Writing A Bio

[jadeeluff!]

Permission granted from Amber of WF for this to be re-posted here. All credit, every single drop, goes to her.

Writing a Bio

Author: Amber
Level: Mid Beginner - Mid Intermediate
Type of RPG: All

A lot of people hate bios. Finding enough to fill the fields is sometimes hard, but bios give a guideline on how your character will act and are a useful reference for anyone RPing with you. This is what I feel should go into a bio (I'm covering mainly the fields that you find in every single bio)

The Shallow Stuff - The things you can write one word responses to.

Name: Even a name can say a lot. Of course, totally pretentious and unrealistic char names are no good.
For Warriors chars, your char's name should have something to do with his or her personality or appearance. A gentle cat is more likely to have a name involving flora, a graceful, picturesque sort of name. A more fierce cat might have a name that uses words like "claw" or "fang". Think about it, names take some thought. Don't throw out something completely random.
For normal human chars, don't make names ridiculous - that just ends up annoying. If you want, find a name that has a meaning you want it to have - baby name sites can actually be useful for this. You might hear people say that someone "looks" like a Jane or an Elizabeth, so think about that too. Consider your human char's ethnicity and nationality - if your char is specifically from a certain place, you might consider a locally common name or a name in a local style - this is particularly true for surnames. For example, if your char is from the U.S., he might be named "Anthony" but if he was from Italy, he might be named "Antonio" - local versions of the same name (if you care, the French version of the same name is Antoine and another variant is Anton). A character from Japan won't have the surname "Smith".

For fantasy chars, there are no guidelines. However, one great way to come up with a fantasy name is to type words to do with the character's personality into an online translator, choose various languages, and see what comes out. Often, one can use these words as a basis for names. You don't need an accurate translation. You don't even need to let anyone know that was what you did. But it's a good way to start brainstorming if you're stuck.

Age: People like to make young chars. Consider creating an older one.

Gender: Now, this seems utterly self explanatory, but consider it

1 - in relation to your char's name
2 - in relation to your ability to RP that gender (RPing chars of the opposite gender is also a good experience)
3 - in relation to the gender balance/imbalance of the site
4 - in relation to your char's personality.

Yep. All of that. Actually, it's better to choose a gender first and then fix everything else based on that, but still.

[/blockquote]

[jadeeluff!]

The Hard Stuff - The things that take some thought

Appearance: Ah, the lovely physical description. So hard to make it long, or so you think. Actually, length isn't everything - detail is. The problem with detail is that it tends to be long. Well, the key to a physical description isn't to use "optics" for eyes and "tresses" for hair, although you can if you want to. Rather, the key to the physical description is to include what needs to be included - many people neglect some of the most important parts of the description, or do not write in sufficient detail. I'm splitting this into two categories, animal and humanoid. Animal is naturally for animal RPGs - cats, dogs, wolves, horses, etc. and humanoid is for human and fantasy RPGs that include human-like characters (such as elves). Of course, some RPGs have weirder things, but from reading these two you should get a good idea of what needs to go in.

Animal

Anyone can describe an animal's pelt and eye color. This is the absolute default - you should do this without thinking. I actually suggest you leave this off until the end of your bio. However, when you do describe an animal's pelt, think about it. It may shift colors in different lights. How long is it? Are there any small nuances of pattern? Is it "attractive"? Are there disadvantages to it? (especially for predatory animals such as cats and wolves, consider how well it camouflages with the setting they hunt in).
Eyes - it's easy to say a wiolf's eyes are gold. However, since this is an RPG which gives human qualities to animals, you should go into more detail than just that. Are they expressive? Do they show emotion? Are they masked? Are they pretty?

The next most commonly described thing is details on features - black nose, nicked ear, scar, something about mouths. These are less essential, and there is usually less to say about them. If you choose to include this, you might want to add (particularly in the case of a scar) how it makes your char look. Dashing? Chopped up? Tough?

