Profile Writing: The Fine Art

[Duel Academy]

So, the next addition in the guide is somewhat late in coming, but it is an issue that needs to be covered desperately. Profile Writing. The fine art.

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Introduction

Many people have different methods for creating their characters. Some use real life experiences to create their characters. Some use themselves as examples. Some use inspiration from different animes and adapt the character to the universe. And then there's some who state one sentence (such as "I wanna play a complete and total asshole!") and develop it from there. You know who you are. You know what you prefer. I hope you also know this.

A character is like a person. You've developed this thing from ground up. Destroying it and just creating a character exactly like it... that's annoying. I think everyone agrees. We do not want a Vahn Gale Mark II, or III... or X.

I will go into every aspect of the profile template, and explain what to do and what tips to use. Sit tight!

[Duel Academy]

Name

When choosing a name, normally one chooses a name that either suits their character or doesn't sound too cheesy. Names that are most likely going to be names chosen by parents for their children. Names such as Star Sapphire aren't usually chosen names.

For tips on names and their meanings behind them, I would like to recommend two websites.

Behind the Name

Behind the Surname

This gives you a list of different names and surnames in different languages and their meanings, so that you may tailor them better to suit your character. Another great tip is to also look up baby names online. After all, those babies grow up, right?

[Duel Academy]

Age

Though this seems like a simple thing, for some this might not be so simple a thing. For example, an eight year old is generally not found at a dueling academy. If your character is 13 to 18, unless specified, that generally means that they ARE at the academy, at least on this type of website. Choose an age that's suiting for the position that you wish to play. It isn't often that any odd ages are accepted.

[Duel Academy]

Appearance

For appearance on this website, the requirement is 5 to 7 sentences, or a picture. This is full sentences, not broken point form. Let's take two quotes as examples.

The following quote is a description of the character Mizuki Haruka found at Sixteen Years Later. She looks like so:

Mizuki is a tall person for her background. She has long brown hair that is straightened everyday with a straightening potion and then washed out with a shine shampoo. However, her hair is naturally very bushy and curly. Her face is clear, and she has a definite Asian appearance. Her eyes are a chocolate-brown.

She has olive skin and a built appearance. She looks like she goes to the gym regularily, to put it lightly. She also looks as if she takes great care of her appearance, but does so so effortlessly that she doesn't usually think about it anymore. It's just a simple couple of spells.

She dresses in a nice way. She doesn't wear anything baggy, but rather nice-fitting clothes that accent the nice parts of her body and hide what she calls 'the icky parts'. She normally wears vivid colours... colours that stand out in the situation she's in. Otherwise, she wears her normal school uniform.

This is a little more then the requirement for a written description, as this is 11 sentences, but it follows the general example. Describe their body figure, their hair, their eyes, anything that they wear and any other such things you can think of such as tatoos, body piercings or lack thereof. The general impression that they give when the person sees them is fine, such as "She looks like the bookworm type."

Now let's take that same paragraph, but put it into point form.

• Dark brown hair
  
• Long straight hair
  
• Brown eyes
  
• Asian
  
• Olive skin
  
• Athletically built
  
• Wears nice, accenting clothes

THIS IS A NO!!! Point form is a NOOOOOOO!

If you're going to be that lazy, by all means, do the even more lazy thing: find a picture. At least that's accepted.

[Duel Academy]

Personality

Again, at WB, it is required to have 5 - 7 sentences for the personality of the character, and again, point form is NO! BAD! GET AWAY FROM THE POINTS! CRY! THE PAIN! THE-

.... I'm done.

Anyway. Personality can be covered in several ways. Yes, I'm using a character of mine again. Mainly because I can't ask you guys to let me dissect your profiles. You really want me dissecting your profiles?

Masami is a very egotistical, insane person. Not much is known about the girl, other then her obsessive want to be better then all others in front of her and her delight in playing with other people. She has no concept of shame or cruelty, only the concept of her own amusement and her own self-fufillment. She is a lot like a child but yet at the same time she has all the urges and rages of a full-grown woman. Masami loves to toy and one of her favourite hobbies is to dig a hole deeper and deeper into the hearts of those around her. Sadist is a very good way to describe Masami.

This states Masami's personality in a nutshell. Now, this can be expanded on even more. Good tips to use for this personality would be to state how she reacts when she is happy, sad, angry or just neutral about the whole issue. Four sentences, right with that. Then, you can state how she reacts to people, how she reacts when she's alone. Six sentences. Seventh sentence can be a finisher sentence, something that summarizes all of that in one fell swoop. Seven sentences. Don't explain why the character is this way. That's for your history.

[Duel Academy]

History

Now, this is the meat and potatoes of your character. It states just who your character is, and why they came to be the way they are. But, there's a very important tip to look out for.

DO NOT MAKE THIS TOO LONG!!! NOTHING IS MORE ANNOYING THEN A NOVEL WRITTEN BY MARVELO!

But neither should you make this section too short. Two paragraphs are the required amount, and although you may go over this, by all means, don't write a novel to start your character. You're going to create a novel as time goes by. We don't need the novel of your life the first time we ever look at your profile.

Now, here are some tips to cover.

• Where was the character born?
  
• What social status was he/she born into?
  
• Does the character have family? If not, what happened to them?
  
• What was the character's childhood like?
  
• If applicable, when did your character start to duel?
  
• What did your character do throughout their life?
  
• Are there any events in the character's life that accented their personality?
  
  As a note, here is where the character's personality can be explained. Why are they the way they are? That's what you're trying to tell the reader.
  
  
• Are there any achievements that the character has had that they are proud of?

Remember, this is also YOUR character's history. Not some NPC's history. YOUR CHARACTER'S history. Each history will be tailored to suit your needs as well. Don't express achievements they're proud of if it doesn't suit the character. These are just suggestions.

[Duel Academy]

Additional

And the final category, all the crap you couldn't fit into the other sections! YAAAAAAY!

Now, people in the past have used this for several things. Some state Duel Spirits in this section. Others request to be a specific thing in this section. Or there's my thing.

"THIS IS MY LAST PROFILE I SWEAR TO GOD!!!!"

Either way, state what information you couldn't state before in any of the other sections right there.

ALSO TO BE STATED HERE IS THE RULES PASSWORDS! If you don't know what those are... go read the rules again.

[Duel Academy]

And the Conclusion!

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So, you may be asking yourselves why I didn't add in Status.

>.> I thought it was pretty self-explanatory.

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Yeah... so... that concludes the profile guide. I hope you had a couple of laughs. If you didn't, well, I had a couple of laughs.

I did not mean any offense by the jokes. I just thought that eggs would taste better if they had pepper in them.

^_^ Yay for metaphors.

Mods, by all means, feel free to edit.

I'll probably cry if you edit out the funny, but that's alright.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

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I'd demand a paycheck, but the account writing this gives out the paychecks.