Characters

CadmarLegend

@Agentt found a key in the skeletons.
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How do you create life-like characters? I need advice!
 

Spica66

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This is an incomplete character sheet of my side project. I basically fill the form of mine. Then I imagine myself having a conversation with him. Note all details I can.

Note: There are lots of things I haven't put there. And there are conflicts in the sheet.
 

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K5Rakitan

Level 34 👪 💍 Pronouns: she/whore ♀
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Fall in love with someone and write about that person, but just change a few details.
 

MadmanRB

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Me I just base my characters on aspects of myself: my love, my fear, my happiness, my anger Etc.
This may seem rather "self insert" of me, but it helps me know my characters more.
What's their motivation? What are my characters hopes and dreams?
Know yourself, know your characters.
 
D

Deleted member 45782

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I start off thinking what kind of story/character I want to create and what is the message I'm trying to get across with certain themes and stuff and then branch out. Some ideas I can't tell if I develop main gist of story idea first or the character first. But I do like to create my stories with some real depth to them a bit.

If you want, do a character list like what is sorta done in my writing class:
  • Name ofc, to keep track what character you're doing.
  • Description of what/who they are, their mission and goals, etc.
  • Important traits like physical features or some of their mental aspects. Personality, etc.
    Basically, things that others can tell from interacting with said character.
  • Positive traits vs flaws. Recommend maybe drawing a T chart to see if how many positive vs negative traits. You can also see how some traits are more realistic or believable than other traits if you want to counterbalance it with another trait that is not so believable.
  • How they Overcome their Flaws/Accomplish their Mission: details what they have become like example, overcoming certain fears. Or how do they accomplish their mission? Overcoming flaws can be the middle of a venn diagram between postive vs negative traits.
 

99blueroses

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Here's something unconventional: read a lot of fanfic. And I mean, a LOT.
Most fanfic writers that I read works from are really good at characterization. They got everything down, from inner dialogue to nuanced quirks. Start paying attention to how they express the characters with their own twist. See how they justify the way the characters act. It'd be best if you're familiar with the OG material because then you'll understand the references.
For example: there's this one fanfic about Bakugou Katsuki from MHA wallowing in self-loathing, and it is especially effective because he spirals into thinking why is it that when he fails, he fails for everyone to see. Why is it him, why can't his failures be in private etc.
I personally find characters life-like if they're complicated. I'd take various shades of grey than black and white any day.
 

witch_sorrowful

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There is no easy way of writing a "life-like" character. I guess character sheets are good. They remind you of important things, like what sort of belief they have, what their natural orientation is (e.g. Chaotic Good vs Neutral Evil).

But in essence a character that you will create will not be a real character. It will mirror a real character, but you have to let go of trying to create a life-like one.

Most characters that you come across are defined by conflicts and wants. Usually, it is in shaping these conflicts and dealing with them in a realistic way can you make a "real" character. A character in a novel doesn't speak like a character in real life. Create the right mechanics for dialogues and conflicts and you can make it work.
 

Tblew

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Here's something unconventional: read a lot of fanfic. And I mean, a LOT.
Most fanfic writers that I read works from are really good at characterization. They got everything down, from inner dialogue to nuanced quirks. Start paying attention to how they express the characters with their own twist. See how they justify the way the characters act. It'd be best if you're familiar with the OG material because then you'll understand the references.
For example: there's this one fanfic about Bakugou Katsuki from MHA wallowing in self-loathing, and it is especially effective because he spirals into thinking why is it that when he fails, he fails for everyone to see. Why is it him, why can't his failures be in private etc.
I personally find characters life-like if they're complicated. I'd take various shades of grey than black and white any day.
Reading FF is super helpful. You can see the many ways in which a certain character might act depending on the situation they are in. It gives you great insight.

But the easiest way to make a character more 'real' is to simply treat them like they are real. How would they respond to certain things? How would they react if this or that happened? Etc. Starts off with the basics, and work up from that.
 

CadmarLegend

@Agentt found a key in the skeletons.
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Reading FF is super helpful. You can see the many ways in which a certain character might act depending on the situation they are in. It gives you great insight.

But the easiest way to make a character more 'real' is to simply treat them like they are real. How would they respond to certain things? How would they react if this or that happened? Etc. Starts off with the basics, and work up from that.
So.... first lay out the foundations and build atop that?
 

Tblew

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So.... first lay out the foundations and build atop that?
Yes. When you meet someone, you don't instantly know who they are. It would be the same as how your readers view your characters.
 
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