General Writing Tips

[Furretsu]

I'd like to get into the world of writing once more, but I'm afraid that my self-conscious mindset is proving to be more of a burden than I'd thought...

Uh, anyway. :D It'd be nice to have some guidelines to review every once in a while just for quick self-reviewing and revisions and such... so I made this thread. Please share any general writing tips or advice you have here; authors will appreciate it, I'm sure.

At the very least, I will. ;)

 

[Dragon_night]

Oh, well, unfortunately, I don't have the time right now, but I call doing a section on charicters (if we're posting things like guides or whatever >.>)

But, if you want something really good (for me anyway), check out this. It has helped me a lot with plot making (even though I only follow through with only some of the steps).

Although, I warn you, it may not be for everyone.

*Goes off and starts writing a character guide*

 

[Dragon_night]

Uh, Okay, as promised, I have made a character guide!

Sorry for the double post :/

(And wow, I thought it would take me longer to write this thing out. Hope I didn't rush anything)

Edit: Oh yeah, I wrote this at midnight because I have Insomnia, so there might be a few type-os and stupid things included.

EDIT 2: OKay, because of Vern pointing out the stupid things I have in here, I have edited the guide to make it make more sense. Hopefully now it can help people more then it did before

~Dragon_night's guide to making characters~​

Take two​

(Note: This is mine, don't steal. And also, this guide is meant for people who plan to writer a long fiction, not something short. But most of all, this is DRAGON_NIGHT'S, and it is also his opinion, not yours.

Oh, and sorry if I sound cocky in here, I've drank waaay too much pop >.>

Edit: Now, This guide may not be for everyone. Or, maybe it could be just for you, either way, the only way you'll know is if you read on. If this makes sense, then maybe you can use this to your advantage, or if it sounds like complete rubbish, then maybe you're too experienced to bother with it. But, if this doesn't fit well with you, go ahead and post, explaining why it's wrong. chances are, I screwed up)

Okay, I've actually been wanting to write this out for a while now, but I never got around to it. xD Now I have a reason to.

Anyway, for starters, let's get this one thing straight.

Your story is NOTHING without good characterization. Absolutely NOTHING! (although, this may not be accurate for one-shots and short story's)

Just like your story can be nothing without a plot. The two are both equal in importance, and if one is done badly, then the other will suffer. Although, my previous statement may not be true, because is your plot is super, but you have bad characters, then you can still get away with a good story. The same works the other way around (although I think works a lot better the other way around >.>)

But, that's probably why I get mad whenever I see a writing guide where the plot take up ten pages, while the character's only take up one, or worse, half a page.


But! Onto the importance of characters. If you have the most original characters in the world, and have them well written out, then you could probably have the most love story on the forum. Heck, and example of something like this is a fic that I read on Serebii. It was a story called Pokemon Revelation: Cross of Fates. That story was full of cliche's, but the one thing that attracted me to it, and made me continue to read was the characters Saber (the Aurthur) made. Enough so, that it's actually in my top three fan made story list (Along with Aeon:End and Vision's of Fate)

Don't believe me; go to serebii and find the story (although I warn you, it's hundreds of pages long)

And as one last note before you start reading the actual guide:

Nothing is set in stone. You can make a character with this guide, but when you put the character into action, maybe they take on something different. If they do, then maybe that's how they should act, because that's how they seem to come out naturally.

And this guide is only here to help you make your characters. If anything, this guide can only go so deep past the surface of your character. It is you who makes the character, and gives them personality. Even if you make a character from this guide, it doesn't mean that character will fit into the place where you put him/her.

Which is something Vern pointed out that I completely forgot about. Besides giving the character the ability to care (I'll get to that after), making the character fit in with the settings and the story is what can also make or break your character. If your character doesn't fit in (unless that is what the story is about), then maybe the character shouldn't be put in.

Never put things into places they don't fit.


But, enough of my ramblings, let's get into some guide ACTION!

Now, you want to make a character eh? One that won't bore readers; one that can move the story along, and even surprise you, the writer, sometimes? Or do you want that bad guy that doesn't seem so cliche, and that the readers can identify with to create a better story?

