Character Development Tips?

[ConfedJope]

Hi, my some of my reg'ment and I are planning on going to a Living History thing/class teach in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Union Schools, we're supposed to pick a topic of our own choice, just do it in character.

Any ideas for topics?

Anything for a character?

I AM a 13 year old, and I would assume there were 13 year old people in the Civil War, y'know, the Confederacy wanted anyone who could fire a rifle accurately. If that helps.

Thanks.

 

[MRB1863]

Hello and welcome from 35 miles north of Gettysburg!
Topics and characters to portray are varied and many depending upon your interest. At 13, a drummer boy may be especially appropriate. That would leave the topics available anywhere from the marching, Civil War music, uniforms, possibly even to bugle calls and their meanings.....to much more!

 

[johan_steele]

Persona Name:
Physical appearance:
Clothing & Style preferred:
hairstyle:
hair color:
eye color:
Ethnic origins:
Native language:
Literate:
Educational level:
Political leanings:
Religion:
Profession:

Personality type:
Who is valued most:
What is valued most:
Most valued possession:
What is felt about most people:
Loves:

Early background: to include childhood triumphs and tragedies
Family: siblings & their relative ages as well as feeling towards them
Family Status: ie social, economic etc
DOB:
Location of Birth: (to include state or country)
Economic history:
Social History:

If a soldier: what state, unit, rank, experience, feeling towards army life etc life before the war.

If a civilian: connection to the War, changes due to the war.

 

[poorjack]

Topics- here's one- in many farming families with children, one stayed behind to help on the farm. That's the case of one of my ancestors, his youngest brother stayed home while the oldest three went to war. You could build a "letters to home" around that with your "brothers" writing back telling of their experiences and you writing them telling about what's happening at home. Things weren't peachy for those at home, lack of food, disease and other calamities befell those not in action. In NC, Salisbury, there were food riots late in the war. A crop failure could ruin a family. Families were know to band together to share resources and food for common survival. Lots of creative avenues to take, just research local wartime conditions for an area and pick one.

One other suggestion- modern speech. Avoid modern terms that your character would have no familiarity with. Like, you know it's totally rad man.

 

[ConfedJope]

Persona Name:Wyatt Mosbey
Physical appearance: Bedraggled, with a constant look of defeat,
Clothing Style preferred:
hairstyle:Flat
hair color:Red
eye color:Light Blue
Ethnic origins:Colonial America
Native language:English
Literate: Can read and write, but slowly
Educational level:2nd Grade
Political leanings:Jefferson Davis
Religion:Christianity
Profession:Soldier

Personality type:Sad, intimidated by his superiors, and considers himself a thorn in everyone's backs.
Who is valued most:His parents
What is valued most:His farm
Most valued possession:A pocket bible given for his 7th birthday
What is felt about most people:Intimidating
Loves:Iver and Ada.

Early background:
Family: Two siblings, Ada Mosbey, and Iver Mosbey, Wyatt thinks of Ada as a kind, smart, and otherwise great character, she helps the farm workers with their duties, much to the despise of her father. Iver is a strong, hardworking individual, and Wyatt considers him a role model, Iver moved away in 1859 to Richmond, Virginia in search of work. The last letter received of Iver was in 1862, Wyatt has no idea if Iver found work, or was killed. The father was killed after Iver left, due to his musket exploding, because of a non measured load that was twice the load needed, and neglect of the barrel.
Family Status: In shambles due to the mother having deceased during giving of birth and the father deceased as well.
DOB:11/05/1849
Location of Birth: Arkansas
Economic history:Very Poor
Social History:None

If a soldier: 22nd Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, Private, and has no experience. Wyatt grew up in a small farm in the Arkansas border with Indian Territory; he thought he'd lie his way in saying he was 17 and was immediately recruited only based on his height. Wyatt believed army life would be easy, thinking all he'd do would sit around in camp doing nothing, but most of his time in the army consisted of drilling, orders, and more drilling.


How is this? Be honest, it's horrible, isn't it?

 

[johan_steele]

It's a good start.

The best thing you can do is start reading. Never stop learning and trying to improve your character/persona, kit, attitude, drill etc.

Do your best to learn how people spoke, learn what they did. It will do you no good if in a couple years you decide your persona was a blacksmith and you don't know a pincer from a tong. If you opt for the ever popular farmer impression know the difference between sorghum and corn along with the typical yields.

Do the best you can and never settle for good enough. I've been in living history the best part of 20 years and know my impression today is a far cry from my impression when I started. My ACW hobby has led to other interests to include period tools and their use.

Below are a couple threads on this site that might be of interest and my blog, a writers blog written from the view of an ACW veteran post ACW.

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/acw-gear-photos.73203/
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/original-acw-arms.75615/
http://dreamsofwoodandsteel.com/

If you have an honest interest in improving ask questions and ask for advice. When it's freely given take a look at it and verify information. Avail yourself of available sources; there is far more valid research out there today and it's more easily accessed than ever before.

Good luck.

 

[D.H. Hill]

Lot's of good advice already written, but here's my two cents.

If you portray a farmer in civilian life it's a good idea to know about farming techniques of the period, and so forth. Farming was (& is) hard work which demanded a lot of time. While some farmers were rather educated and the vast majority could read and write, they tended not to have too much book learning, particularly if they were poor frontiersmen. I don't know if you farm in real life but farmers tend to not be squeamish- viz. no qualms about getting dirty, will skin and gut a critter without a second thought, &c. Also know what type of farmer you are- do you raise only corn? (how many acres?) cows? (how many head?) all-around subsistence farming? how big is your farm? do you have hired hands or servants (the polite term for slaves)?

Remember it's all a question of context. What is right for a Virginia planter's son may be entirely foreign to a Arkansas sodbuster (which is a postwar term but the most descriptive that comes to mind). Even then there is infinite personal variety- the devout Christian who reads his bible and prays daily, the man who lounges around camp in filthy rags gambling and telling dirty jokes but who ditches his deck of cards before a battle because he doesn't want to be killed with evidence of his sins on him, the dandified fop who cuts a mighty swell quoting Byron with his cap brim turned up and half his buttons undone, &c., &c. none of which are mutually exclusive. It was a completely different era with different social distinctions which differed north and south, east and west which can only be fully (to the extent that we can, as complete outsiders) understood by reading period literature and studying photographs.

I did not intend to make it sound like a persona is such a massive undertaking- it need not be, particularly to start out with, but it can always be tweaked and improved. All personas start out simple, and for many reenactors that is sufficient. My purpose is merely to illustrate how ornate and in-depth a persona may become over time.

These may also help: http://www.texasrifles.org/appendix.pdf
http://www.26nc.org/Articles/Developing First Person Impression.pdf

(A rather voluminous $0.02, I fear)