The things people tend to forget are build, walk, body language, and voice.
Build: Is your character fat? Slim? Well-muscled? Build is very simple, but if it is elaborated on enough it can add a good amount to your bio.
Walk: How does your char walk? Is he/she brisk and no-nonsense? Seductive? Graceful? Does he/she limp? Once again, basic, but can be very helpful.
Body Language: Is your char's body language expressive or always the same? Is it easy to read your char's emotions?
Voice: Oh-so-crucial and so often forgotten. Is your character's voice musical? Soft? Shrill? Harsh? Obnoxious? Annoying? Cold? How expressive is your character's voice? Does it show emotion? Voice is critical

Human

If you didn't read the section above, go back and read it because some of the same things apply. I'm going to go quickly over things that were covered previously.
Hair - Like pelt. Color? Dye? How does it change? Is it attractive? Curly? Straight? Where does it fall to?
Eyes - Color? Contacts? Glasses? How expressive are they? Also, Eye SHAPE! - pointed, tilted, oval, almond, narrow, wide, etc.
Build - Muscular? Slim? Anorexic? Average? Overweight? Plump?
Walk - Masculine? Feminine? Seductive? Graceful? The walk of a dancer? An athlete? Limp? Walking speed?
Body Language - Expressive or not?
Voice - Shrill? Quiet? Loud? Harsh? Cold? Warm? Friendly? Musical? Does it seem to "go with" his or her appearance? Also, ACCENT! - does he or she have a local accent of some sort? (ex. American South, French, German, etc.)

Other things that should be covered:
Facial shape - Examples are heart shaped, oval, round. Are their features well defined? Anything special or that stands out?
Height/Weight - can be figured into build, don't have to mention numbers, but give people a reference. "Short" usually isn't enough, neither is "thin". Numbers are very helpful.
Figure - Mostly for female characters. Is it attactive or merely average?
Dress - How does your char dress? Pretty basic, but if you're detailed on this it can be very helpful
Nationality - Where your char is from, ethnicity, and the like
General "Aura" - What sort of feel does your char give off? Confident? Shy? Mysterious? Hidden?

[jadeeluff!]

Personality

Perhaps as hard as appearance, personality is extremely important because it dictates how your character will act in RP as well as interract with other characters. Some people like to leave this for last so they can fit it with their history. I don't do this personally because I outline my bios before writing them, but give it a try if you think it'll be useful to you. Outlines are also your best friend. Remember that even if you don't use the aforementioned method, your char's personality must match your char's history!

Never, never, never make your character perfect. Try to split this section between good traits and flaws. You can either alternate or put each in its own paragraph.

Examples of good traits:

- intelligence
- friendliness
- popularity
- modesty
- skill in one thing or another

Examples of not-so-good traits:

- arrogance
- short temper
- moodiness
- distant
- brown-noser

Examples of traits that can go either way:

- extrovert
- introvert, shyness
- quirkiness
- solitary
- talkative

Try to have a good mix of each of these types of traits. Most beginners' characters tend to either be loyal, brave, and very friendly or depraved, cold, and utterly evil. One of the hardest things to do is find a realistic balance, but in order to make your character three dimensional, you must at least try to find this balance.

Other things that are very important in personality:

- How do other people/animals react to your char? What sort of people/animals does your char appeal to?
- What makes your char happy, sad, angry, calm, etc.? How does your char display emotions? (ex, crying, sulking, being hyper, etc.)
- How does your char deal with stress, pressure, and exhaustion?
- Does your char have any particular likes or dislikes?
- Does your char have any particular habits?
- What are your char's hobbies? (this applies more to human chars)

[jadeeluff!]

History

Straight off the bat, I will say, I hate sob-story histories. Death is fine - people deal with death every day. However, histories crowded with scandal, angst, and depression do not make your char a better char. Oh, and making your char have a really weird history doesn't do anything either.

There are several sections of a good history:

Parents
Who are your char's parents? If they are very significant to your char's past, I'd go into some detail about how they met. If not, at least give them names so they're not faceless wraiths. Chars who don't know their parents, or one of their parents, are okay, but if you include this, then you're in danger of making a super angsty char, so be careful. I'm not prohibiting it, just suggesting you be careful.

Childhood
When your char was very young, what was he/she like? Did he/she look up to anyone?

Aspirations
What did your char want to do when he/she was young? How have other events caused/affected this?

Details up to Present Day
A narrative summary of what has happened in your char's life. As above, do nto make it crazy. Try to keep your history as realistic as possible. Think about your own past when you're writing a char's history - that should give you a good idea of what's realistic.

Personality aspects
Try to bring aspects of your char's personality into history - show how they shaped your char's history, and show how your char's history shaped his/her personality. Just throw these in when you talk about events in your char's histor.

A few things to keep in mind:

- Don't insert random things because your history isn't long enough
- The older the char, the more the history
- Try not to skim over any parts
- Take the plot of the site into account!