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Character-writing Thread!
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Character-writing Thread!
Character-writing Thread!
The art of character-writing, the creation of whole new people who live, breathe, think and move outside the pages and within the minds of readers, is, to my mind, one of the most vital components of a potent story.
This is a place for us to discuss, present, and refine our characters. You can ask for character-building help, get opinions on your developing or completed characters (if characters are ever completed) or simply show them off. I hope this thread is of benefit. Let's have some literary fun!
submitted by Esthelle (Es-thel-ay, age Anonymous, Rivendell (I wish) ;)
(July 23, 2016 - 4:59 pm)
(July 23, 2016 - 4:59 pm)
YASSS I NEED THIS.
Ahem. I need serious help.
The main characters of my book were supposed to be very sterotypical, but in the end they would defy them with special talents. After realizing that people like cool characters, I realized that only special talents still made them a bit flat.
So I'm not sure how to change them, in personality or looks or both. I don'tnwant them to see too unpredictable, though.
(July 23, 2016 - 6:06 pm)
Okay, so I've done a huge amount of research on this topic. For one, you want unpredictable characters. The more, the better. Second, what stereotypes did they have in the beginning? Once I know this, I might be able to give suggestions.
(July 23, 2016 - 11:58 pm)
(July 23, 2016 - 11:21 pm)
yay! This looks fun! I'll post my Charries later, they're completed, but could still use some character building, you could say. I'm currently using them in my book.
(July 24, 2016 - 8:27 am)
Here are the main charries for a book I'm writing. Tell me if I need to change anything. By the way, the story is about cats.
Name: Rulidale (Rulidale means Shaded Snow)
Gender: Female
Appearance: She has short white and gray fur, round ice blue eyes, and small pointy ears. She's small and thin, but is surprisingly strong.
Personality: She's smart, but she often jumps to conclusions without any solid evidence. Sometimes she can be rude or offensive, but most of the time she's friendly and kind. Curious, she often gets herself in trouble by being nosy. She's mostly determined, but if things get to hard, she may give up. But it only takes some support and and comfort to get her on her feet again. She can be lazy at times, but she's mostly bouncy and easily excitable. A thinker, she may stay up all night pondering about one thing. She's very social, and can be very talkative. She's loyal and trusting, but maybe a little too trusting. She loves her brother, Democh, and will do anything for him. She's a little over protective of her brother, but she wants him to be able to do things himself. She can be arrogant at times, but she sometimes doubts herself.
Name: Democh (Democh means Stormy Skies)
Gender: Male
Appearance: He's a light gray tabby with white paws and tail tip. He has big amber eyes that sparkle with mischief, and he's a tad bit bigger more muscular than his sister, Rulidale.
Personality: Playful and cheerful, he loves to have fun. He can be a bit mischievous, and he's usally getting into trouble. Often times hungry, he thinks with his stomach. He likes it when cats have reactions to his pranks and/or obnoxious behavior, thinking it's funny. He often acts before he thinks, he can be a bit reckless. Being not as talkative as his sister, he's shy around new cats. Wary around strangers, he can seem cold and untrusting, but he is very trusting with cats he feels safe around. In fact, if you break his trust, he will be mopey and silent for many days. He loves his sister very much, and he acts very weak and helpless around her. He can act feisty and ferocious, but underneath it all, he's a scardey cat.
(July 24, 2016 - 10:17 am)
I'm not sure if I need help or not, but I don't think I'm developing my charrie Sheena enough. Well, I'm still pretty early in the book, so I don't know if I should worry about it yet, but....
(July 24, 2016 - 1:48 pm)
Here are the MCs in my story for Leafpool's writing contest. I probably need some character development advice... Help! I don't really know what makes a character flat!
Name: Rhiannon Blackwood
Age: 10-11, it doesn't say specifically.
Gender: Female
Appearance: Very thick, fiery red hair gathered in a loose, messy braid, dark (almost black) eyes, fair skin, a sprinkling of freckles across her nose, average height, skinny, wears dresses, boots, and a key around her neck.
Personality: Whimsical and eccentric, very fond of animals and all people in general. She is not one for fighting or violence, and will do anything to bring peace to a situation. Always outgoing and friendly. Clever.
Family/Friends/Acquaintances: (So far) Little sister: Iliana Blackwood, Mother and Father who are unnamed, Aunt: Mirelle Blackwood, Friend: Peck, Other friend?: Bluefeather, (Blue)
And...
Name: Hogan Lightfoot (Peck)
Age: 14
Gender: Male
Appearance: (Crow) Black feathers, black eyes, black beak. An average crow. (Human) After he got turned back into a human, the tips of his blonde hair stayed black. Pale skin, greyish-blue eyes, short for his age, lean, wears servant clothes. Yeah... he got turned into a crow by a witch. It's complicated.
Personality: Sort of impatient/snarky, but easy to like and become friends with. He openly expresses his emotions. Pretty smart.
Family/Friends/Acquaintances: (So far) Friend: Rhiannon Blackwood, Other friend?: Bluefeather (Blue)
P.S. Bluefeather is a gryphon.
(July 24, 2016 - 7:01 pm)
Well, just your main .ones I'm sorry if this offends anyone, this is gonna get very stereoypical.
