Writing characters

[Sess]

A lot of times it's obvious where the ideas for some characters comes from. A lot of things about them seem to be combined from different sources of inspiration, things the creator likes, and thinks are cool. Some characters are written to personify certain ideologies, and some to challenge them. I feel many of the best an most meaningful characters are written with parts of the author's self. It gives some people an outlet through with they may express the range of feelings they had, have, or are having during a certain point in their life. In my experience people write many characters the way they would like to see themselves, or they write their issues into a character's personality, and watch them cope with or overcome them as they develop dynamically.


What I'd like to know in this thread is as writers, RP'ers, or both what do you feel is your favorite style of character creation? What are some methods you may use, or know of? What do you feel is important in character creation? If you feel comfortable, what parts of your characters are also parts of yourself?

 

[Saul]

I like to use tvtropes in order to create characters - ordinarily I draft a character around a single trope and then try to change them from there. Alternatively, I build a character around NOT being a certain trope. More recently, I have been considering writing a scifi, so my characters have started taking on traits that I want to bring into that. I don't often have an issue with my characters all seeming too similar. That said, I need to practice altering each characters' lexicon so that while they might have different personalities, they also have different vocabularies. It's something I don't see many writers do, and when they do it's fairly obvious.

I like to caution people from going too extreme with their characters because they shut themselves off from viable plotlines simply because they're unwilling to let their characters grow and develop.

 

[Bee]

Haha, it's funny that you mention tvtropes. That's usually how I get my start as well.

 

[Sess]

I like to use tvtropes in order to create characters - ordinarily I draft a character around a single trope and then try to change them from there. Alternatively, I build a character around NOT being a certain trope. More recently, I have been considering writing a scifi, so my characters have started taking on traits that I want to bring into that. I don't often have an issue with my characters all seeming too similar. That said, I need to practice altering each characters' lexicon so that while they might have different personalities, they also have different vocabularies. It's something I don't see many writers do, and when they do it's fairly obvious.

I like to caution people from going too extreme with their characters because they shut themselves off from viable plotlines simply because they're unwilling to let their characters grow and develop.

I usually just start with one idea, whether its "I want this guy to dual wield" or "I want this char to be of this race" or "I want to create an audacious character" and then I just kinda dwell on that one aspect and before I know it I have a bunch of stuff coming to me. I wrote that into Lanya, at least I tried to. It does make my characters kinda scattered as far as their personality goes, if I can't decide on what direction I'm taking them, I'll just end up getting too many ideas.

That being said, I usually tie my character's initial personality and capabilities to some sort of inner-outer Yin-Yang relationship, mirror, or microcosm macrocosm. They usually make sense to me, though others may not always see the correlations. I do like to write myself or my own character traits into my PCs but I usually exaggerate them to extremes I've felt before, and I explore them the way I think they would affect the particular character, kinda acting it out mentally.

I'm sure there are many TV Tropes that could describe my characters, but I don't think I could go into writing a char and stay on track. I think that's a good skill, because I can't write a traditional char that sticks to any trope. I like to show off their individuality, just like I do my own, though I guess that can be said for many people. I generally try to make my characters seem like people you can relate to and feel things in a way the would, but be different enough that you can remove yourself from their perspective and think they're making bad choices and stuff.

I really enjoy discussing our characters with others, showing my work, and reading other peoples' writing, especially when they try hard. I don't like to give brutally honest critiques though because it can demoralize some people if you spell things out the wrong way. Instead I try to focus on the good, and since we're all part of the human experience, I think everyone has something unique to contribute with their own perspective (even on the same subjects.)

 

[Logan]

I wrote Samael's back story during a summer when I was going through a lot of different shit with this girl I thought I loved. She was doing some shady things that I found out about and I was feeling a lot of anger, betrayal and sadness. I channeled those emotions into a character - to which no surprise ended up a Sith. He's the character I have the most personal connection with and his personality is kind of a darker version of my own. It's really easy for me to slip into his style of thought and speech because it is very similar to mine.

I think that's also why I love the character so much. I like all the characters I have right now, but Samael is the most personal to me. I identify with him. He is me.

