Creating a character

[sailor-tan]

Hello NaNoWriMo forum!<3

How do you all create your protagonist/antagonist?
What steps do you take?
What's the hardest part?

When I created a character I usually concoct a general physical appearance
for them. I think when I can picture a character in my mind it's easier for me to
create a basic personality for them.

The absolute hardest part is naming them.
Sometimes, when reading a story, a name can completely throw me off from a
good story. The character could have great structure and a solid foundation...but with
a name like Shadow* Katsumi Blackrose? I just can't do it.

& then there is coming up with the backstory/homelife/current situation- that is another
challenge. No one wants their character to be the typical runaway teenager with dead
parents who were royal vampires. (Not that there is anything wrong with runaways...I
actually had a pretty good idea for an idea with that....so I'm not trying to knock anyone's
story or offend).

** Fun fact: I actually know a girl in real life named Shadow. e_e

[Smextacy]

I don't create characters for writing purposes. I do for art though, like OCs and the like.

I just wanted to agree with your point on names making or breaking it. Anything that channels a bad animu fan-fiction like Shadow or Raven makes me cringe!

[sailor-tan]

Smextacy

I don't create characters for writing purposes. I do for art though, like OCs and the like.

I just wanted to agree with your point on names making or breaking it. Anything that channels a bad animu fan-fiction like Shadow or Raven makes me cringe!

Oh~ so do I. More so for art than writing. Considering I've been on a pretty long haitus/writer's block.
I still give them names though. Which is absolutely brain melting for me.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels like this. My friend has the awesome story but her character's
name is just so....awful. I don't want to tell her though because I don't want to hurt her feelings.
(Not to mention she would have to go back and change everything in her story and it's already
50k+) gonk

[Le King]

No.

Briefly:
You first come up with an internal motivation for your character.

You then come up with how this motivation will shape the character's personality.

Only then you create a physical appearance around your character's personality because it's the personality that dictates the character's appearance and not the other way around.


Doing this process backwards creates flat characters with fitted generic personalities.

Giving them ridiculous names just reinforces this flatness because fun fact: people are not born to fit the names they are given.




My own best character is an adulteress who cheats on her husband because he loves her and their 11-year marriage is perfect. She is 5'10, her eyes are blue, her hair is brown, and not a single one of those hairs is ever out of place. Her name is Margaret.

It's never "because my character has brown hair and blue eyes, and because her name is Margaret, she cheats on her husband."

[sailor-tan]

Le King

No.

Briefly:
You first come up with an internal motivation for your character.

You then come up with how this motivation will shape the character's personality.

Only then you create a physical appearance around your character's personality because it's the personality that dictates the character's appearance and not the other way around.


Doing this process backwards creates flat characters with fitted generic personalities.

Giving them ridiculous names just reinforces this flatness because fun fact: people are not born to fit the names they are given.




My own best character is an adulteress who cheats on her husband because he loves her and their 11-year marriage is perfect. She is 5'10, her eyes are blue, her hair is brown, and not a single one of those hairs is ever out of place. Her name is Margaret.

It's never "because my character has brown hair and blue eyes, and because her name is
Margaret, she cheats on her husband."

I don't think you understand what I was saying. Obviously a character's hair color and
eye color doesn't dictate how they act and the actions they take. Unless your character is a
rebellious teenager who dies their hair blue in an act to infuriate their uptight parents. Then
someone's hair color could represent a hint of their personality.

A person's physical appearance does have an affect on how other's/readers perceive their
personalities. Your character has perfectly maintained hair, that says something about her
personality. Does is it say she is going to cheat on her husband? No. It does say something
though.

I know people are not born to fit their names. That is ridiculous. My parent's named me Tesla.
It doesn't mean I'm a scientist or love 80's music. I was simply saying in a novel a name should
be tasteful and appealing to readers.

I'm an artist first and a writer second. I like to visualize first. There is no right way to build a
character. It is all a matter of opinion. Making a bulleted list of personality traits and trying to
abide by them makes for a flat character. Having general ideas on how you would want a character
to react to situations is different.

