My Friend's Female Characters

[RinThao]

So I'm currently working on a writing project with a friend of mine. Everything seems fine, right? At the very least that's what I'm trying to convince myself. However, every time I see my friend writes his female characters—he has the need for them to feel "robotic"? I don't know how to describe it, but they certainly don't feel human for sure.

I'll give out an example with one of his characters—Rose. She is the main love interest for his main character, Blake. She's kind and is very optimistic about life, but that's all that is remotely "interesting" about her because when my friend writes her throughout our collaboration, all I see through her vary interaction with my characters, my friend makes Rose talk about Blake. Like, her entire topic is just Blake this and Blake that. And I'm there writing, thinking to myself, "should my characters say something about this weird obsession?"

It isn't just Rose. It's his other female characters like Val, who seem to enjoy talking about Blake for some odd reason? I've read his stories, and throughout the course of his story, not once did Blake do something that would be considered "attractive" or an act that would cause characters to be obsess over him.

I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking things. What kind of female characters do you enjoy? What kind of female characteristics do you think needs to be explored?

 

[Mistapak]

I like female characters who have their own goals and aspirations. Ones who would showcase how they want to achieve said goals so there's more to them than just interacting with MC. Sure they can be in love but if that's all they think or act upon then unless love was their goal from the start, I don't see it working out.

 

[Bobple]

Of course it depends on the story, whether the character is background character, a part of the main cast, or just meant to have one defining characteristics. Even if their only personality trait is "like this certain character", that can be find depending on the story.

But, if you think its a problem then it doesn't hurt to bring it up, especially if its a collaboration. Which is kind of the point to find issues, and discuss differences in opinion to create a even better story.

"What kind of female characters do you enjoy?". Like I said for reading purposes I find with pretty much anything. But during my own writing adventures, male or female I do like to give each of my central characters some even basics likes and dislikes, sometimes hobbies (Other traits depends on the story I want to write).

"It isn't just Rose. It's his other female characters like Val, who seem to enjoy talking about Blake for some odd reason? I've read his stories, and throughout the course of his story, not once did Blake do something that would be considered "attractive" or an act that would cause characters to be obsess over him."
I mean that sounds like hundreds of other stories I've read. Not saying that's a good method of writing but it's one many people do. Like some Harem stories or Parise the MC stories. Those types of stories can be fun, but usually end up average or boring if ones not careful.

 

[Kenjona]

Sounds like your friend wants a "harem" story but is not willing to out themself.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

So I'm currently working on a writing project with a friend of mine. Everything seems fine, right? At the very least that's what I'm trying to convince myself. However, every time I see my friend writes his female characters—he has the need for them to feel "robotic"? I don't know how to describe it, but they certainly don't feel human for sure.

I'll give out an example with one of his characters—Rose. She is the main love interest for his main character, Blake. She's kind and is very optimistic about life, but that's all that is remotely "interesting" about her because when my friend writes her throughout our collaboration, all I see through her vary interaction with my characters, my friend makes Rose talk about Blake. Like, her entire topic is just Blake this and Blake that. And I'm there writing, thinking to myself, "should my characters say something about this weird obsession?"

It isn't just Rose. It's his other female characters like Val, who seem to enjoy talking about Blake for some odd reason? I've read his stories, and throughout the course of his story, not once did Blake do something that would be considered "attractive" or an act that would cause characters to be obsess over him.

I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking things. What kind of female characters do you enjoy? What kind of female characteristics do you think needs to be explored?

I don’t enjoy female characters.

 

[AiLovesToGrow]

The root to good character - female, male, alien, toaster - is empathy. Specifically, a sharing of rhetoric. I mean rhetoric in the classical sense: logos, pathos, ethos. At any point in a story, a person has to connect with a character empathically through one of these three points. Meaning the reader has to find common ground in one of these three ways:

Logos. Common sense, progressive reasoning, A+B=C. If the Demon Lord is going to destroy the world, then it makes sense for the hero to save the world because, minimally, the hero does not want to die. The reader connects with the character because the character acts in a way the reader feels they would act if given the same circumstances.

