Character blogging

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Character blogs are a type of blog written as though a fictional character, rather than an actual person, is making the blog post. There are many character blogs on the Internet, and in the late 2000s (decade), it became popular among TV show producers as a means of promoting their show. Sometimes these character blogs are done as a simple means of expression by fans or regular people unaffiliated with any professional media. [1] In the current decade they have become an outlet for fans of TV show, movie, and comic book characters, to play with and interact with characters ranging from those in Star Wars and Star Trek to Superman, Spider-Man and even solo characters created by the blogger themselves and placed in one of the many fictional universes found in fiction.

Contents

Types

Official character blogs - Movies, TV shows and sometimes even brands (such as Captain Morgan) will publish an official blog for their characters. These are often produced with marketing and tie-ins in mind, and so are planned to best convey the message wanted by the producers.

Unofficial character blogs - Sometimes fans of a known fictional character will create a blog as parody or homage to the work from which the character derives. Star Wars has brought about several of these, the most famous example being Master Yoda's Blog. Unofficial character blogs often are inspired by comic books, TV shows and movies.

Fantasy character blogs - Some blog writers choose to create their own original character to blog as. Often they will be some kind of superhero type character, rather than just an ordinary person. An element of fantasy often exists, putting the character into one or many fantasy universes, even mixing them with established fictional universes from comic books, movies and television. This is common among role-players, particularly within the Star Wars community, where they can create their own Jedi (or Sith) character and blog as them.

Criticism

While seemingly harmless and considered a bit of fun by most, some find Character Blogging objectionable. MicroPersuasion.com's Steve Rubel argues that "[c]haracter blogs are a waste of time because a character is not and never will be human - unless it's Pinocchio." Rubel's attack was on the official character blog for Captain Morgan, a corporate blog. [2] Most character blogs are not set up by corporations or companies, but by fans and writers looking for a creative outlet.

Blog games

Character blogs make it possible for blog games to be played on team blogs. These are often in parody of reality TV shows. For instance, Last Gladiator Standing is a blog game that gets its name from Last Comic Standing and Amazing Mutant Race puts an X-Men twist on The Amazing Race . However, there are blog games that incorporate entire unique universes, that are created not by an official source but by the writers themselves. [3]

Character blogging language

In what most character bloggers refer to as the roleplaying world, there are dozens of terms that relate to not only the characters but the world that they exist in. Some of these are borrowed from tabletop roleplaying games, others are borrowed from what most call "fandoms". There are entire blogs dedicated to the understanding of these terms and acronyms.

Related Research Articles

Fictional language Constructed languages created for a fictional setting

Fictional languages are the subset of constructed languages (conlangs) that they have been created as part of a fictional setting. Typically they are the creation of one individual, while natural languages evolve out of a particular culture or people group, and other conlangs may have group involvement. Fictional languages are also distinct from natural languages in that they have no native speakers. By contrast, the constructed language of Esperanto now has native speakers.

Fandom Subculture composed of fans sharing a common interest

A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices, differentiating fandom-affiliated people from those with only a casual interest.

A blog is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page. Until 2009, blogs were usually the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject or topic. In the 2010s, "multi-author blogs" (MABs) emerged, featuring the writing of multiple authors and sometimes professionally edited. MABs from newspapers, other media outlets, universities, think tanks, advocacy groups, and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog traffic. The rise of Twitter and other "microblogging" systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into the news media. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Story within a story Literary device

A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story. Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes called nested stories. A play may have a brief play within it, such as Shakespeare's play Hamlet; a film may show the characters watching a short film; or a novel may contain a short story within the novel. A story within a story can be used in all types of narration: novels, short stories, plays, television programs, films, poems, songs, video games, and philosophical essays.

Fictional universe Self-consistent fictional setting with elements that may differ from the real world

A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm. Fictional universes may appear in novels, comics, films, television shows, video games, and other creative works.