All in all, it's a matter of opinion and personal preference.

[Tempest Lorelay]

Naming them is hard. Sometimes I can do it in second, but others it will take weeks. The character will be only noted as Char. A or 1 until I name the caharcter. Sometimes I have to ask my friends for a name. sweatdrop

[Le King]

Basielle

All in all, it's a matter of opinion* and personal preference**

* & ** books about how to create characters.


Even visual artists brainstorm what inspirations and ideas they want to convey through their art, and then they shape their art according to the message they want to convey.

This is why drawing animu isn't art, but that's unrelated.

Quote:

Unless your character is a
rebellious teenager who dies their hair blue in an act to infuriate their uptight parents. Then
someone's hair color could represent a hint of their personality.

No. Your character dyes his hair blue because he wants to infuriate his uptight parents.
He does not want to infuriate his uptight parents because his hair is blue.

Please pay attention to the signifier and word order; ignoring these makes the meaning of a sentence confusing to understand.

Cause: hates parents
Effect: blue hair

You do not start with an effect and develop your way to a cause as an afterthought.
Also, using "their" is not a proper way to substitute for gender neutrally.



While I am not saying you must follow any educational books that explain how to properly develop characters written by people with experience, I am saying the absolutely totally 100% universal result of what happens when people develop blue hair first and "fit" a personality to kind of sort explain why that hair is blue - as an afterthought - creates Bella Swan.

[sailor-tan]

Tempest Lorelay

Naming them is hard. Sometimes I can do it in second, but others it will take weeks. The character will be only noted as Char. A or 1 until I name the caharcter. Sometimes I have to ask my friends for a name. sweatdrop

I know what you mean. sweatdrop
Except I only have one friend that writes other than me....
and honestly, she isn't that good with names. *sigh*
When I ask any of my other friend's they give me ridiculous
names like Agnus or Bertha. xD

I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to name my
children. gonk

[Le King]

Basielle

Agnus or Bertha.

But these are good names! emotion_0A0


Things like Rosalinda and Marquette and Jessybella and hell, Wendeline are terrible names. Frankly I'd be happy to see Angus and Bertha as often as I see stupid s**t like Melenia Tera.

[Tempest Lorelay]

Basielle

Tempest Lorelay

Naming them is hard. Sometimes I can do it in second, but others it will take weeks. The character will be only noted as Char. A or 1 until I name the caharcter. Sometimes I have to ask my friends for a name. sweatdrop

I know what you mean. sweatdrop
Except I only have one friend that writes other than me....
and honestly, she isn't that good with names. *sigh*
When I ask any of my other friend's they give me ridiculous
names like Agnus or Bertha. xD

I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to name my
children. gonk

Oh wow. Maybe with this forum you can find online friends that you can ask for names.That what I did. Truthfully, I only maybe six friends in real life that are writers. I have over 20 online friends that help me more.

As for your children, I have faith in you. You will find a great name for every child you have. My aunt couldn't name my cousin until the day gave birth to him. She looked at face and said Hello Michael.

[sailor-tan]

Le King

Basielle

All in all, it's a matter of opinion* and personal preference**

* & ** books about how to create characters.


Even visual artists brainstorm what inspirations and ideas they want to convey through their art, and then they shape their art according to the message they want to convey.

This is why drawing animu isn't art, but that's unrelated.

Quote:

Unless your character is a
rebellious teenager who dies their hair blue in an act to infuriate their uptight parents. Then
someone's hair color could represent a hint of their personality.

No. Your character dyes his hair blue because he wants to infuriate his uptight parents.
He does not want to infuriate his uptight parents because his hair is blue.

Please pay attention to the signifier and word order; ignoring these makes the meaning of a sentence confusing to understand.

Cause: hates parents
Effect: blue hair

You do not start with an effect and develop your way to a cause as an afterthought.
Also, using "their" is not a proper way to substitute for gender neutrally.


While I am not saying you must follow any educational books that explain how to properly develop characters written by people with experience, I am saying the absolutely totally 100% universal result of what happens when people develop blue hair first and "fit" a personality to kind of sort explain why that hair is blue - as an afterthought.

