Fidelia Weave's Writing Tips
Chapter Two: Forms
Part one: Name, age, District, and appearance
If you've ever participated in a collaborative story, you know about forms. Forms are the written record of the character you've invented or will be writing, depending on whether you're a submitter or an organizer. In my thirteen stories, I've received more than 300 forms, so I've pretty much seen it all. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I'm going to share all three of those with you.
There are a lot of different ways to structure a form. Some organizers have a form they require submitters to use. Personally, I use a flexible system. I allow submitters to use whatever form they want, although I do provide an example form submitters can use if they want. Instead of a set form, I change my example form frequently as I notice things I missed or don't really need.
Below I've provided an example of my example forms. I'll go through each category and list some things I've experienced with each.
FORM:
NAME, AGE, AND DISTRICT: I put these three together because I like it when submitters put them in one line. I copy all forms into my story file so I can see them at all times. If I get a lot of long forms, it makes it tedious to scroll back and forth. Putting these three in one line saves me two lines. I actually edit all forms I receive, cutting redundancies and substituting shorter words where possible.
Names were covered last chapter, so I don't have much more to say. I don't accept or deny Tributes based on names, so it doesn't matter. Some Tributes have stupid names, and some people in real life have stupid names. For example, I know a Dyzek. That is a stupid name.
You can score a lot of brownie points with an organizer with age. A lot of us get swamped with older Tributes, since submitters want their character to have a good chance. I don't mind that, especially since twelve-year-olds rarely get Reaped, but many organizers prefer more variety. If you want to get those brownie points, make your Tribute 15 or under. Many organizers have a cutoff age for Victors. I don't, but I count it against the Tribute if they are younger than fifteen. Fifteen, then, is the sweet spot of having a good chance while not blending in with the million eighteen-year-olds.
If you're submitting to a story organized by one of the better-known writers, you would be wise to include some backup Districts. Some easy substitutions are Three, Five and Six, since they're all urban, Nine and Ten since they're both agrarian, Seven and Eleven since they're both forested, and One and Two since they're both Career Districts. Twelve can also be switched with Eleven or Seven, but it can be slightly more difficult due to the worse poverty in Twelve. If I receive a submission for a filled slot, I actively contact the submitter and see if they can take an alternate District. Very often the only change necessary is a name or a job that doesn't matter anyway.
APPEARANCE:
I usually include this, even though there's no real reason. Appearance very rarely comes into play, and I don't even usually waste time describing it. Some organizers like a very detailed description, but all I need is whatever you want to write. One thing to remember is that Panem is very diverse. Not everyone is white- not even in Eleven. Another thing to remember is that not everyone is pretty. When I submit characters, I like to be helpful and make mine plain or ugly, so the others look better. While Panem has a great deal of diversity, there are some general trends for many Districts.
One: Tributes are often fair-skinned, blonde, and have either green or blue eyes. There is a good reason to make One Tributes pretty, since One is very vain and prefers to send its most attractive contenders to the Arena.
Two: Tributes are more racially diverse than One. There are few significant trends, but many of them have brown hair.
Three: Tributes from Three are often slightly built and ashy-skinned with brown eyes. A lot of them seem to wear glasses, but I think that's just a trend and a lot of those glasses aren't prescription.
Four: Many Four Tributes are tanned from working outside. A lot of them have brown hair and green eyes.
Five: There are no noticeable trends for Five.
Six: There are no noticeable trends for Six
Seven: Tributes from Seven are often muscular from working with lumber.
Eight: There are no noticeable trends for Eight.
Nine: There are no noticeable trends for Nine.
Ten: Due to its proximity to Mexico, Ten has a larger than usual amount of Hispanic and Latino citizens. Tributes are often muscular from farm work.
Eleven: Eleven has the largest Black population of any District.
Twelve: There are two main looks in Twelve. People from the Seam usually have dark hair, green eyes, and olive skin. People from other areas of Twelve often have blonde hair and blue eyes.
Occasionally I do note some elements of appearance. For example, Frankie Disney and Desiree Redwood are both unusually tall. I keep that in mind because it gives them an edge in fights. Pray Jager, meanwhile, is very short, and thus had to use specific fighting strategies. Weight is also important. Lottie Parker was able to withstand more damage than usual because her large frame protected her vital organs.
I get a lot of really short female Tributes. That's okay, but it does make it more exciting when I get a tall one, and I tend to want to keep her around longer for some variety.
Some organizers prefer a picture of what you want your Tribute to look like. I like to get those, since it makes things easier to describe, but I don't care if there isn't one. If you do choose to send one, I suggest you pick someone who isn't super gorgeous. I always get super gorgeous pictures. When I send pictures, I like to send more normal-looking people, Someone's gotta make us ugly people feel better about ourselves. This is totally a personal note, but I would like to go on a tangent and mention one time I got a picture for a Tribute and it was Lily Rose Depp. This would not seem to be a problem except that I hate Johnny Depp so much that whenever I see him I squint and angrily whisper "Depp..." I didn't kill the poor Tribute because of something that petty, though. I just wanted to tell that story.
When you hate Johnny Depp so much you mention him in a story set in a universe where he's ancient history.
Forms are so long and in-depth I decided it needed more than one chapter. Do's and don'ts and controversial things get their own chapter, so this is just a general overview.
P.S. I looked around and Dyzek is a Polish name. If you're Polish or related to Poland or whatever, you cool. If people just pick that to be unique, that's what I was talking about.