A persona, in simplest terms is a character. When you play a role playing game you are becoming a persona. When an actor plays a character, they are becoming a persona. When creators personify, or create a story around their product, they are creating a persona. Storytelling, for me, is one of the most exciting and integral parts to taking any project from idea to reality. We do it for almost everything, and most people don’t even realize it. Think about how many times you’ve had an amazing idea for a book, or a new dish at a restaurant. One of the first things most people do is put the idea into a situation, “It would be amazing if…”. You just began creating a story. Every story needs characters, and that’s where persona’s come in.
Final Fantasy 7
Every time I think of a new story idea for a poem, or novel, I always try to put interesting characters in interesting situations. Makes sense, you don’t want the tale your telling to be boring. The same can be true for other creative products. If you’re creating a new digital user interface you don’t want to put the super tech savvy, not surprised by anything, type of person into the story. You want to put the person that’s going to be amazed at every turn. The person who desperately needs your idea, but might not even know they need it.
Mistborn Trilogoy by Brandon Sanderson
It’s a skill set that is invaluable in any line of work, in any creative endeavor, well in basically everything. Whether I’m writing poems or comics, creating a new advertisement, or simply trying to tell an engaging story to students. Being able to create engaging persona and a world for them to inhabit and explore is the first step to brilliant creation.
My first NaNoWriMo update in what seems like forever, and sadly also my last. After weeks of being completely enveloped in the story and ideas for my novel I found that I just didn’t have the time, motivation, or excitement to work on it and everything else in my life. Sadly, I am very much a mood writer. A habit I am trying desperately to break out of. Until I do however, I know that if I am just in the most anti-creative mood, nothing good will come of it. I will keep the ideas and the personas I have created locked away for another time.
On a slightly more cheerful note, this idea of personas has brought back a story I have been working on in my head and on paper for years. It’s about a young man that can create illusions of people, real or fictional, an Eidolon. Hopefully one day I will complete it and release it upon the world.
LIGHT FALL 