Well, I can't guarantee you came to the right place, because I myself isn't that experienced with this kind of stuff. But I can guarantee that you came to a guide that will, hopeful, in the end help you improve upon your characters.

So, what's the first thing you do when making a character. Well, if you already have a story idea, then you probably already have a character with a name and physical appearance.

Wrong.

This is not a character.

Although those things are important, it's not what make a character completely.

No, a character is someone with a personality. Sure, a name and looks can affect that, but the most important thing is personality. Because without that, your character sucks. Your character's personality is your character. It's how they think, how they do things, how they reacted to thinks.

Personality is the how of your character (mentally).

Meaning, you character would be the same in another body, with another name (unless they know they've been switched body's, but whatever)


And the first step to add the ability to care.

Yep. CARING! As in the CARE BEAR COUNT DOWN!

And I will say this now, by doing that, you have just made half of you character. I am serious. That ability to care about something more than anything else is what will make your character real. And, it will be what can make your character move the story line.

And example:

Let's make a character, who's one care above anything else is tidiness. So that means, above all else, things must be tidy around this character to make him happy. And let's also make him a male (so it's easier for me :P)

Let's say this character grew up, and got married. His wife though, is a bit of a messy person, always leaving one or two things out of place. (Already you have a plot now. It'll be a Man vs. Self, Because he has to face the fact that he care a lot about tidiness, and his wife is disturbing that.)

And hell, as wife continues to be untidy, soon the man forgets about the reasons he loved her in the first place, because of his care for tidiness. And by forgetting that, he decides to divorce the woman.

Sad isn't it? Just by making a character care, we have made a story, without even adding in any other personality traits. Therefore, the ability to care > other personality traits.

Think. Even you, as complex as you are, care about something. You may not know what it is, and I doubt that you ever will, because we're just too complexes that way. But, no matter who it is in the world or any other, everyone care's for something. It could be that they care for other people's feelings, or they care what people think about them, or they care about how much they have.

Even uncaring character's care for something. They could care about being alone. Or maybe they care about what others think of them. Sure, it doesn't sound like someone who doesn't care, but caring can only affect a person so much. Maybe the reason the character seems uncaring is because that's how they want to be viewed in others eyes. So, maybe the uncaring character would become upset when someone say's they're not uncaring.

Although, one thing I wouldn't suggest having is a specific human or thing that they care about. As much as it'd be nice for a human to actually care about a person more than anything else, this is usually never the case. Usually, they only care for the person, because the true thing they relay care about is what the person is giving them. Like if a person cared about not being alone. Using that, then yes, they can care about someone above all other things (unless another character comes in *-_^), but its not the specific character they care about.


Okay, now that we have established half of your character (or characters if you're making a whole bunch), let move on to the grainy details.

Well, for starters, let's get some real personality in your character. Ask your character this, "Why does the sun go up and down?"

Well, what does her or she (or it) say? How do they react?

Now, ask the same of another character you have. Is the answer the same? If so, are the two character's alike? If not, then you may need to add in some personality to one, or both of them.

If you want a relay divers cast of characters, then the best thing you can do to make sure they are a divers cast of character is to make them so different, that if you asked them a question, any question, they would all have different answers. "What day is it today?"

"The day you shut up."

"How the hell would I know."

"Does it look like I care."

"Uh, Monday- No, Friday... URG! I DON'T KNOW, STOP SUFFOCATING ME!!"

See :3


Personality though, is affected a lot by the caring gene (I'm calling what your character cares for the most the caring gene from now on). Although, you can still have almost any personality type to go with the caring gene. It's just, the caring gene affects the personality trait.

As an example, if your character cares about other people, but has a personality trait of, say, an angry person, think of how the caring gene affects the personality trait. If the character is an angry person, then surly they must snap at other people, in which the caring gene comes in, and s/he can feel guilty for snapping. Then maybe they try to fix it, only to snap again, and feel more guilty. (Although, this depends on the personality of the character)

But, if you change the caring gene so the character cares for their own happiness, then obviously the character is not going to feel guilty at all for snapping at others, and may continue to do so.