 

[Sess]

I think that's also why I love the character so much. I like all the characters I have right now, but Samael is the most personal to me. I identify with him. He is me.

I think that's awesome! I think that's beautiful, though still a bit bittersweet.

 

[Joy Carleec]

When I make a character, I tend to take an aspect of my own personality and inflate and build upon it like a tumour - often exaggerating the emotion(s) that I would associate with it, then throw together whatever I can find into a bubbling pot of babble-speech.

Then I go back over it and refine it further, rewriting areas and cutting out things I don't like until it reveals a little gem that can grow and develop into its own person.

 

[Marf]

I have way too much in common with Satoryu.

I always end up including loads of personal aspects in my characters. I find writing very therapeutic and use my characters and RP as a means of expressing myself. Like Satoryu, I suffer from social incompetence and while I will appear shy, modest and nice, I am harbouring of a lot of very dark issues. Satoryu was always supposed to have a tragic backstory, but I directly avoided using schoolyard bullying because it was too closely related to my own experiences. Like Satoryu, when she was younger, I am for the most part away in my own world, detached from the outside and immersed, to a problematic level, with my imagination and stories. Like Satoryu, I too have a fascination with violence and cruelty, which I developed in my teen years as a coping mechanism for the isolation and psychological agony I was going through. Again like Satoryu, I am also fascinated by beautiful and romantic things.

So yeah, Satoryu is incredibly precious to me which is why I get shitty when she is misinterpreted.

I also have a bit in common with Soren. He's elegant, decadent and Victorian Goth based. Like me, he's also been harboured in his family's home for most of his life and has little experience of the galaxy. Like me, he also suffers from issues with his sexuality.

Satsuki I have very little in common with at all and she was based a little off my real-life sister who is androgynous, tomboyish and suffers from low self-esteem.

 

[Cortan]

To be honest, when it comes to my development of characters - and a lot of stuff for writing really - the exact reason and method tends to vary with each one. The two things that typically tend to stick out though, are the motive behind the character's creation, and the context in which they're being built. Many characters I've built have been kind of a counter response to current situations on forums, both to help diversify the setting but also admittedly also to make the resulting character stick out by sheer contrast. Ie, if a site has a whole lot of anti-heroes, I'll make a straight up hero counter in response, but nevertheless try to flesh them out and make them work in a way that seems to fit the setting. So I made a hero for another space setting, but because it was a galaxy in active turmoil, he made most of his living by way of being a bounty hunter, since it kept him strong survivable whilst having an easy excuse to go travelling about.

Sometimes I start out from a particular power set or archetype I wanna explore, sometimes I start with a story and try to mold a suitable vessel for it. But trying to at least understand what you intended with the character and what they'll go into, certainly helps with easing the transition process.

 

[Sess]

Many characters I've built have been kind of a counter response to current situations on forums, both to help diversify the setting but also admittedly also to make the resulting character stick out by sheer contrast. Ie, if a site has a whole lot of anti-heroes, I'll make a straight up hero counter in response, but nevertheless try to flesh them out and make them work in a way that seems to fit the setting. So I made a hero for another space setting,

I want to reply to all of these posts individually, but I'll hold myself back lmao. That said, I'm reading everything in this thread a few times. I'm glad to read your guys' stuff because I know I'm not the only one. Especially in finding writing therapeutic, in writing a character and revising it several times (because there's people who's first draft is their final, and its GOOD,) and what Cortan said.

If anyone who reads this would ever like an opinion, or to give me one on characters writing, and tips PLEASE do so. I'm encouraging, even asking you to. :GL

 

[Latte]

I usually have one idea and then go from there. For instance, with SWTOR, I have a TON of characters spread across different servers. I decided "I want another Mirialan" or "a Zabrak" and then I design how they look. From there, I start thinking about what their occupation is, what their motivation is. Same process for creating characters in other venues. A few times over the years I've had characters who had a few of my personality traits, though I personally hate to do that a lot because it feels like then they aren't different enough. So generally my characters are a good distance away from who I actually am, because I find it way more interesting to explore other motivations and other personalities (which is why I write fanfiction too). Some of my characters unconsciously end up with a few things similar to me here and there. Gale, my main guy, started out as based on Anakin Skywalker, but he evolved to be way beyond that and he's fairly similar to me. Fenn is loudmouthed and defensive, because she has to be in such a rough galaxy. She originally started out as a Jedi girlfriend for one of my other Jedi, but then she grew to be beyond that.