First, we got the classic mean girl. Average smarts, flowy golden hair, bright blue eyes, show-off, mean, popular etc. I make her ease up around in the middle of the book because she becomes friends with the other main characters. Kinda like Ladybug in Cricket comics.
Second, we have the nerd. Very smart, quiet, made fun of. Made her own prosthetic leg (it's set in the future btw). She has dark skin, curly brown hair. I haven't decided wether she should wear glasses or not.
The nerd has a step brother, who's a goofball and rascal. Scrawny, tall, kinda lanky. Freckles, braces, shaggy black hair (I'm also debating whether or not to make him Asian.)
Finally, we have a regular guy who's personality is a bit . . . in the middle. He begins as a popular, cute boy but ends up caring a lot for the main main character. The mean girl has a crush on him. He's got tanish hair with a bit of blonde, sparkling, beady gray eyes.
I'm not mentioning the main main character here because I wannna keep her the way she is. Noteably, the mean girl has good powers of observation, the nerd is a hacking prodigy, her step brother is an excellent mimicker (at sounds), and the semi-popular boy is well . . . I haven't decided on his talent yet. I was originally gonna reveal that he was a half- alien from Mars, but I think that might be too sci-fi for my series.
__
Soo, I'm not sure what to do.
(July 25, 2016 - 10:39 am)
Note that I don't mean to offend you in any way. You don't have to change your characters, but I know from experience that a reader wants characters that are not one dimensional. They want ones that possess multiple personalities and attributes.
~
Wow, that is very stereotypical. Not that it is a bad thing, just I know most readers won't appreciate that. If you are interested in changing the characters, the only way I see is make them more well-rounded.
So you got the mean girl? Maybe have her still have a heart for some things, some things that touch her personally.
The nerd, classic, I love it. But some don't. Maybe have it where the nerd has a weakness, something she isn't good at and needs help with.
The step brother - well, personally, I love a good goofball in a story, and I wouldn't change anything there. Maybe have times where he can be serious.
The "regular guy"... Well, how I see is that is a character with no character. If you get what I mean. Regular people are the ones readers hate the most because they have no real feel of being human. You might want to give him a good, strong personality.
Also into making them more well-rounded, have them sort of hold multiple attributes. Like a real human. What I would do is stop, think about what you feel, all the emotions you can have at the same time. All the personality splits you possess. Look at your friends, enemies, family, answer that same question. Even ask them what sort of emotions and personalities they feel they have. Use the information to create more in-depth, well-rounded characters.
That is about as much advice as I can give. Good luck!
(July 25, 2016 - 4:12 pm)
I know you don't mean to offend anyone, but I have flowy golden hair and big blue eyes, and I'm not mean. Well, at least, I hope I'm not. You don't think all golden haired big blue eyed people are mean, do you? I mean, Im not mad at you or anything, it's just almost an insult. I'm probably just being weird.
(July 27, 2016 - 9:36 am)
Ashlee isn't saying you're mean. She's saying that, in books in movies, it is an unfortunate stereotype that you have a blonde, blue-eyed mean girl even though this isn't realistic. A very common one that makes me annoyed when it's used. Ashlee isn't saying that she agrees with that stereotype...she's acknowledging that is is a stereotype, though she doesn't agree with it.
(August 7, 2016 - 8:54 am)
(July 25, 2016 - 10:40 am)
Hello! :)
There's something that l've been doing with characters ever sense l stared writing. It's to make the main character and sub characters kind of....bad. From good-person-did-something-bad to bad-person-is-silghtly-good. l really really love mixing up good/evil in writing. However, l'm kind of afriad that these types of characters aren't very relatable or understandable. Do you think that having a bad guy for a protagonist is bad for the story? It's not common, but l love the idea.
Also, how do you write large casts of characters? l've tired to make each one very different, however it's not tending to work very well.
(July 25, 2016 - 9:37 pm)
Well, I've never been in a situation while reading where the protagonist is evil. Not that it would be bad, it sounds great in fact. Just might be hard to relate to... unless the reader is evil, you know? Although, quick look-up on Google showed this actually is a unique writing technique and is accepted by the general public IF you follow these keys:
1. The evil protagonist has a noble (or neutral) end.
2. There is just a line of evil they won't cross
3. There is someone - or something - they still care about
4. Show the readers how they lost their moral selves
5. Make everyone else worse (in other words, a dark world)
6. A sense of humor (good humor catches people's attention, especially in a villain)
7. Make them lose
8. Falsely accuse them of worse crimes
9. Make everyone hate them
10. Let the readers see him/her doing something unforgivable
Follow these ten thing and you will have an evil protagonist that everyone loves. Good luck!
(July 26, 2016 - 10:50 am)
Hm......The character in question does all of those except for 5, 6, and 8. l wasn't trying to create an evil character for the sake of just evil, l was trying to make him (the character) very human. And humans sometimes are twisted and mess up really badly and keep doing bad things.
Though l wouldn't say he has a noble end, it certainly is a very human end, revenge.
Anyways, l will keep that all in mind. Thank you!
(July 26, 2016 - 8:21 pm)