And think, that's only with one personality trait inside the character. Many characters have more then just one or two. An example is one of my Characters Seth, from my dead fic Tesseract. His two most dominant personality traits (out of many that I have yet to know about) are laziness, and smart-ass-ness (or sarcastic-ness >.>)

So, think of some personality traits that can go well with your caring gene, or of some that can completely contradict them. With this, you can create many life-like characters, just by having the caring gene with one or two personality traits.

But remember, this is only to give you a general idea of your character. Like I said about my character, he has many personalty traits that I don't even know about. Why? Because when I write him, I go with what comes naturally. Sure, I started off by saying 'he's going to be a lazy smart-ass', but that's only the surface. By writing them, you can gain more inside into your character. By putting them in different situations, you see how they become more life like.

Some questions that may help with makeing your character's personality:

How do they act when they're angry?

What makes them angry?

What make's them cry?

What do they do when others seem them crying?

ect.

By putting you're characters in different situations, you can teach yourself more about who the character is.

Oh yeah, Just because you made them doesn't mean you know them x3

Why?

Because people are just to complicated to know fully.

Moving on...


So, bravo, you have a pretty complete character right?

...

Right?



No.

Along with personality traits, there is another thing that can affect your character's overall personalty.

Experience.

That's right, if your character had plenty of exp., then you have yourself a pretty cocky character.

No, what I mean is, history. What has happened in the past can affect a character hugely. I mean, just think back to how you were a year, or even five years from now. I'm guessing that you're like me, and that those old-selves were almost nothing like you.

So, as an example of how making a history (however brief or long it may be) can have a huge affect on a character: Let's say, that in the past your character told their true feelings to the opposite sex, saying that they love them (or like), and the person said no, or told all his/her friends, who laughed at your character. Well, this kind of thing can keep that character from telling his/her/it's true feelings to another person that they meet. This situation can also be best used if say, the other character that your character has just fallen for also likes your character, but doesn't like to make the first move. Well, your character sure as hell isn't going to, no matter how much they should belong together.

And ta-da, with a history added to your character, you can make a story just out of that. Therefore, this is another important, yet overlooked, aspect of your character.

And remember, you character doesn't have to have a dramatic past for it to influence them. Think of your past. What important moments.

Moving on, let's start with how the character looks. This trait may or may not be affected by the caring gene, or one of the personality trait (and can even be affected by both in most cases). If your character cares about tidiness, then obviously your character is going to look tidy, and if you character cares about what other people think, then the character will probably wear the norm for society.

If your character cares about what they have, then who knows what they could look like. If your character cares about animals, then who know what they will look like (Unless you want to go crocodile hunter style). If your character is lazy, the maybe they'll look sloppy. So it can depend on your character's caring gene or personality trait(s).

Though, even though the caring gene/personality trait may affect how you character looks, it doesn't mean that you're stuck or limited with how your character looks like. Go wild, and go with how you want your characters to look like.


Now, here's something really important that is basically missed by everyone, yet they somehow do it subconsciously.

Well, for starters, the way I act on these forums, the personality that I have here, is a lot different then how I am in real life. Here, I'm more open, and can say things like "I like men, and Women, AT THE SAME TIME!" and other personal matters that I would just about never share with anyone else besides my very close best friends.

Why?

Because, like everyone, depending on who I'm around I change the way I act. Surly I would never talk about sex or gayness with my dad as I do with my friends or people here.

Which is the biggest thing people miss.

Characters act differently around characters!

Your character would probably act different around his/her/it's friends then around their parents right? Heck, if they have siblings, they will probably act different around them too, even if it's just the slightest change. You can talk about one thing to let's say, your brother, but you would never talk about it to your sister, or vise-verso.

The unfortunate part about this is, it can make things complicated. Even though having this aspect of character change can make your character seem much more real, it can get complicated with the more characters that you have.

So, let's call this slight changes in personality's 'relationships'. Now, the most simplest relationship (besides having one character), is when you have two character in your story. Basically, with that, you have four characters (or relationships).

How do I get four relationships out of two characters?

Simple, let's say you have character A, and B. Now, they interact with each other, to you have two relationships (aka, the way they act with others). One for A, one for B. Now, when A and B are separated, then they also gain two new Relationships. How does A act without B? There's one relationship. And how does B act without A? There's the forth one.

And that's not mentioning how they can act when a cop comes into the picture, or some random person.

