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Whoo, thanks guys!  Very good answers and questions, and you've all presented several more opportunities for this character.

2) You don't say if his family is still has money, property, prestige, etc.  What did they do during the war?  Did they loose their money or prestige  or otherwise adversely affected by the war? 

3) Why architecture?   Why does he have to work for a living at such a difficult and meanial job, especially in the USA?   Why wouldn't he be involved in the family business or be a diplomat or politician?   Also when and how did he come to live in the US.  How long has he lived there before the game starts, etc?   This all has an effect.

2) I'm still doing research on WWII and Mussolini (and probably will continue until I'm ready to go through with the project, as there's so much information to digest), which will, of course, affect what happens to his family's estate. At first I thought that his family kept their money and prestige, thus making it easier for him to go to an excellent university.  That's probably not the most realistic scenario, though, so his family might end up losing just about everything, which leads us to...

3) I had thought that he was inspired by cathedrals, thinking, "I want to design something as beautiful and glorious."  But then he turned around and designed homes for wealthy families, which in turn gained him a fortune.

That was before I did more research on architecture this morning.  I'll need to find another way to get him rich.  You see, he's in a sad state when he comes into the story, and he believes that God is punishing for his past greed.  (Or he could be dirt poor after becoming an architect and still believe that God is punishing him.)

Damn.  I thought that there was money in architecture.  Now I wish more than ever that college professors would just be honest with their students and stop painting these dreamlike, rosy pictures of certain professions. :p  (At least I stopped listening when they told be to become an English teacher.)

Getting to the US was easy: he fell in love with an American woman and married her.  He would have lived in the US since the late 1960s.  But this could also change.

Thanks again, everyone!  Research is going to be a little easier now. 

Hello, kittens.  I was wondering if anyone can give me some pointers on doing effective research for characters.  Normally, I don't have trouble with coming up with characters for stories, but this one has me stumped.  Probably because he's an elderly Italian guy.

Here are some facts on him:
1. He was born after WWII.
2. He is descended from aristocrats.
3. He studied architecture in college and went on to design multi-million dollar homes, most of them in New York state.

Just fine so far?  Some points that need fine-tuning?  Here's what I need to know:
1. Just how bad off was Italy after the war?  Knowing how the upper class fared during this time might change this character's biography.
2. I chose Cappellini as this guy's surname... but I realize that some surnames are related to nobility.  Plus, his ancestors would have made their fortune doing something... well, I don't want to stereotype him and have him descended from wine makers.  Maybe his ancestors had a farm?
3. I imagine that he would have gone to the best university for his education... but again, his family's income might change the type of school.  Also, the university's location (any good architecture schools in Italy, or would he have gone abroad?).

Other things that have me stumped:
1. Mannerisms, etiquette, and customs.  What was the average day like for people, particularly Italians, in the 1940s-60s?
2. Religion.  He's Roman Catholic, but how would his religion during his youth have differed from the Roman Catholicism of today?
3. Language.  I'd love to stick in a few authentic phrases and curse words.  (Confession could be fun with this guy )

Maybe I'm going overboard with this character, but I want him to be believable.  The fact that he was raised in a different era and country also adds pressure.  Mistakes and inaccuracies are inevitable, but I don't want people to look at my project and say, "There's no way he would do/say/think that."

Any ideas?  Websites, books, blogs I can look at to get a head start?

Thanks in advance!

Don't be so sure. They spend about 100,000 dollars a year to travel to these picket opportunities. I'm sure a handful will pay up to go, they are insane you know.

Hmm, a bunch of insane holy rollers flying to picket a funeral.

Please let there be gremlins riding the wings...

Congrats, ProgZmax.  I join you in the winners circle.

Somewhat OT, but if anyone is interesting in improving their writing, try your hand at flash fiction.  Writing a story in 500 words or less is a big challenge, but it's amazing how much detail you can pack into such a short piece.  Read this, for example (not written by me, btw).

I'm past 34,000, which puts me about two days ahead of schedule.  Not too bad, considering that I missed a few days (two in the second week, two last week).

Considering that my novel is not publishing material (probably not even skimming material) at this point, I might give NaNoEdMo a try.

Hey, hey.  Don't go fretting about follicles.  There are plenty of bald(ing) guys out there who have turned their lack of hair into super-hotness.  Patrick Stewart comes to mind.  Mmm, Picard...

My fiance has thinning hair and a receding hairline, and is worried about going completely bald.  He's pretty damn cute and handsome, and I tell him not to worry about his hair.  Besides, several girls have hit on him!

It's all about how you present yourself.  As long as you have a sense of humor and a genuine smile, potential mates won't turn away from you.

I'm probably one of the handful of kids in the States who remember this show.

