Now the thing you have to understand about character is…well, perhaps that's the wrong place to start. This is probably going to be one of our most serious discussions, as character is the single strongest driving factor in your FANFIC investment's ultimate success.

Go on and help yourself to some coffee. Or tea, if you prefer—Mr. Wayne has got himself a butler who swears he can't live without. We might as well make ourselves comfortable. It's looking to be an awful long night.

Why, that's awfully kind of you, but no. I'll just stick to water. This old body's just keeps getting older—not that you have anything to worry about. I'll still be fit as a fiddle for this CEO business for many years to come. The doctors say I've just got to work harder for it, as if this old man didn't work hard enough already.

It's great to have you back, especially for tonight. Tonight's topic is special, instrumental, really, in making sure you get the most out of your WE writing experience. You come to be my age and you start to realize nothing lasts forever. This fine building and all these fancy gadgets I've created over the years…they're designed to endure, but time will slow them down and they'll die, same as the rest of us. But your intellectual and creative endeavors? Those will live on.

I'm sure you've heard the phrase by now, that the eyes are the windows into the soul. I've got myself a fancy pair of shutters, now, haven't I? And some permanent streaking, I'm afraid—my doctor likes to say it's from a cataract, but I know better. My two grandkids leave them all over the windows at my house. What you see is a proud grandfather looking out at you through these finger-smudged windows, that's all. Because ultimately a character is a window into the author's soul. Now you can study and you can fret and plan and research, you can sever all ties in time and gender, but in the end, every character you create will still be subconscious reflection of you.

Odds are, you probably already have a character in mind. Now I don't care if it's an OC Entrepreneurship or an in-CANON Loan, character is character. People…well, we'll just be people, won't we? There is just no getting us down. Not for long. We bounce back. We try again. We build things and rebuild things, bigger and better. You've got to keep the dream alive, have to stay a little optimistic, even here in Gotham City. When you invest in character, you invest in creativity. You invest in the human soul.

At least, that's what Mr. Wayne says. Old Thomas Wayne, if you understand. He had this philosophy that when you invest a character with Wayne Enterprises, you weren't just making a business transaction, you were investing a part of yourself as well. And that's a nice thought, don't you think?

Perhaps we've gotten too metaphysical. I have a tendency to do that these days. And you've been so polite, but I'm sure you didn't stop by just to hear this old man's ramblings.

True, true. On to the science, shall we?

Writing, as you're probably well aware, isn't a visual medium. It's immersive—even much more so than that television and video game nonsense you younger generations get tangled up in—and it's interactive.

No, you didn't hear me wrong. I said it's interactive.

Now, Lucius, you might be thinking, how can simple text on a page, my words, possibly form any sort of interaction with my potential readers?

It's simple, really. So simple, in fact, it's one of the hardest things for any writer to grasp. You see, you're so used to experiencing the world through the complexities of your vision and your other senses that you forget to experience it with your mind. All those signals, sight and hearing, smell and taste, balance and temperature, not to mention the constant bombardment with modern stimuli from social and technological sources distract your brain from what you truly are. There's never an empty moment for your mind and self to experience anything but a surrogate reality. Even your entertainment, your movies and games and your twitter are painstakingly rendered audiovisual experiences, designed by scientists and psychology to be as addicting as possible.

Writing isn't a visual medium, but it involves the eyes, surely. It's not auditory or verbal, but it enlists the linguistic centers of the brain. Reading is immersive and interactive because it actively engages the imagination centers of the brain—that essence of unique creativity that is you—to respond to cues and even more importantly, the absence of cues to create an entire world around you.

Writing is a process that we create together. And the best part is, it happens entirely without you realizing it.

It is a terrifying truth, isn't it? To sit and think for a moment that you've been hearing this all in the voice of an actor paid to be me. I might even go so far as to say you probably think I look like Morgan Freeman.

No need to be shy about it, now. And I can't blame you if you did. I'd like to think that as well—he is, after all, one of the greatest in the business. Intelligent, and well-spoken, too. But to be honest, I don't look or sound like anything. I'm just a voice, a voice and an image inside your head that your brain is projecting to you, right now, as we…

…speak. For want of a better term for it.

Writing is decidedly not a visual medium. It's an interactive, immersive mechanism that engages your reader's imagination. And while it's always nice to give that reader some basic cues as to the basic blueprints her brain should build…

You've heard a picture is worth a thousand words, I suppose. But it's not true here: creating an exact mental image for your audience isn't worth one thousand words. I'd go so far as to say it's not even worth one hundred. Words, words, words. We waste so very many words on things that aren't important, on capturing a mental photograph that will never be seen. If you want to create a compelling character, whether a human or even a City like mine, you've got to master the art of nuance.