The same goes if you have three characters. A, B, and C. Well, A has four different relationships. One without anyone there, one with B, one with C, and one with both A and B together. The same goes for B and C, so in essence, you have twelve different relationships going on.

Complicated eh? Well, you may not have to worry about this, because maybe your character doesn't really change much when interacting between two different character, because they may be both close friends. Or maybe he doesn't, because he's keeping a secret from one person. Even something as small as keeping a secret can be defined as a personality change.

As a last note in this section, sometimes you may not even notice that you're changing a character's personality when they interact with different character. The reason I wrote this section in my character guide is so you're more aware of it, and so you can use it better then you do sub-consciously.


Does your character have any habits? Are those habits accented by the personality, or caring gene. Do they stem from the character's history?

And can these habits get out of hand?

I'm sure I've explained enough how these kinds of things can make a story.


AND FINALLY!

The very end. Now, if you're like me, you haven't even given your character a name until the very end. Or, maybe you have because it came to you before or during the time you made your character. Though, that happens rarely for me >.>

Of course, for others, the name could mean nothing, but for me, I like to pick a name that 'fit's my character.

And, by picking the name last, I have the added advantage of giving the character a name that just fits perfectly. Although I find this a hard thing to do, I just pull up one of those babe books full of names, and zoom by until one catches my eye that might fit with the character. Or, the other way I do it, is to just write, and go with whatever name that comes to me while writing that character.

Although, you could also create a name, and build a character around that. Or, as I said before, the name could mean nothing, it all depends on your preference.


And, as a final note, I remember Butterfree saying in one of her writing guide's (I'm not sure where it is now) that you should try putting your character through the personality test in the Cave of Dragonfly's site. Pretend to be your character and take the test. What are the results, do they fit with your character?


Well, that's all for my guide. I hope you enjoyed it, and that in some one it helped you improve. Good luck writing!

 

[Music Dragon]

MD's relatively short tip on writing: think things through. Before you run off to write down that great idea you just had, make sure you have a solid plot and something to actually write about. Plot bunnies are great and all, but feed them for a while before you harvest the reap.

 

[IcySapphire]

As a general rule of thumb, an episode of a fic should be at least 1-2 pages on MS Word. Anything less and you need to expand it.

Good spelling and grammar are a must. I understand English may not be your first language, but at least know how to write well enough for your audience to understand you. This makes chatspeak and 1337 a bad idea, except if you're using it for comical purposes.

 

[Tailsy]

Be intensely irritating and research small details. It's fun and helps you get into it. |D Once I started writing a short story and I had to sit and stare at Tesco's doors for three hours straight to see what the consequences would be.

(I got lots of weird looks and a couple of 'are you all right, dear?'s but other than that nothing.)

 

[octobr]

Therefore, the ability to care > other personality traits.
...
Plot is nothing. Characters run the show.
...
Well, for starters, let's get some real personality in your character. Ask your character this, "Why does the sun go up and down?"
...
But, if you change the caring gene so the character cares for their own happiness, then obviously the character is not going to feel guilty at all for snapping at others, and may continue to do so.
...
And ta-da, with a history added to your character, you can make a story just out of that.

And the even smaller details. Does your character have any habits?

What? What type of show are you running here, dude?

I don't know if you realized this but almost everything you've said here was... trivial, or just plain wrong. I don't mean to be rude, but...

Seriously.

You're forgetting the one giant, main, HUGE thing about characters --




they are human.

If your character can mesh with his respective universe, you've succeeded. This might mean they work in real life; this might mean they flow well against flirtatious fairies and murderous centaurs.

Characters are not simply a description of name, appearance, and personality. 'Kind, determined, and light-hearted until provoked' does not a character make. Your relationship with your character should be close enough that you cannot describe them in a short sentence, much like you can't fully describe your best friends or significant other in five words or less. You could if you really wanted, but then you'd just be scratching the surface -- you might have a sweet, funny friend but you know as well that she's nervous about social situations and needs a small, close-knit group of friends to support her or she can easily emotionally collapse under the stress of school and her family.