Well, by "remember" I mean that I can hum the chorus of the theme song, vaguely recall what the three children looked like, and recall that the girl character was so damn close to finding someone from her past (a grandfather, maybe) and I was upset when they missed each other by a few minutes.

My mind hasn't been quiet. I have to say that this NaNoWriMo idea is inventive; I'd been talking about this novel of mine for a few months now, and all I had written for it were notes and character sketches.  I was sick of talking about my stories but not actually writing them, so I chose this would-be novel for my NaNo.  And it's been worth the frustration and hassle.

I just typed, letting whatever crap my mind conjured fall onto the page. The first part of the story is pure crap, by the way.  I didn't bother writing full descriptions of the scenery or characters.  Eighteen pages in, and just now the real plot is beginning to show (and I can write full descriptions now).

I imagine that I'll be scrapping a lot of scenes (including the sex scene that I threw in there just to keep myself interested) and writing an extensive outline for the rewrite... but damn, it feels good to just write.

I'm only 100 words in, and already I want to edit the whole thing.

Must ignore mental editor who criticizes my every word... editing is for after the piece is written... every first draft sucks, it's a fact...


[A few minutes later...]

Hey, I just created a surprise beginning for my story.  I think I'll just forge ahead and ignore all mistakes until December.

Assisting Death as he gathers souls for his otherworldly collection.

Nah, just helping my fiance--dressed as Death--scare up little kids as they leave the driveway with their candy.  What's almost scary is that he really gets into his role.  He doesn't talk, and his eyes seem to change when he puts on the skull mask.  (No wonder he was such a success at the haunted house he worked at a few years ago; some people came around just to see him.  )

Me?  I'm his little dead punk-rock-vampire girlfriend.

Trick or treating is banned in my community

A few years ago, Halloween fell on a Sunday, and my town banned trick-or-treating that night.  Anyone who wanted candy had to do their business that Saturday, otherwise they would be arrested.  Talk about severe.

If you do go the name-changing route, you can try one of the several name generators out there.  Like this one.

Or you can choose the name of a random board or dice game. 

Dear MT,

I'm beginning to see the absurdity in literary criticism.  As an English major, one would think that I would be enjoying myself in this field of study... but truth be told, I'm so goddamned tired of reading poetry and classic literature until my eyes are sore and bloodshot, and then analyzing the hell out of said works until my temples ache from thinking too much.  I'm beginning to think that literary criticism was invented by those who had too much time on their hands and had the gross desire to nitpick other people's creations.

I finally came up with a good idea for a first game.  One room, first-person perspective... I just need to perfect my computer drawing/coloring skills.

In other news, I'm becoming a Sarah Silverman fan.  I think I'll ask for The Sarah Silverman Program: Season One for Christmas or Three Kings Day.

o/~ Pumaman, he flies like a moron... o/~

Probably one of the best episodes during the entire Pearl Forrester era.  I can quote nearly the entire MiSTing, which goes to show what a hopeless nerd I am.

There was once a site where you could download all the MST3K episodes, but it might have been taken down.  There's always YouTube, though.

Thanks for the site, Radiant.  This should provide hours of neglecting-my-studies fun.

I'm someone who edits as I go... some people say that's a bad habit, but I just say it makes the rewrite easier.  Unfortunately this makes me a slow writer, so hitting 50,000 words in 30 days is night on impossible.

Same here, but I'm slowly weaning myself off the backspace key when I'm writing the first draft of anything.  The result is crap, but it's better than being stuck on the first draft for months at a time.

I find that it's better to write an outline (and then revise the hell out of it) before even writing the first draft, but I miss those days of making up the plot as I went along.  I think I'll give this a shot.

Hello all,

I'm rubywaves, long-time lurker, first-time poster.  I didn't play a lot of adventure games when I was younger (I was more interested in writing), but I started catching up about two years ago with some of the games found on abandonware sites (and some legal copies of Sam & Max and DoTT).  Through one of these sites, I came across 5DAS, and thus I was introduced to AGS.*

What an adventure it's been!  Solving mysteries, randomly clicking items together, trying not to get killed, fighting for justice and the RONian way... and like most AGS players, I've been inspired to make my own game.  Maybe once I make sense of the coding, I'll get to it.

I'm currently located in northeastern North Carolina AKA Land o' Swamps.  I'm of the female persuasion, 25 years old, and a writer (nothing published yet).  I'm also a college student--last year, actually.  I just have to figure out what I can do with a degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing and a minor in Graphic Design.

I'm looking forward to being a part of the AGS community and all the geekiness surrounding it. 


*Seems that a lot of people are introduced to AGS via Yahtzee games.  He's, like, some sort of portal or something.  (That didn't sound right.)