Professor RP · @ProfessorRP
26th Apr 2014 from TwitLonger
#Lesson -Writing a Bio-
In this I will cover a few things: Presentation, the mini-bio, and the extended bio, as well as why all this is important in my opinion.
First of all, allow me to say one thing: the bio is for /writers/, not characters. If the character knows what is in your bio, they should have a damn good excuse or they are using Out of Character (OOC) knowledge. When this happens, I encourage you to talk; not to yell, not to report, but talk or simply stop following.
There are a few thoughts on bios. One class of thought is "Don't write one. After all, you know nothing about a person when you meet them in real life, why would you know anything about them online?". And normally, I would support this line of thought: art should imitate life. In this case, however, I make an exception.
Why? Because, as writers, we need to know a little about what we are dealing with. That way we can plan SLs and decide what can happen to make them more interesting.
Moving along: A few basic rules to make this easier.
1)You don't have to tell everything, just the things that the writer needs to know.
2)Please, for the love of RP, do not use symbols to write your bio. Not everyone will take the time or the effort to read them, particularly established RPers, and even so, they just make you seem like a bad writer. We want it to come through clearly.
-The Mini Bio-
The mini bio is your hook. It is what makes a writer want to learn more about a character. It only has a few characters so it needs to be simple, but effective. My personal formula: simply what he is, in a way that makes people want to know /why/.
And in the end, that is what the mini-bio is for: you want to put in enough to make them interested, but not so much that they don't have any questions to ask. They aren't going to follow you based on who your family is.
Bad bio: "I'm a vampire."
Good bio: "I'm the son of a holy order, converted to vampirism 200 years ago."
In the second bio, there is clearly a story behind the character. Personally, I would love to see a religious sect that worshiped vampires as holy beings.
-The Extended Bio-
Everyone uses Twitlonger for this (as I am doing here, with my lessons) but personally, I prefer a file-sharing service like Google Drive.
The reason for this? In RP, biographies change. Major events happen that effect your character. You're going to want to go back and alter the bio. Things might occur to you, as a writer, that need changing.
And that is perfectly acceptable, as long as it's logical.
=What to Include=
A Character Description
This needs to include physical description, skills, hobbies, quirks, and the like. It should fill out the character without giving everything away; just what they are likely to encounter when they first meet.
A Basic History
This is where you justify your character. You need a well-developed history so that if he is super-powered, you can say why, or show the consequences of that power. If he is emotionally stunted, you can show why. Or you can leave that a mystery to be revealed later.
It also shows that you're a good writer with good communication who is capable of writing a decent story.
Abilities
A simple list of abilities and their cost. The main reason for this is so the other writer knows what you are capable of and you aren't just making things up.
Questions? ask.fm/ProfessorRP