Character Development 1: The Sketch

[Prof. Sky Alton]

You often have a very good idea of what a character looks like in your head. It can be a challenge to translate that to paper but if you’re a visual learner, it could really help. Even if you’re not, having a picture of your character is good motivation and a nice thing to prop up near your writing station. That way you have to look at them all the time and they can hold you to account for neglecting their story.

We’re not looking for detailed portraits for this task, just doodles. If you can sketch out your character then great, if not then try a silhouette or even storyboarding a key event in their life with a stick figure. It might help to think about how your character would see themselves, even if that’s not how they actually look. You can use any medium or art style that works for you, providing it tells us something about your character.

Your work needs to be original: taking something off the internet and claiming it as your own is plagiarism. Remember to keep everything HOL appropriate, adhering to all HOL rules, and please keep your submissions 600x600 pixels or smaller. Please also include a short description of your image.

You'll earn 20 beans for completing this prompt as well as it counting towards the chance to snag our shiny Ink Splatters Award.

There is no deadline as such for these prompts but if you’d like it to count towards your chance of earning the award for a specific year, we’ll need it by the end of that school year. If you’re comfortable sharing, then post below. If not, email your image and description to us via hol.bookclub @ gmail.com (without the spaces).

[Isa Vestal]

This is a drawing of Kian Faye in two stages of her life. On the left side, she is a fifteen year old girl who is timid, shy, and sweet. She has bright red hair (a common trait among her people) and is wearing the casual attire of her island folk. On the right side, Kian is seventeen. By now, she has been excommunicated from her tribe but has found her place studying witchcraft away from the village in which she grew up. When she left her village, she was branded with a large tattoo on her thigh, symbolizing she was an outcast and a failure. Her hair has grown out and she magically changes it to a white color, effectively separating her from her old clan.

[Silvana Mandeville]

This is Ana Li. A girl with long hair, big eyes that always covered with a glasses, like to wears boots, and cute clothes.