Which brings me to blathering on about evolution of my characters. They've always started out with a basic concept, and since I developed a habit of mentally plotting everything out instead of writing it down, they go through rapid evolution in a short time. I've had Fenn for about a year now, and she's evolved crazily since then. Jada, another one, originally was just a Sith who had turned to the Dark Side and betrayed the Jedi Order. However, she's gone beyond that to having lost her master, having been mentally unstable before then, and being more diabolical and plotting, rather than just all rage. This happened because I wanted her to be part of the Sith faction here, but then I kept reading how always angry Sith who didn't think were the ones who wouldn't last long, so I changed Jada in a fitting way in order for her to join the Sith Imperium. I ended up going with Indie anyway, but since she actually uses her brain now, it adds depth. Sometimes I want characters to be the typical personality they'd be in their situation, like with Gale and Jada, and then other times I want them to be a different personality despite their situation, or at least have an unexpected side to them (Fenn's caring and generous attitude toward the poor, Nathan's strive to smuggle for money to fund his projects).

Sorry for the long post, I'm bad at articulating things in a short way even if I go back and edit.

 

[Chairdor]

For me, character creation is done with pictures and songs. First I need a good picture, something that already tells me a story. Hiro came from a picture of a post apocalyptic robotic cowboy. He looks rusty, he's a gunslinger, then at the time I saw the movie Django Unchained which had the song 'I Got a Name' Which led me to the idea of a droid without an obvious function or even a name.

Movies are big inspirations for my characters, as Picasso said good artists borrow, great artists steal. If that's the case I must be pretty awesome because I outright steal a lot. For example Mr. Drive here. Earlier on the site I made a mistake of outright following another literary character. While this guy has a few of his own quirks, his general disdain for his honor less race and dual wielding swordsmanship made him feel too much like Drizzt Do'Urden. So while I would encourage taking freely from many forms of media I'd advise against taking from other characters in novels and not to base any character you make here from existing Star Wars stuff. Ultimately you create a more hollow version of the original as I soon discovered.

Often I will do a character in one sitting sometimes that sitting can last many hours, but I never leave something half finished by the end. At the end I hope to give people an idea of the characters main desire. Some want money, power, justice, love, but in the end all of them want something. I try not to give any character a 'quest' as that ultimately limits you and gives you something you don't want on any rp site, a definitive 'end' to a character. In my opinion at least, a characters end should come as a surprise as their creation was interesting and gave them life and plausibility, so too should their death or other end to their story.

I've made some duds in my time, both early works that were too simple or too ambitious , but my greatest sin and something I continue to struggle with is the making of characters willy nilly. I found my hard limit is three any more and I neglect their stories and while this is mainly about writing characters, what truly makes a character is not the sheet it is what comes after

if you can't give the characters you've made proper adventures and growth then you're best off not making them.

Anywho that's my two cents

 

[Miz]

When I make a character, I tend to take an aspect of my own personality and inflate and build upon it like a tumour - often exaggerating the emotion(s) that I would associate with it, then throw together whatever I can find into a bubbling pot of babble-speech.

Then I go back over it and refine it further, rewriting areas and cutting out things I don't like until it reveals a little gem that can grow and develop into its own person.

That's exactly how I do it see Ye, Mitsuki, and Mizchno

 

[Saul]

I'm sure there are many TV Tropes that could describe my characters, but I don't think I could go into writing a char and stay on track. I think that's a good skill, because I can't write a traditional char that sticks to any trope. I like to show off their individuality, just like I do my own, though I guess that can be said for many people. I generally try to make my characters seem like people you can relate to and feel things in a way the would, but be different enough that you can remove yourself from their perspective and think they're making bad choices and stuff.