A parallel universe, also known as a parallel dimension, alternate universe, or alternate reality, is a hypothetical self-contained plane of existence, co-existing with one's own. The sum of all potential parallel universes that constitute reality is often called a "multiverse".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sequel</span> Part of a linear narrative that continues the story of a previous work

A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same fictional universe as an earlier work, usually chronologically following the events of that work.

Campaign setting Fictional environment setting for a role-playing game

A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place. Usually a campaign setting is designed for a specific game or a specific genre of game. There are numerous campaign settings available both in print and online. In addition to published campaign settings available for purchase, many game masters create their own settings, often referred to as "homebrew" settings or worlds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crossover (fiction)</span> Film and video terminology

A crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, unofficial efforts by fans, or common corporate ownership.

An alternative universe is a setting for a work of fan fiction that departs from the canon of the fictional universe that the fan work is based on. For example, an AU fan fiction might imagine what would have taken place if the plot events of the source material had unfolded differently, or it might transpose the characters from the original work into a different setting to explore their lives and relationships in a different narrative context. Unlike typical fan fiction, which generally remains within the boundaries of the canon set out by the source material, alternative universe fan fiction writers explore the possibilities of pivotal changes made to characters' history, motivations, or environment, often combining material from multiple sources for inspiration.

In American comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status.

Web fiction is written works of literature available primarily or solely on the Internet. A common type of web fiction is the web serial. The term comes from old serial stories that were once published regularly in newspapers and magazines.

The Buffyverse canon consists of materials that are thought to be genuine and those events, characters, settings, etc., that are considered to have inarguable existence within the fictional universe established by the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Buffyverse is expanded through other additional materials such as comics, novels, pilots, promos and video games which do not necessarily take place in exactly the same fictional continuity as the Buffy episodes and Angel episodes. Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate and other prolific sci-fi and fantasy franchises have similarly gathered complex fictional continuities through hundreds of stories told in different formats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superhero fiction</span> Fiction genre

Superhero fiction is a genre of speculative fiction examining the adventures, personalities and ethics of costumed crime fighters known as superheroes, who often possess superhuman powers and battle similarly powered criminals known as supervillains. The genre primarily falls between hard fantasy and soft science fiction spectrum of scientific realism. It is most commonly associated with American comic books, though it has expanded into other media through adaptations and original works.

A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, characters, or world of the overall project. It is common in genres like science fiction. It differs from collaborative writing in which multiple artists are working together on the same work and from crossovers where the works and characters are independent except for a single meeting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fan fiction</span> Type of fiction created by fans of the original subject

Fan fiction or fanfiction is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settings, or other intellectual properties from the original creator(s) as a basis for their writing. Fan fiction ranges from a couple of sentences to an entire novel, and fans can retain the creator's characters and settings and/or add their own. It is a form of fan labor. Fan fiction can be based on any fictional subject. Common bases for fan fiction include novels, movies, musical groups, cartoons, anime, manga, and video games.

Star Wars has been expanded to media other than the original films. This spin-off material is licensed and moderated by Lucasfilm, though during his involvement with the franchise Star Wars creator George Lucas reserved the right to both draw from and contradict it in his own works. Such derivative works have been produced concurrently with, between, and after the original, prequel, and sequel trilogies, as well as the spin-off films and television series. Commonly explored media include books, comic books, and video games, though other forms such as audio dramas have also been produced.

A mash-up novel is an unauthorised non-canonical work of fiction which combines a pre-existing literature text, often a classic work of fiction, with another genre, usually horror genre, into a single narrative.

Pornographic parody film

A pornographic parody film is a subgenre of the pornographic film industry genre where the basis for the production's story or plotline is the parody of a mainstream television show, feature film, public figure, video game or literary works. This subgenre also includes parody of historical or contemporary events such as political scandals. The subgenre has gained acceptance by the adult industry to the extent that major awards are presented in this category by organizations such as AVN and XRCO.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire media franchise:

References

  1. "What is Character Blogging?".
  2. http://www.micropersuasion.com/2005/04/character_blogs.html
  3. Create a Successful Blogging Business