Writer's Profile

[Corporal Light]

I feel like reigniting this thread, so that's what I'm gonna do!

Name: Alex S.
Characters: Ballad, Sans
Writing Experience: I have no idea.


Is there an author that influences you?

If I were to choose, I would say the author Rick Riordan is the one that has influenced me the most, or at least the one to get me interested in writing in general. I read his Percy Jackson and the Olympian series (still a fan to this day,) and I got hooked. My attempts at trying to put in humor within the chaos of Ballad is pulled straight from Rick Riordan.

Is there a genre you emulate?

I'm not entirely sure. I feel like I don't emulate any genre in particular, as I just write whatever interests me more.

What do you feel defines your work?

I feel like the characters I write about are THE defining points of my work. My general writing is probably average given this site, but I'm willing to say that, if I try hard at anything while I write, its to make a character interesting and flesh ALL of them out as much as I can.

What are your five main rules when you write?

1. Don't overuse words. I learned this the hard way (shout out to Thaal Sinestro for pointing it out to me.) Ever since the Colosseum I've tried my hardest to make the words I use more varied so that it doesn't grow stale.

2. Proofread. I don't follow this rule often, but I plan on doing it each time I post something so my posts can be the best they can be. I'll quadruple proofread if I have to.

3. Define the character. This is my big one. If I try to do anything in my posts, it's to make sure my characters personalities, traits, ambitions, and the inner workings of their minds get through to the player. I already have a fine idea of some ways I can increase the complexity of Ballad that I plan to use at some point thanks to this rule.

4. Make every character interesting to some degree. Now, I obviously don't want to make every character I interact with three-dimensional, complex characters that are worthy of their own story. However, I strive to make EVERY character that I encounter have a level of personality, complexity, and dimension to them so that, instead of simply being side characters that I probably won't ever use again, they are actually fucking people.

5. Stay true to the character. I dislike out of character moments for characters, especially if its required for a story. I always try to do things that I think Ballad would do, even if it costed Ballad an arm and a leg in the process. I wouldn't write Ballad petting kittens and acting all nice to people just because I didn't want him to die. I'd have him be himself, and have him probably die in the process.

This rule doesn't just apply to Ballad. I do this to all characters, from NPCs, to other player primes. I think I've done this to varying degrees of success.

So, if at any point you see Ballad doing something you don't expect someone like him to do, it's probably for a reason.


Do you have any recurring issues you work on?

Description. I will be the first to admit that I am not the best with description. I CONSTANTLY feel like I have to write more than I probably need to, and when I don't, it's usually not enough anyway. Tense shifts are probably my biggest issue by far, as I STILL have a hard time sticking to one tense. Hence why I'm trying to proofread constantly.

Do you have a few posts you're particularly proud of?

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The first two posts are the ones I made after losing. I took the criticism to heart and I think it shows. I focused on description, I made each character have personality, and overall I think it's my best post on the site.

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Pretty much this entire thread I'm proud of. I got to use what I learned in combat, and I think I did pretty well throughout.