And also remember that not every character is mind-blowingly interesting. Not every human being is interesting! That doesn't stop you from liking them. One of my friends seems very 2-dimensional when you meet her -- she's just a quiet, nice girl who does what she's told. That doesn't stop her from being one of my favorite people. She doesn't fit most of your little character standards -- the most she cares about is her guinea pigs, and if you asked her why the sun went up she'd probably just shrug and say 'because.' She doesn't have a special history (AS MOST PEOPLE DON'T -- I'll return to this.) and she doesn't have many habits.

Does that make her unbelievable? No. That makes her a normal human being.

Are we all like this? No. I love dance -- that would be my 'care.' But just because I care about dance doesn't mean I would sacrifice friends and family and other stuff for it because I care for it 'more than anything.' Caring isn't always vital to a character: you even mentioned in your own post that a past experience can force a character to give up attachments to things or to stop trusting people, et cetera. Or for some characters their lack of caring is part of who they are -- we have plenty of villains that are regarded as great characters that don't have much sense of human emotion. What I'm trying to say is that there is no defining personality trait that makes a character. Just like people.

As for 'histories' ... good God, people are obsessed with the idea that all characters must have A DRAMATIC PAST! Which is weird, because most of us have no dramatic past. Hell, half of us can't remember what happened when we were kids, and that half of us still are kids. And those of us that can remember, we know we just grew up, got made fun of in school, and life went on. Very few of us had our parents murdered when we were three, very few of us lived in sixteen countries as we grew up, very few of us were repeatedly raped by our older brother. I know there are some of us who are. But the majority of us are just totally normal. A good character is one that can thrive without having to have a ridiculous backstory. One that stands on its own and doesn't need your infodump to support it.


One more thing about these here quotes: how on earth are habits 'small details?' Sometimes the habit makes the man. Sometimes habits become obsessions. Sometimes habits disrupt daily life.

So look. You can't whip out your handy-dandy CHARACTER SHEET and decide to fill it out and create a believable character. Your characters need to feel as if they could just stand up and live, breathe, and mesh with everyone else. They should be human.

Or, well, the equivalent thereof.

And, on a final, less then happy, yet still important topic relating to how you character looks note: You want to make your character's look attractive. Yes, this is shallow, but welcome to the world of entertainment. Pretty people get on TV and in the movies, and in books, to help make it more entertaining. The only exception to this, is if how the character looks affects the story line in some way (Ever read Fat Kid Rules the World? It's a good book).

bawepf AHAHAHAHAHA. Bullshit. Books don't have pictures. They're not made of images. Your characters don't have to be goddamn Brad Pitt. Have you ever read Harry Potter? Remember that Hermione was supposed to be nerdy and bookish and bushy-haired, and when at the ball where she took great care of her appearance they flipped out? You ever read any Bradbury, where more often than not the characters are totally left to your imagination, or described in purely general terms? Your characters should be nearly totally unaffected by their own appearance, unless they're

a. a teenager
b. disabled in some way
c. playing genderswap

or something else that qualifies. Your character should be able to stand without the weight of a specific, overdescribed appearance.

I have the added advantage of giving the character a name that just fits perfectly. you could also create a name, and build a character around that.

rofl.

Does your mom name you thinking, 'hmm, he's going to be a brave boy, let's name him Leo?' No. Names are generally irrelevant. A good amount of the books I've read and really enjoyed used names only to differentiate between characters. You would be the same person if you were named Roger, Phillip, or Jesus.



This isn't to say that everything you've got up here is totally wrong. Generally you have some good ideas -- your character will be affected by experience, and your character can change depending on who they're around. These are good points! However, you have to remember first and foremost that they must be believable, and that means they have to have a personality as a whole, not as separate traits.


One more thing -- the best way to get comfortable with your character is to write them. Use them in roleplays, use them in short stories, stick them in different situations. Even if they're a little different in each one you'll get more comfortable with them.







God this is painfully long. I might come back later to help clear up some issues on rhyming poetry and showing and not telling.




ETA -- Uh, don't take this as a personal attack or anything. I'm just building off your post to make a clearer point, and hopefully everyone will read this.

