Wattmag Issue #9

The Five P's

Being a writer is an amazing thing, and I know there are a lot of people out there who want to be one as well. You're probably like me, the quiet girl who discovered that writing is way easier than speaking and want to take it on more seriously. Maybe your head is filled with fun, crazy ideas and you just want to get them out there and share them with the world. Now, just because you have the natural ability, or have a lot of crazy ideas, doesn't mean that writing a whole book will come easy. I learned that the hard way. Even the best of writers have a thing or two that they struggled with, and in this article, I'll talk about one of mine, and how I'm dealing with it.

Characters, that's where my weak spot is, or at least that's what I think. See, when I really started getting into writing, I was doing fanfictions. I never really had to create a character because there was already one made for me, the character in the show (Grey's Anatomy of course). When I finally decided to branch off into other genres, I found it difficult to build my own characters. But thankfully, I stumbled upon something from wordsandchocolate on Tumblr that's really been helping me out a lot.

It's called the Five P's, well, that's what I call it. It's this method I started using to create my characters. I'll talk about each of the P's and then show you how I use it one one of my characters Kendra from my ongoing book Wright Magazine (who knows when I'll actually finish this one). Kendra's character is based on me actually, but with some twists of course. 

1) PHYSICAL

The first P is Physical, it deals with all the physical aspects of your character. Basically, how they look, speak etc.

Above are all the aspects that fall under Physical. There are a lot of other aspects that aren't there, and you are welcomed to add to it. Not all of the aspects mentioned above will apply to your character, or may not be very important. If you like, you can leave it out.

Example: Now, using my character in this, I can say Kendra is in her late forties, early fifties. She's African American, 5'6" and has a petite build. She has brown eyes and dark curly hair. I'm just using a few of the aspects listed.

When you know what your character looks like, it will be easier for you to write them. If you know your characters is on the heavier side, or not really healthy, you can easily imagine what it would be like if she had to run away from a bad guy.

2) PSYCHOLOGICAL

This P deals with the character's mind, the way they think.