[0:00] welcome back to the youtuber voices
[0:02] podcast or if you are here for the very
[0:05] first time hello my name is sapphire and
[0:07] i am your host on this podcast we love
[0:10] talking about what it's like to be a
[0:12] virtual character as well as streaming
[0:14] and content creation tips we also cover
[0:16] what it's like to own a small business
[0:18] and how to begin scaling that business
[0:20] in today's episode i'd like to talk
[0:22] about a topic that comes up quite often
[0:25] and that is should we give our vtuber
[0:28] characters lore this applies not only to
[0:31] youtubers but the characters and
[0:33] personas we build as our mascots or our
[0:35] personalities for youtube twitch or
[0:37] whatever else you might be using a
[0:39] character for i have a very strong
[0:41] opinion on this topic i believe that
[0:43] creating lore is essential to building a
[0:46] more immersive experience and brand this
[0:49] being said let's talk about why lore
[0:52] actually matters lore creates a personal
[0:54] experience and connection to our
[0:56] character and to our audience think
[0:58] about some of your favorite characters
[1:00] across all of time maybe you love simba
[1:02] from the lion king or perhaps you love
[1:04] elsa from frozen maybe even hiccup from
[1:07] how to train your dragon maybe even
[1:08] another character what is something that
[1:11] all these characters have in common that
[1:12] makes them so lovable they have a
[1:14] backstory and they have lore they have
[1:16] values and things that make them
[1:18] beautifully human they have flaws they
[1:20] have pros they have cons they are
[1:21] beautifully human or beautifully a lion
[1:24] if we're talking about simba
[1:26] sure would be cool if we met elsa as a
[1:29] streamer if she was just a random girl
[1:31] with ice powers that'd be pretty
[1:33] interesting but it's because we know her
[1:35] backstory and the struggles that she has
[1:37] overcome as a character that makes her
[1:39] so relatable lovable and just overall
[1:42] creates more depth for who she is and
[1:43] how she interacts with the world now
[1:45] that we understand why lore matters
[1:47] let's talk about three ways that you can
[1:49] start building lore to create a deeper
[1:51] connection to you and your character as
[1:54] well as your audience right now number
[1:57] one you can answer questions about your
[1:59] character close your eyes and imagine
[2:01] your character what does their world
[2:03] look like who are their friends who are
[2:05] their enemies and what kinds of plants
[2:07] and creatures live on their planet what
[2:09] do they want and what do they need all
[2:12] of these are the beginning of a much
[2:14] more in-depth question that we can ask
[2:16] to help get to know our characters
[2:18] better for example my character or me
[2:21] sapphire in my early childhood days i
[2:23] wanted to help creatives all across the
[2:25] universe solve their problems however
[2:27] what sapphire needed is to support her
[2:29] own world in creativity before she could
[2:31] help others build their own she had to
[2:33] find a way to build strong pillars for
[2:34] herself before getting what she wants
[2:36] this creates conflict in her journey in
[2:38] finding herself so that she can help
[2:40] others this being said there are many
[2:42] websites and places you can look to get
[2:44] started with asking questions about your
[2:46] character to start developing them
[2:48] further i encourage you to get a pen and
[2:50] a paper to start jotting down
[2:51] information about your character
[2:53] remember you can always start with
[2:55] questions if you're unsure about where
[2:58] your character belongs or where to start
[3:01] number two is mind mapping mind mapping
[3:03] is a really great technique that can be
[3:06] used for any form of creativity not just
[3:08] in writing mind mapping is when you put
[3:10] a word in the center of a piece of paper
[3:12] and branch out from it you may have done
[3:14] this in school before for a project so
[3:16] if we're talking about elsa we could put
[3:18] elsa in the middle of the paper and
[3:20] start branching off what does elsa make
[3:22] us think of ice cold independence and
[3:25] powerful see how these words can start
[3:27] giving you imagery of world building and
[3:29] continuing to develop lore for your
[3:31] character maybe you need to start with
[3:32] the word ice in the middle because you
[3:34] don't actually have an idea of who your
[3:36] character is yet but maybe you do know
[3:38] that they want ice powers then you can
[3:40] make connections to what ice makes you
[3:42] think of which again can help start
[3:44] building visuals and ideas for stories
[3:46] world building and character design so
[3:48] again get a piece of paper and some
[3:50] colorful pens and start mind mapping
[3:53] number three is free form writing
[3:55] freeform writing is actually one of my
[3:57] favorites this can be a challenging one
[3:59] to start with if you don't have any idea
[4:01] of what you want to do if you feel stuck
[4:03] i recommend one of the first two methods
[4:05] this one is usually a tool to use after
[4:08] you've done a mind map or answered
[4:10] questions free form writing is sitting
[4:11] down with a nice hot cup of tea or
[4:13] coffee whichever you prefer and grabbing
[4:15] your favorite pen get a notebook and let
[4:18] your mind free flow the idea of free
[4:21] form is that it doesn't have to be
[4:23] official or even canon this can be
[4:25] simply a rough idea of what you want
[4:27] this way you can start reworking it and
[4:29] go back to perfect the story let this be
[4:31] a time to roll in your mistakes or in
[4:33] your fear i promise it'll be okay the
[4:35] idea of free-form writing is to really
[4:37] just let loose whatever is in your mind
[4:40] it's okay if that's not where you want
[4:42] to go yet or you're like i don't really
[4:44] know if this is it yet that's totally
[4:46] fine freeform writing is a great way to
[4:48] break past the mental blocks and the
[4:50] fear we have of building our characters
[4:52] because we want to make them lovable we
[4:54] want to make them great we want to make
[4:56] them likable by our audience but
[4:58] sometimes you just have to break past
[4:59] that mental block that you're having in
[5:01] order to write them by just getting
[5:03] something out on the piece of paper it
[5:05] can be overwhelming and intimidating to
[5:07] write lore and i know we all want to
[5:09] make sure that our characters are
[5:11] memorable but with these three tools
[5:13] question asking mind mapping in free
[5:15] form writing there'll be great ways to
[5:17] start developing lore if you don't have
[5:19] any if you have no lore i would
[5:21] encourage you to write lore to increase
[5:23] the quality of your character and of
[5:26] your content so what kind of lore are
[5:28] you gonna start writing for your
[5:29] character are you gonna ch are you gonna
[5:31] start with free form writing and just
[5:33] let your mind run wild are you gonna do
[5:35] some mind mapping and get some fun
[5:36] colorful colorful pens or are you going
[5:38] to start answering questions about your
[5:40] character these are all things for you
[5:42] to consider when making your character
[5:45] developing your world developing your
[5:47] brand and where you want to go thank you
[5:49] so much gems for joining us on this
[5:51] week's episode of the youtuber voices
[5:52] podcast now go write some lore and let
[5:55] go of those fears hakuna matata i will
[5:58] see you next friday for another episode
[6:00] of the youtuber voices podcast bye