 

[nastypass]

Dammit Verne I was going to do that. :[

 

[Negrek]

I think the most important thing to remember about writing is that there is never one "right" or "wrong" way to go go about it. Everyone does things a little differently, and what should matter to you is not what everybody else is doing, but what you are. For example, some people can't handle carefully planning out their story ahead of time because they feel too restricted by their outline when they later go to write. For others, extensive forethought is necessary to avoid huge plotholes and to prevent them from getting lost or bored in the middle of their narrative. Neither kind of writer is necessarily better than the other; by the same token, there's no technique that's superior to any other, just one that happens to be superior in helping *you* write at your best.

So, my advice would be to first discover what kind of writer you are, and then write. Try different techniques or different pieces of advice, such as the ones in this thread, and see whether or not they work for you. Have a go at different kinds of writing and a variety of genres; you don't need to suffer through something you're totally not interested in, of course, but by writing outside your comfort zone you may find that you really enjoy a style very different than the one you normally use.

In general, I guess, don't go into the thing in the mindset that you know what you're doing and . No matter what you're going to have difficulties, there are going to be things you're just not good at, and you're undoubtedly going to screw some things up, no matter how experienced or talented you are, but if you keep your options open and keep working, you'll be fine in the end. And, of course, have fun with it too--at least when you're drafting, you ought to just go with it and see what happens, and leave worrying about whether you did a good job or not for all the editing afterward.

 

[Umbreon Rules]

Pokemon mystery dungeon

Um...really I'm not that far. Can somebody help me?

 

[octobr]

As with anything, the things I posted are not definite, solid, concrete rules. Nothing in writing really is. Part of being a writer -- or, well, an artist in general -- is the ability to take critique and guidelines that you see either on their own or applied to someone else's art and interpret them to apply to your own.

Example: you regularly read a longer piece that someone else is writing, while in your free time you write your own story. Your story and the one you are reading are totally dissimilar. One day someone comes into the thread and critiques the latest part of the story in a pretty thorough, sensical way.

Both you and the author of the story you are reading have a duty now!

The author must take this critique and apply it to the specific parts of the story the critic mentioned, as well as try to go back and apply it throughout (if they can't because it's four thousand pages long, well, it can be forgiven. BUT IT CANNOT BE FORGIVEN FOR BEING REALLY GODDAMN LONG).

You should try your best to read the critique given to the author, although your story and his are totally different, and apply it to your own story so that you can get a jump on what the critic from the original thread is probably going to tell you.


I am not making this shit up, yo. I do this all the time in dance -- although a teacher might walk up to a girl next to me and tell her something to improve, I'm going to hear it and use it as best as I can on myself. It really helps.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Write. Write like hell, AK (or whoever else needs a tip!). That's the best advice I can give. You can ask for help, study English, read books/tips about writing, learn from critique meant for others, read other stories, listen to music that inspires you, research, plan and all of that other crap until you're blue in the face.

It means all of shit if you don't write.

Write it whether it's a full-fledged idea, brainstorming or just some random snatch or idea that popped into your head. Keep writing whether it sounds beautiful or retarded. Just write it. Advice is pointless if you don't try writing for yourself; you'll never know what writing method or style works best for you if you don't write for yourself.

If you're like me, you might try to do that and then stop when you get to the "it's retarded" part. I'm disgustingly critical of everything that I write, and I tend to get frustrated and dismiss the entire idea as stupid and a waste of time long before I finish--hell, sometimes it happens after a few sentences. I love my perfect English and complex stories, and I love tearing things that are less than perfect and less than complex and improving them. But if you stop yourself before you start, where's the story to improve? I'm having to teach myself to stop editing (so drastically, anyway) as I go and just bang something out, even if it's absolutely terrible, because I know I'll feel a million times better once the story is actually finished and there on the page. That way I'll feel like I've completed something and have a solid foundation--and then I can take the editing hacksaw to it and make it perfect.

Even if you're not like that about your writing... you still need to write. You'll never be comfortable with anything unless you get out there and get it out. No matter how much you tell yourself "oh, that's good advice" or "oh, I think I'm that kind of writer", you'll never know if anything works for you if you don't buckle down and try.

