Writing Meme Day 27
Sat, May. 29th, 2010 10:46 pm
( the questions )
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
If I plan on drawing them at any point, yes, appearance is very important. I have to rein myself in when introducing a new character or dressing someone in a specific uniform/regalia so I don't stop the flow of narrative XD; Hook noses, crows' feet, big ears, knobbly chins and Adam's apples (obviously for the guys only), crooked grins, all SO much fun to draw. Male characters are so much fun to design, especially since I'm generally not one for having pretty-boy characters. The only typically sexy ones are Nol and Kaen. Rumal used to be in his youth, and still has a bit of that left, but he's got the receding hairline and weathered face going now. He's pushing 40, and Raykinians age faster than those who aren't battered by the sun, wind and sand every day of their lives.
I like my characters to have character, basically. Manly mens are much more awesome X3 The girls change to fit their purpose more, I think. Yamin and Nimay have the sharp features of the desert people so that makes them look a little impish, Shizaaqa has her thin, pointed eyebrows and looks ten years younger than she is because she's a pampered empress, Lynnlita has nothing to do with her time but apply make-up look pretty, Flannel Flower looks a bit mannish because she sometimes plays one as a disguise. They're fun to play with body shapes, too, since just about every male character I have is in the Own or the Kazinian army so they all have much the same body type. Girls though, I have tiny ones, tall ones, muscled ones, weedy little things, stylish sexy girls, flat chested girls, and~ so on. Just the one little old lady though, sadly, who I totally forgot to count in my 'oldest characters' question, oops. Auin, head healer of the palace healing house before 'min. No idea how old she was, but she was older than Mithé, certainly.
ALSO. Hands. I love hands a lot. I could go into just about as much detail about a character's hands as I could about their face. Nol's and Nimay's are both loltastic, Nimay's more so being a swordie. Broken fingers healed a bit on the bent side, rough skin with archer's and swordie's calluses respectively, chewn fingernails down to the quick because they get in the way. Nimay's are kinda bony, too, as are Yamin's~ and she chews her nails, too. Thiras, who you've not really met but is a Tsaythi who'll come into things later, has long~ spindly fingers that look like spiders when she's twisting them in the air. Hands play a big role in character design, even though I can never get that all into drawing them, but I can put it in writing when the opportunity arises =3
ALL THAT SAID. If I don't plan on drawing them, the characters get next to nothing. They have their race, maybe a height or a hairstyle, and that's about it.
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
If I plan on drawing them at any point, yes, appearance is very important. I have to rein myself in when introducing a new character or dressing someone in a specific uniform/regalia so I don't stop the flow of narrative XD; Hook noses, crows' feet, big ears, knobbly chins and Adam's apples (obviously for the guys only), crooked grins, all SO much fun to draw. Male characters are so much fun to design, especially since I'm generally not one for having pretty-boy characters. The only typically sexy ones are Nol and Kaen. Rumal used to be in his youth, and still has a bit of that left, but he's got the receding hairline and weathered face going now. He's pushing 40, and Raykinians age faster than those who aren't battered by the sun, wind and sand every day of their lives.
I like my characters to have character, basically. Manly mens are much more awesome X3 The girls change to fit their purpose more, I think. Yamin and Nimay have the sharp features of the desert people so that makes them look a little impish, Shizaaqa has her thin, pointed eyebrows and looks ten years younger than she is because she's a pampered empress, Lynnlita has nothing to do with her time but apply make-up look pretty, Flannel Flower looks a bit mannish because she sometimes plays one as a disguise. They're fun to play with body shapes, too, since just about every male character I have is in the Own or the Kazinian army so they all have much the same body type. Girls though, I have tiny ones, tall ones, muscled ones, weedy little things, stylish sexy girls, flat chested girls, and~ so on. Just the one little old lady though, sadly, who I totally forgot to count in my 'oldest characters' question, oops. Auin, head healer of the palace healing house before 'min. No idea how old she was, but she was older than Mithé, certainly.
ALSO. Hands. I love hands a lot. I could go into just about as much detail about a character's hands as I could about their face. Nol's and Nimay's are both loltastic, Nimay's more so being a swordie. Broken fingers healed a bit on the bent side, rough skin with archer's and swordie's calluses respectively, chewn fingernails down to the quick because they get in the way. Nimay's are kinda bony, too, as are Yamin's~ and she chews her nails, too. Thiras, who you've not really met but is a Tsaythi who'll come into things later, has long~ spindly fingers that look like spiders when she's twisting them in the air. Hands play a big role in character design, even though I can never get that all into drawing them, but I can put it in writing when the opportunity arises =3
ALL THAT SAID. If I don't plan on drawing them, the characters get next to nothing. They have their race, maybe a height or a hairstyle, and that's about it.
