Creative writing checklist

Creative Writing Checklist
Write what you like to read...

Your characters (round not flat - "give me me") should have characteristics: These people should be as complex as possible and never yet encountered in fiction, or at the least... ...and should be described by: Use a journal to build ideas for character. Finally, you should be able to name what you like and dislike about each character and how that pertains to their role.
 * Physical/biological: age, height, size, state of health, assets, flaws, sexuality, gait, voice.
 * Psychological: intelligence, temperament, happiness/unhappiness, attitudes, self-knowledge, unconscious aspects.
 * Interpersonal/cultural: family, friends, colleagues, birthplace, education, hobbies, beliefs, values, lifestyle.
 * Personal history: major events in the life, including the best and the most traumatic.
 * Relationships: what they really think, what is communicated, what is disguised
 * Habit
 * Talent
 * Ambition/desire
 * Needs (unconscious)
 * Fears
 * Weaknesses
 * A secret
 * A best friend (confidant)
 * A worst enemy (and why)
 * Pocket contents
 * Something precious lost recently
 * A name (boring name for wonderful life, flashy name)
 * Action is character, shows our character
 * Make a summary of what the character is like.
 * Show him or her through appearance.
 * Show him or her through a habitual or repeated action.
 * Finally, show him or her through a speech in a scene.
 * Consider all the influences that go into the making of your character: age, gender, race, nationality, marital status, religion, profession.
 * Know about your character's inner life: what s/he wants, thinks, remembers, resents, fears, dreams, denies.
 * Complete this personal inventory for prominent characters.
 * Know about your character's behaviour, what s/he wears, buys, eats, says, works at and plays at.
 * Know how your character speaks and how this changes according to context, mood and intention.
 * See and describe your character vividly, how s/he looks, how s/he moves, his or her possessions and surroundings.
 * Focus on your character's contradictions and conflicts in order to create a complex person and also to generate plot.

Your Story structure could have: AND Lots of Try/fail cycles
 * Resolution (start at the end): External vs. internal conflicts end differently - end state
 * Hook: at the beginning, starting state, usually boring, often a prologue with action
 * Plot-turn 1: conflict introduced, beginning to middle
 * Pinch 1: force characters to action, often introduces villain
 * Midpoint: "lets do something about this situation"
 * Plot-turn 2: "the power is in you"
 * Pinch 2: jaws of defeat, "all seems lost", loss of a mentor, bad guys win
 * Resolution: (The end)
 * ! Most stories have at LEAST two plots, each of which can be mapped out using this system. Create a matrix and then spread out these events, combining them only to make big scenes.

Your plot should have:
 * A problem...provides a story
 * Beginning (dilemma)
 * Middle (confrontation)
 * End (resolution) - even in bad condition

Your setting could be:
 * Plenty of description
 * The conflict or antagonist
 * Described by all the senses of the characters
 * An extra descriptor of the characters
 * Based on research like photos
 * A trip for the reader to the location of the setting

Once you're done with writing, bury your manuscript for a month. Then read it aloud to yourself and look for...
 * Clarity of characterization and plot
 * Construction like a nice jigsaw puzzle
 * Color as if you were there, seeing, feeling and believing

Continued Reading/Viewing

 * A Youtube video series on story structure
 * a set of flashcards that might be useful