So our first topic of discussion is Applicatoin Stories. I decided to start with these because they can be very good excersises for developing unique characters and thinking up possible events that could occur between the two invidiauls. Though I personally prefer "teaching" other topics like plot and character, but since I'm here, while not go the whole way? and not be lazy :P

The basic definition of an application story (or my definition) is a story in which people can submit characters under certain guidelines to become "main characters" of a specific story. So, stuff like new girl groups and taming vampire stories featuring Big Bang...Let me say, there's NOTHING unique about girl groups because there's just too many  application stories, so writing a unique storyline for girl groups is almost impossible (when I answer stanelyuniques question, it will be referring to this topic).

An important word to add to your writers dictionary is the word cliche.

Cliche.

definition: When something is over-used and no longer considered "unique".
example: The personality "Ice Princess" or "Shy Nerdy Girl" have been over used and are considered to be cliche. Plot lines include stuff like Cinderella ir princess plotlines (Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, etc.)
word or phrase to replace it: Mary Sue

This doesn't mean that you can't use snow white or cinderella. Altering the plot so that everything is different, but can be compared to the story is fine!

EXAMPLE

I applied for a story called "Forget Me Not" which your basic Once Upon A Time (for those who are watching the series) series where fairy tale characters are banished into a world without magic and they can't remeber anything.

The character I created had to do with beauty and the beast. Instead of using the "beautiful girl" and "hideous beast" i switched the roles. The girl had a huge scar across her face that caused emotionally desctruction and bullying, and the guy had a very good life. But the simple aspects like belle having a father i didn't chance, plus i added a brother she'd never seen.

That is unique. That is different.

Why? Because it's different than the original. It's not the same, and it took a lot of creativity to create.

Another thing you should know about application stories is that a lot of people have different preferances for the characters their looking for. So if they give any hint as to what they want or what they don't want, read it! Pay close attention to all the details and create a character that would be very apropriate for that scene or story while keeping in mind that they need to be unique.

Now I'm going to briefly introduce you to plots and characters when it comes to application stories. Both will have their own chapter, but I felt that it would be necessary to introduce you to some words that will appear in applications, and maybe some other basic information.

The first word is quite simply, though in the past I've had people go "Uh, what does this mean?"

Personality
definition: What the person is like.
example: "Tori is a stubborn girl who prefers to sleep outdoors rather than indoors. Whenever an animal disturbs her, she slaps it before going back to sleep...and has been bitten and sprayed quite a few times".

That's a simle example. The example gives you some information about what she's like in a certain situation (as you should do in with most personalities) and gives the author a sense of how they interact with animals. That's what they want. Don't just list everything she does, but add some detail to everything.

Background
definition: A sequence of events , possibly starting when the character was a child, that has led a specific individual to where they are currently
example: "Tori's father was always bringing home women and cheating on her mother when she and her mom were in the house. Because of this, Tori doesn't really trust any form of love. She herself has decided that love will come last in her life, but that if she did fall in love, she would try her hardest to be loyal."

This is pretty simple. Her father cheated, and she doesn't really trust in love because of it. That doesn't mean she doesn't want to fall in love, but it does mean that she'll ce cautious when finding a guy.

But the background is another big thing in applications, if the author doesn't write about not wanting to read long paragraphs, keep the background as long as you can. Personallt, two pages or more typed would work. But don't go on and on and on and on about one thing for a page and a half. Create a flow so that the author will want to keep reading.

Lets take a break from me talking about stuff, and let's see CREATE a character. We'll start with what we've discussed already, and some details that won't need discussing. On google documents or as a blog post on this website we're going to be creating a very short character profile. Here's what the first part will need:

• Name
• Age
• Personality (at least 2 pages)
• Background (at least 2 pages)

Tip #1: When creating characters, its best to start with the background and then develop the characters personality.

You can create whatever you want, or you can use this as a way to help you with a application story. Keep in mind I'm not going in to any more details in this chapter when it comes to characters.

Finished? Then send me the link so I can view it. I'll offer ways for you to improve and encouragement!

Next I'm going touch base on the basics of creating an apply story, this will be the last thing I will be talking about in this chapter as I'm going into detail on all this stuff in the time to come. So I hope you don't mind!

Creating application stories can be difficult. If you want to create a popular fanfiction apply story, then you need to allow the audience to apply with their bias...a.k.a state in the rules or application story summary that any kpop singer will be accepted, but only one person may have him. Now I\m not saying that when you do this, readers and applyers will come swarming to you ready to create characters. A lot of times, people get too lazy to fill the application out.

One tip I can give is to keep the synopsis short, sweet and to the point; but make it unique and really out there so it'll catch everyone's attention.

Application Form
definition: the form in which applicants must complete focusing on details about their character (OC: means original character)
example: "Please fill the application form, or copy and past it from chapter one on to a blog"

Application forms are crucial, because they're your character entry to the author. In order to enter, you need to write or do what they tell you whether thats creating a blog post and posting your application, or filling out the form

Authors: When writing up the form, don't make it REALLLY long because people will get tired of creating their character AND it closes the door to creativity on your part when you write the story.

Thought this was short, I will leave you with one last assignement! I will give you a song and you will have to create something based on that song whether it's a character, short story, it can be whatever you want, but it must follow this criteria:

• At least 2 paragraphs long
• Follows the "mood" of the song
• Must be at least 250 to 400 words There are online word counters and I would suggest using one if you don't have access to microsoft word.

Tip #2: Listen to the entire song before writing. It will be best when given an assignement like this, to use the male singing as your main character in a short story along with an OC.

Tip #3: Don't underestimate what YOU can do. No one ; the definition of is "I can't do this well." However, the phrase that you need to use isn't "I ". You ned to use "I need to Improve."

This assignement can be in the form of a blog post or short story. If you chose blog post, post it in the same blog as the other assignement in this story.

The first song chosen is a sad song that I recently discovered. It was the song in my first tutorial, and I wanted to see what people would come up with if I used it! Please send my the link to the assignements when done so I can help you improve.

Please look forward to the next chapter!