The point isn't to stick to the trope, it's to let it give you a basic idea of where you want to go. For example, I often use the Well-Intentioned Extremist or The Extremist Was Right to back up my character. Saul, for example, was based off the Knight Templar trope, but is not a copy of it.

Lanya, for example, fits the Anti Hero, Badass Longcoat, Combat Pragmatist, Guns Akimbo, and no doubt more. You don't need to design your character around tvtropes.org tropes in order to be based off a trope. The fact that you have an idea for the character means that it's essentially a trope - you need to make decisions about how a character will act, fight, talk, dress, etc. and all of these have been thought of before. I am imagining you foresaw your character to be a sort of reluctant criminal, one who is a quick shot gunslinger style guy. I can't say for certain where you drew your inspiration from, but I don't intend to say that a character fitting into a trope is a bad thing - tropes exist because they are effective plot tools. Things wouldn't be tropes if they weren't effective (even if it's in their own unusual way).

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

I start with a concept first, basically asking myself "wouldn't it be cool if there was such and such character." and then expanding from there.

For example, when I made nazar, I thought to myself "I want a big guy, whose smart." and from there, I began to slowly build up a character idea from there. Sometimes I do it the other way around, where I see a cool picture and I think "I gotta make a story to go with this", and go from there. Could be a weapon, suit of armor, or regular character pic, it serves as inspiration to be built upon from there.

 

[Sess]

The point isn't to stick to the trope, it's to let it give you a basic idea of where you want to go. For example, I often use the Well-Intentioned Extremist or The Extremist Was Right to back up my character. Saul, for example, was based off the Knight Templar trope, but is not a copy of it.

Lanya, for example, fits the Anti Hero, Badass Longcoat, Combat Pragmatist, Guns Akimbo, and no doubt more. You don't need to design your character around tvtropes.org tropes in order to be based off a trope. The fact that you have an idea for the character means that it's essentially a trope - you need to make decisions about how a character will act, fight, talk, dress, etc. and all of these have been thought of before. I am imagining you foresaw your character to be a sort of reluctant criminal, one who is a quick shot gunslinger style guy. I can't say for certain where you drew your inspiration from, but I don't intend to say that a character fitting into a trope is a bad thing - tropes exist because they are effective plot tools. Things wouldn't be tropes if they weren't effective (even if it's in their own unusual way).

I must admit I did feel like it was a bad thing to be able to be defined, but thats part of my personality because I like to be 'the enigma.' I've been on this site for a few hours and I feel like time has slowed down, I have so many tabs open and I can't close enough of them. I started off with an idea for a character, basically a picture like Duke said.. and a vague sense of what archetype the would fit (using terms and phrasing I found on the website lol.) Then I started looking up a character that popped into my mind (Jack from Mass Effect 2) though only in a vague sense, I went to TV Tropes and now here I am. I really like the idea of the Red Oni Blue Oni trope, which is what I was trying to get at in Lanya's original bio saying he'd like someone to see past his exterior and treat him normally (because people treat him mostly how he wants them to since he 'operates' them in a sense.) I started creating his opposite character, though one I would still play as and I got a Goku-esque loner-badass type guy who's sincerely extroverted, and somewhat oblivious, plus he doesn't have that angsty feel Lanya has underneath his exterior. I'd describe Lanya as placid, but hes a man of many faces, though deep down I guess you could say he's pedantic at worst, and philosophical at best.

This TV Tropes thing is one of the best things I've ever used to help with brainstorming.. I always try and kinda cook only with my own juices and recipes. I am having a hard time finding one trope that could describe Lanya as I see him perfectly, but its like a talent tree in a video game: there's a specialty, he's within it, but his build is somewhat unorthodox or abnormal. (As a side note I have a friend who I think fits the red oni blue oni thing with myself as the red, hes good at nearly any game he picks up, but he'll always question me when I want to try new things because he knows they 'won't work.' They usually don't but w/e! I'm a special snowflake in the end, so who's the real winner?)