First of all, there is absolutely no reason to be rude with me. : /

I do see your point and agree with you on a lot of it.
I am not a professional writer and I have no intentions on being one.
Writing is a hobby for me so I fully intended to make my characters the
way I prefer, within my comfort zone.

I will disagree with you though on one aspect- just because thousands of professional writers
agree they like to create a character like that does not make it the correct way.
Does it make a better character? Probably.
I could write a bunch of cliche traits and pull them out of a hat and write a story based
on the character of the outcome and it doesn't make it any less of a character.

This thread wasn't made for discussing the right way to do it.
I wasn't saying "This is how you do it. Now everyone make a character just like I do."
I was asking for other people to share their techniques and things they struggle with.

[sailor-tan]

Le King

Basielle

Agnus or Bertha.

But these are good names! emotion_0A0


Things like Rosalinda and Marquette and Jessybella and hell, Wendeline are terrible names. Frankly I'd be happy to see Angus and Bertha as often as I see stupid s**t like Melenia Tera.

I had a great aunt named Angus and when I think of that name I can't help but picturing
her.
When I hear Bertha I think of this game at this pizza parlor's arcade where is was a giant inflatable
woman and you threw balls in her mouth. gonk

& I'll agree that those are all terrible, terrible names.

[Le King]

@ Bas: fair enough!

I was fishing for an argument I could turn back into challenge that would serve as an encouragement, but that failed, so I'll drop it. sweatdrop


I'm going around motivating people; this kind of approach usually works, but unfortunately not on you. :<

So, er, keep up the good work!




Anyway, the hardest part about creating characters for me is carrying them through the story while knowing from the very beginning that way that they will die.

[Le King]

Basielle

Le King

Basielle

Agnus or Bertha.

But these are good names! emotion_0A0


Things like Rosalinda and Marquette and Jessybella and hell, Wendeline are terrible names. Frankly I'd be happy to see Angus and Bertha as often as I see stupid s**t like Melenia Tera.

I had a great aunt named Angus and when I think of that name I can't help but picturing
her.
When I hear Bertha I think of this game at this pizza parlor's arcade where is was a giant inflatable
woman and you threw balls in her mouth. gonk

& I'll agree that those are all terrible, terrible names.

/shudder
I guess there are some personal associations with names that we just can't overlook. rofl

To me, Angus and Bertha sound like a farmer couple who live in in an isolated farmhouse. Angus loves his tractor and Bertha collects dolls. When people passing by get flat tires, Angus and Bertha invite them to their lovely farm house where they serve them tea and steak and let them spend the night, which is when sedative kicks in and they hang their guests on meathooks, gut them, and serve them as steak to their next guests.

@___@;;;

Yeah, you got a good point. No Angus and Bertha. e___e;


I like average names like Jane and Elle. One syllable, tells virtually nothing of their personalities. It's like fill in the blank. :3

[sailor-tan]

Le King

^fair enough!

I was fishing for an argument I could turn back into challenge that would serve as an encouragement, but that failed, so I'll drop it. sweatdrop


I'm going around motivating people; this kind of approach usually works, but unfortunately not on you. :<

So, er, keep up the good work!




Anyway, the hardest part about creating characters for me is carrying them through the story while knowing from the very beginning that way that they will die.

It's okay, no hard feelings, haha.
I don't take harsh criticism well. Constructive, yes.
I'm kinda' a baby. sweatdrop

Oh yes- I know where you are coming from.
In my creative writing course I had an assignment to write a short story
that was suppose to tell the story of man vs society where a character
has to cope with being different in some way. Like homosexuality, teen
pregnancy, interracial relationship...something like that.
My character was a woman in her early twenties who was agnostic with
very strict holy-rolling parents. It was mainly focused on her relationship
with her mother...Anywho, rambling, then entire time I was writing it I knew
that she was going to take her own life. It was kinda' difficult for me.
Especially since I don't write many stories where my characters die.

If that is even what you were referring to. xD