[/sappy inspirational rant]

On a just-barely-related note, I'd keep some sort of notebook or file where you can write down any ideas as they come to you. Sometimes I'll read something and get hit with this totally awesome idea for a story (or at least an element of a story), but I'll generally forget it later unless I make a note of it straight away. Other times entire sentences or paragraphs of something or other will come to me; they may not be complete or have any sort of relation to anything I'm working on, but write them anyway for the practice. No, seriously, I practically have half of a short story about an apartment building and people tripping over legs that is entirely irrelevant to everything, just because I nearly tripped over someone's legs. It'll probably never amount to anything and I don't care whether or not it does, but I wrote the situation down anyway because it was a chance to practice stuff.

 

[Dragon_night]

If your character can mesh with his respective universe, you've succeeded. This might mean they work in real life; this might mean they flow well against flirtatious fairies and murderous centaurs.

Characters are not simply a description of name, appearance, and personality. 'Kind, determined, and light-hearted until provoked' does not a character make. Your relationship with your character should be close enough that you cannot describe them in a short sentence, much like you can't fully describe your best friends or significant other in five words or less. You could if you really wanted, but then you'd just be scratching the surface -- you might have a sweet, funny friend but you know as well that she's nervous about social situations and needs a small, close-knit group of friends to support her or she can easily emotionally collapse under the stress of school and her family.

Ugg...

I'm an idiot >.>

Okay, I can get what you're saying. That I should probably stop writing things when I need sleep.

I guess the guide's just for people who don't know what the heck to do to make a character. And I realize that it's probably going to only scratch the surface (and I guess I should add it in the guide >.>) But the guide's probably more of a kick start to making them >.> (nothing absolute)

And also remember that not every character is mind-blowingly interesting. Not every human being is interesting! That doesn't stop you from liking them. One of my friends seems very 2-dimensional when you meet her -- she's just a quiet, nice girl who does what she's told. That doesn't stop her from being one of my favorite people. She doesn't fit most of your little character standards -- the most she cares about is her guinea pigs, and if you asked her why the sun went up she'd probably just shrug and say 'because.' She doesn't have a special history (AS MOST PEOPLE DON'T -- I'll return to this.) and she doesn't have many habits.

Does that make her unbelievable? No. That makes her a normal human being.

Why do I keep hearing form everyone I talk to that I need my main characters to all be 3-dimensional? (Grrr, everything contradicts everything <.<)

But uh, yeah, people can seem 2-dimensional when you meet them, including characters. But, when you do start to know them, you can tell that they are 3-dimensional, even if they aren't all that interesting. And I didn't say that you're character's had to be interesting, just that they won't bore the reader. Obviously your friend doesn't bore you, even if she's not interesting.

Are we all like this? No. I love dance -- that would be my 'care.' But just because I care about dance doesn't mean I would sacrifice friends and family and other stuff for it because I care for it 'more than anything.' Caring isn't always vital to a character: you even mentioned in your own post that a past experience can force a character to give up attachments to things or to stop trusting people, et cetera. Or for some characters their lack of caring is part of who they are -- we have plenty of villains that are regarded as great characters that don't have much sense of human emotion. What I'm trying to say is that there is no defining personality trait that makes a character. Just like people.

Well, just because you love something doesn't mean you'll kill for it. Sure, you can love dancing, but it doesn't mean it's what you utmost care about. For all I know, what you care about the most would be human morals, and upstanding with them. If your friends did something immoral then, maybe you would disown them. (But, who knows what you care about. If anything, being human is complex, and finding what they care about most is hard to find. I don't even know what I care about >.>)

Although, I stick with what I said, giving characters the ability to care can make a character, because even uncaring characters care about something, it's just unknown to the readers. Or heck, even if you make a character that doesn't care about anything, if you write them long enough, eventually you'll find it. (Oh yeah, I should have probably put in my guide that nothing set in stone. Grrr, I suck at making these things >.>)

As for 'histories' ... good God, people are obsessed with the idea that all characters must have A DRAMATIC PAST! Which is weird, because most of us have no dramatic past. Hell, half of us can't remember what happened when we were kids, and that half of us still are kids. And those of us that can remember, we know we just grew up, got made fun of in school, and life went on. Very few of us had our parents murdered when we were three, very few of us lived in sixteen countries as we grew up, very few of us were repeatedly raped by our older brother. I know there are some of us who are. But the majority of us are just totally normal. A good character is one that can thrive without having to have a ridiculous backstory. One that stands on its own and doesn't need your infodump to support it.

