playing a pansexual.

Tips on writing a drug addict.

Tips on writing the pregnant female.

Writing insane characters.

Playing a character under the influence of marijuana.

Portraying a character with diabetes.

How to play a prankster.

Playing a character who has been adopted.

Portraying a vampire.

Playing a character with an eating disorder.

Portraying a character who is anti-social.

Portraying a character who is depressed.

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Portraying a character with severe depression.

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Writing a tomboy.

Playing a pyromaniac.

How to write a mute character.

How to write a character with an OCD.

How to play a stoner.

How to write an asexual character.

How to play a bitchy/vicious character.

How to play a character with HPD.

Playing a pregnant woman.

Playing the burn-out.

Writing a “nice” character.

How to play a gentleman.

How to play a shy/introvert character.

How to play a naive character.

Playing characters with memory loss.

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How to write pirates.

How to write characters with PTSD.

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How to play the geek.

Playing the manipulative character.

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Playing a character with Orthorexia Nervosa.

Writing a character who lost someone important.

Playing the bullies.

Portraying the drug dealer.

Playing a rebellious character.

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How to play a swimmer.

Portraying a ballerina.

Playing a promiscuous male.

Playing a character with cancer.

How to portray a bubbly character.

How to portray a power driven character.

How to portray the shy character.

Playing a character under the influence of drugs.

Playing a character who struggles with Bulimia.

Portraying a hippie.

Portraying sexually/emotionally abused characters.

Playing a character with asthma.

Portraying characters who have secrets.

Portraying a recovering alcoholic.

Portraying a sex addict.

How to play someone creepy.

Portraying a foreigner.

Portraying an emotionally detached character.

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Portraying a character who is high.

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Writing a character with a hangover.

Playing angry characters.

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Playing and writing autistic characters.

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Playing a character who is faking a disorder.

Playing a prisoner.

Playing the opposite sex.

Portraying a character who has PTSD.

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Portraying the “dumb” character.

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How to play a blind character.

How to play a sexual assault victim.

Writing a compulsive gambler.

Playing a werewolf.

Writing a character who is drunk.

Playing a Brit.

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Playing heroes.

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Amnesia

Children

Losing Someone (2)

Physical Injuries (2, 3)

Sexual Abuse (2)

Fight Scenes (2, 3, 4)

Horror

Torture

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Character Appearance Help

Words to Describe Voice

Character Development Exercises

Art of Character Development

Introducing Characters

Characters You Need to Reinvent

Making Characters Likable

Heroes and Villains

Understanding Body Language

Mental Illness in Writing

Conflicts and Characters

Gadajace glowy (1980)  - Krzysztof Kieslowski