Ink & Essence Challenge
Overview
Purpose: This challenge is designed to inspire you to deeply explore a character in your world by writing both a detailed article and a prose article that showcases a significant event in the character’s life. The event could be part of the character's backstory—something that doesn’t necessarily make it into a main story but profoundly influences who they are.Components
Character Article
- Goal: Create an article about a significant character in your world. This article should be detailed enough to bring the character to life, making them someone readers will love or love to hate.
- Essentials:
- Physical Description:
- Eyes, hair, skin tone, height, and weight
- General physical condition, physical quirks, and apparel & accessories
- Personality: Motivation, personality perks, and personality flaws.
- Mental Characteristics: Personal history, education, accomplishments, failures, mental trauma, and morality.
- Importance: Include (anywhere in the article) why this character is important to your story.
- Optional: Original artwork, a timeline and/or a family tree.
- Other Info: The character doesn’t need to be a main character, as long as they play a pivotal role in the story you’re telling. There is no minimum or maximum word count, but every detail should feel necessary and meaningful to the character’s development.
- Note: I have found that a physical description of a character helps one fully visualize said character which helps write them more effectively, even if some details don’t make it into the prose. There’s a lot of sections in the character article template to fill out, feel free to fill in the other sections as you want or need.
Prose Article
- Goal: Write a scene from this character’s past or future.
- Essentials:
- Must spotlight the character's personality and set up/show their motivation.
- Main focus should be on this character.
- Length: 500-1000 words
- Other Info: Bring this scene and the character to life! Use vivid descriptions, sensory details, and dialogue to make the moment compelling. However, this is your story—use only the tools you need to achieve your vision.
Themes
While you likely already have a genre chosen for your world and story, selecting a theme can help guide your writing. Consider using one of these themes for your prose:- Transformation: Show how your character grows or changes.
- Conflict: Highlight a pivotal struggle or challenge.
- Legacy: Explore how the character’s actions impact the world.
Participation Details
Timeframe:
February 1st through February 28th
Submission:
Post the links to both your character article and prose in the comment section of this article.
Rewards:
Everyone who participates may grab the badge displayed below. One participant will receive a $25 gift card from the World Anvil Shop.
Judging Period:
Entries will be reviewed during March. The winner of the gift card will be announced by March 31st.
by Lady Wynter by way of NightCafe and Canva
I had a lot of fun writing these articles for this challenge! Hope it's not too bad of a rule violation that the prose article went a tiniest bit over 1k words.
Constance Mortifax
The only surviving Sorcerer-King of old, now the dread Ashen Baron
End of an Empire
The Overlord relinquishes his rule in favor of vengeance