Thanks you guys, I'll be looking back here to see more of what you guys have to say. I've been considering creating a faction with the new character I had in mind, but I'm not sure I could keep the active people interested. Hopefully I can make a decision based on what I find here.

:GL

 

[Steel]

My character making process is a bit long.

The character is usually inspired by something I see and think is cool. Grayson was made after I saw a bank robbery movie. Then I expand on that cool concept. I think of all the awesome stuff I could do with that concept (strengths), then all the stupid things I could do with that concept (weaknesses). Then I add a touch of myself to make the character come to life. (Rheas is most like me). Next I add in some sterotypes and/or tropes to complete anything I have left. Then I think long and hard about why my character is who they are, and out pops the backstory. Finally, I add a few small quirks or minor details for flavour before making sure this character is unique and interesting enough to create. If it passes the final test then I make character.

 

[Befallen]

Well, generally, I have two very conflicting manners of creating characters. Either they were created to express, explore and exploit a theme that I find interesting about people (in general) or they develop off of a clean slate. And by that I mean, I stare at my screen until something comes to me. Whatever that 'something' is, I build upon in without thought, just allowing whatever comes to mind to flow onto the screen. As I progress down the character sheet (I have loads of variations saved everywhere. Some are extremely in-depth, others are more vague) the character becomes defined and takes shape. By the time I'm done, that character is (at least) unique (to me). They are far different from how they started because they started off as nothing. No preconceptions, no plans, no nothing. They grew and took shape based on subconscious thought. Maybe it sounds crazy, but by the time I begin writing them, they're so clearly defined in my mind that its more 'them writing' than actually me consciously choosing what happens to them.

Maybe this doesn't make sense to everyone, maybe this means I'm crazy! Wouldn't that be fun! However, this method of madness works for me very well. I also don't tend to think deeper into what motivates my characters as they tend to 'tell me' themselves through me writing them. Conversely, if I have a pre-designed character in mind I'm generally less successful in writing them. Especially the times when I've based the character either loosely or entirely off of myself. In these instances it never feels 'natural' to me.

For instance, Xora was based upon a theme. That theme was power. Absolute power. Its her bedrock. Its what she craves. Desires. Its the thing that drives her to endure anything. And its not just one type of power, but power unattainable. The power to change and shape lives, the power to exploit, the power to build and to ruin, to save and to kill. To rule an entire nation from the shadows and have none be the wiser. The power to never feel weak or vulnerable again. The need for power is what shaped her. Its why she is the way she is. Its why she disregards wealth for its pursuit. Its why she compares the two to different styles of houses. Or, rather mansions. To her power is the brick and mortar mansion that looks more like a castle. Its been standing for time immemorial. It might not look like much, but its endured. People know of it. Are intrigued by it, but no longer understand it. It will always be. Wealth is the lavishly decorated, obnoxiously furnished and gaudily designed mansion of more modern tastes. It is not as sturdily built. It will not last without continuous maintenance. It requires massive upkeep to maintain the facade of power. It will fade. It will be forgotten because there are thousands just like it. Millions even. All the same, all indistinguishable.

Anyways, enough ramblings and revealing the mind of my main character. lol

 

[darkpwns]

When I make characters, I generally word vomit somewhere. Hopefully not on my wall. I just start off with words like Confident, Manipulative, Emotional, Insecure, Heartbroken etc.. And then whichever one I feel most interested in exploring at that given moment, I expand on.

Like for a character I played in an RP on another site, I chose the word broken. I then explored why this character might be broken. This time one sentence concept vomit. Whichever one sentence concept speaks most to me, I explore further. I then design the appearance (or if I'm playing an RP, I find a picture...because I'm too lazy to draw for an RP). The backstory dictates the appearance and the appearance dictates the personality. However, with the visualization of the appearance, I can create a more nuanced personality. From this nuanced personality, I go back to the backstory and add in the character's emotion.

And then, I'm pretty much done with the character.

 

[Blaxican]

I generally design my characters as if they were me, and then add on archetypes or concepts that I'd like to explore.