Uh, not sure if this is directed at me, or just whoever is reading it >.>

But when I said 'give characters a history' I just meant think of some important things that happened in their life that might affect what they do. Like, getting their first pet, only to have it run away. Not exactly interesting, but it might change what the character does later on.

One more thing about these here quotes: how on earth are habits 'small details?' Sometimes the habit makes the man. Sometimes habits become obsessions. Sometimes habits disrupt daily life.

Oh, yeah, you're right >.> *stupid me*

bawepf AHAHAHAHAHA. Bullshit. Books don't have pictures. They're not made of images. Your characters don't have to be goddamn Brad Pitt. Have you ever read Harry Potter? Remember that Hermione was supposed to be nerdy and bookish and bushy-haired, and when at the ball where she took great care of her appearance they flipped out? You ever read any Bradbury, where more often than not the characters are totally left to your imagination, or described in purely general terms? Your characters should be nearly totally unaffected by their own appearance, unless they're

a. a teenager
b. disabled in some way
c. playing genderswap

or something else that qualifies. Your character should be able to stand without the weight of a specific, overdescribed appearance.

Again, you're right >.> (I just notice that rarely do I see anyone described as ugly unless it has to do with the story)

Does your mom name you thinking, 'hmm, he's going to be a brave boy, let's name him Leo?' No. Names are generally irrelevant. A good amount of the books I've read and really enjoyed used names only to differentiate between characters. You would be the same person if you were named Roger, Phillip, or Jesus.

I keep hearing that the name of the character can be pretty important, but I guess it depends on who you ask. (I just find that naming one of my Characters John might go better then naming them Max or whatever)

This isn't to say that everything you've got up here is totally wrong. Generally you have some good ideas -- your character will be affected by experience, and your character can change depending on who they're around. These are good points! However, you have to remember first and foremost that they must be believable, and that means they have to have a personality as a whole, not as separate traits.

Thanks (at least I didn't totally screw up)

And I guess I didn't say it well enough in the guide, but the character isn't made from just separate personality traits, but all of them (that you include), including past, the caring gene, and whatever you decide to throw in.

Oh well, thanks for commenting and pointing out the stupid stuff <.<

*Goes and edits*

 

[octobr]

Seriously, dude, this wasn't a critique of your post -- it was merely building off of your template and explaining further. I'm not trying to say YOU SUUUUCK or anything.

 

[Music Dragon]

On a just-barely-related note, I'd keep some sort of notebook or file where you can write down any ideas as they come to you. Sometimes I'll read something and get hit with this totally awesome idea for a story (or at least an element of a story), but I'll generally forget it later unless I make a note of it straight away. Other times entire sentences or paragraphs of something or other will come to me; they may not be complete or have any sort of relation to anything I'm working on, but write them anyway for the practice. No, seriously, I practically have half of a short story about an apartment building and people tripping over legs that is entirely irrelevant to everything, just because I nearly tripped over someone's legs. It'll probably never amount to anything and I don't care whether or not it does, but I wrote the situation down anyway because it was a chance to practice stuff.

CARRY A NOTEBOOK WITH YOU.

I don't do this, but damn, do I wish I did. Because sometimes I just have these really brilliant ideas, but they seem to vanish before I get the chance to write them down. But if you ALWAYS have a chance to write them down, that won't happen!

 

[octobr]

ALSO: specifically for poets -- when you're at the computer keep an open Notepad window (or any equivalent that you prefer; I do notepad because it's simple and I don't get distracted by loading times or fonts or pages). It's very good for poetry because it's sparse and gives you room to think. But it works just as well for quick story ideas -- I mean like parts of pages, writing out bits of a possible plot, character interactions... all that junk.

 

[octobr]

Ok just one more thing from me for now.

When you're given critique, it's often very specific and demanding. You'll probably find posts decorated with direct quotes and the ways to improve on those particular parts -- however, this does not mean to just fix the sentence as the critic wanted until it's perfect according to the critic. There is no way for us to really say 'it will be better overall if you do ____.' The best we will do is give the piece specific critiques and hope that you can tone those down so that we still get your voice through the improvements we've suggested.


That... probably doesn't make sense. TRUST ME, PLZ