Now if you were reading some comic book—graphic novel, as the euphemism goes, they still called them comic books back in my day—you'd have all the disadvantages of working with a solely visual art form.

That's right. Disadvantages.

You'd have to consider at color schemes, lines of perspective, framing, you'd have to pencil then ink then color. If you were writing a movie you'd have to cast and produce and direct, and the actual dialogue and the characters would be the least of your worries. Language is such a beautiful thing, simple but versatile. She can do all that and then some for your characters and your story.

That's right. This is one of those rare instances in life that even a businessman like myself will tell you that less is more. Let your relationship with your readers be one of mutual creativity. The more liberty you give them to engage themselves, the more appreciative of the story and its characters their brain will be.

I'm sure this talk hasn't been what you were expecting. I hope I didn't disappoint. Your comments are always welcome, as your individual intellectual experiences here at Wayne Enterprises help to enhance the experiences for all. I'd like to branch out a bit, and ask you to do a little outside reading of your own. Take a look at some stories—I could tell you WE properties, but that would be more than a little self-serving, don't you agree?—this week, and sit down and ask yourself why it is you find them and the characters within them so compelling.

I'm a firm believer that the best tool in your author's arsenal is becoming a better reader. Only then will you become a better writer.

So you enjoy a challenge, do you? Now that's the spirit I was hoping for, that grit your teeth, loosen your tie and roll up your sleeves approach that makes Wayne Enterprises what it is today. Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Then I'm going to give you the One-Ten Words Challenge Test.

…are you really sure? Alright, if you're positive. Here it goes:

Describe your character, indicating everything important the reader must know about their past, their aspirations, strengths, weaknesses, and physicality.

But wait: you only have one word.

Now Lucius, that's impossible, you might say. It's impossible that such a word can exist. It'll be difficult, but that word is there. You might even have to go out and look for it in an encyclopedia or a thesaurus, but once you find that word, that word will be yours forever.

I have a word. We all do. I might not have been so subtle about it over the course of the evening, but here it is, nonetheless: Grandfatherly. Or, if you prefer something not quite so obvious or adverbial: Mild.

Too much for a late Friday night? I know my own brain gets sluggish by the end of the week. That's why it's so easy just to turn on the television or some music rather than sitting down to read. But that mental fatigue won't go away just staring at a glowing screen. You've got to exercise your brain in order to let it rest. Let's try the ten word challenge instead:

Ten words. Same criteria as above.

There now. If it makes you feel any better, I'll go first: Regal. Meek. Intelligence. Wit. Conscience. Trust. Peace. Patience. Elderly. Dark.

Now, I could have spent a thousand words over five pages instead trying to convince you I look and sound like this Morgan Freeman. But I hope, from our dialogue here, and the briefest images I gave you above, that you can picture me—however you choose to see or hear me—crystal clear.

The One-Ten Words Challenge Test is a patented test exclusively offered to our clients here at Wayne Enterprises, developed at our own Research and Development Labs for bringing you the maximum FANFIC reading and writing pleasure. Naturally, the internet being what it is, we can't expect to hold on to any exclusive intellectual property forever. But regardless of where you first encounter the One-Ten Words Challenge Test, know they were developed here at Wayne Enterprises out of our office's concern and initiative for your FANFIC investment experience.

These two tests will work equally well for beginners as for experienced writers, for OC Entrepreneurs or those more comfortable with in-Canon Loaning. Or, perhaps if you're still teetering on the brink of whether to invest a FANFIC with Wayne Enterprises or just continuing to enjoy your READING ONLY TRUST, you can apply this test to other FANFIC works as well.

My, my, would you look at that. I've gone and kept you too long. I'd hate to think I've overstayed my welcome. It might be my office…but it is your mind, after all.

I hope tonight was worth the wait, and I appreciate your patience with our technical issues earlier this evening. Until next week…or whenever you'd like. After all, it's easy to create a character: a little imagination is the only thing you'll need.

But before I go, might I just say, as always, it's been a pleasure doing business.


Hello. You've reached Wayne Enterprises. Your call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes. Please note due to the high volume of callers, Wayne Enterprises is not accepting requests for BETA-reading at this time. All One-Ten Word Challenge Tests will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis only. If you know your party's extension, please—

*beop*

Lucius Fox is not available right now. But if you would like to leave your name, number, and a brief message, he will return your call as soon as possible. Director Fox can also be reached during his regularly scheduled office hours at 5 pm on Fridays.