Pathos. Emotions, passions, wants, desires. When faced with a choice to save the world or save the caring love interest, the hero will save the love interest. Not because the hero is thinking logically, but is moved by the heart. The reader connects with the character because in any given situation, the emotions of the character match the emotions of the reader.

Ethos. Situation, the moment, context, meaning. When given the same choice, but in different places and different times, the hero may decide to kill the Demon Lord, join the Demon Lord or save the Demon Lord. The reader connects with the character based upon their own circumstances or the state of life they are in at the time.

With those tools, a writer takes any character and gives that character a set of values. In short, make a Role Playing Character Sheet. Give the character experiences, likes, dislikes, passions, learning, misunderstandings, quirks, flaws, etc. Fill in some blanks from your own experiences, fill in others with experiences of friends or other people. Research, then fill in with that research. Got all that? Then any time you write that character, constantly ask “what would this character do?” What logically makes sense? What emotions are overriding that logic? What are the circumstances?

If you can do all that, then you can write a character.

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

Hello

I never expect to see fellow NPC from another novel world.

So your friend has a friend that was recognized official female character ?

How I Envy you. As non-character myself, I rarely meet official character in my life.

I can only see side character of the world building, but they rarely talks. They said the producer didn't have enough budget to animate their mouth, let alone their movement.

I still didn't know where my local male/female characters lives, let alone the main protagonist. Idk if I ever met the antagonist tho.

Btw, Does friend's friend has some attachment to your local male character ?
Or even the protagonist ?

 

[Daitengu]

Obsessed characters can be fine when used right, like in the movie Misery.

Unfortunately many writers just was to fantasize instead of write compelling multifaceted characters. Cause that takes research and understanding. I've seen several on this website state, directly and indirectly, they feel it's a waste of time that could be used to have a higher word count.

The question is, does the story even allow time for character depth? If it's constantly got something goin on, there's really not time for it. It's the problem I got with action movies and why I don't watch them anymore. People just stuck in survival mode the whole time gets boring after a while.

 

[StrongArm]

Your friend needs to talk to women, plain & simple. You cant write if you cant relate. Take him out to the pub or a coffee shop or the gym/park or a church/temple, any place where the opposite sex congregates.

You'll do your friend a favor. Not only will you make him a more experienced well rounded individual, but you'll also help him get laid, his writing should naturally improve as a result. You'd be killing three birds with one stone.


If your friend is long distance, then try to get him to read novels by female authors, be honest with him, and tell him he writes his girls like robo fuck dolls.


(The female characters i like to read about the most are violent, bloodthirsty psychos/borderline psychos. Crazy girls in real life are scary as hell, they will crash their car into your livingroom if they think you cheated on them. But crazy girls in fiction? My favorite to read about)

 

[RinThao]

Your friend needs to talk to women, plain & simple. You cant write if you cant relate. Take him out to the pub or a coffee shop or the gym/park or a church/temple, any place where the opposite sex congregates.

You'll do your friend a favor. Not only will you make him a more experienced well rounded individual, but you'll also help him get laid, his writing should naturally improve as a result. You'd be killing three birds with one stone.


If your friend is long distance, then try to get him to read novels by female authors, be honest with him, and tell him he writes his girls like robo fuck dolls.


(The female characters i like to read about the most are violent, bloodthirsty psychos/borderline psychos. Crazy girls in real life are scary as hell, they will crash their car into your livingroom if they think you cheated on them. But crazy girls in fiction? My favorite to read about)

Shit, you right. I think my friend does need to talk to women more often. Would be easy to take him to places with plenty of women if he wasn't so afraid of getting rejected, and his standard of women are too high and unrealistic. Unfortunately, that's not an option...

 

[Deleted member 54065]

So I'm currently working on a writing project with a friend of mine. Everything seems fine, right? At the very least that's what I'm trying to convince myself. However, every time I see my friend writes his female characters—he has the need for them to feel "robotic"? I don't know how to describe it, but they certainly don't feel human for sure.

I'll give out an example with one of his characters—Rose. She is the main love interest for his main character, Blake. She's kind and is very optimistic about life, but that's all that is remotely "interesting" about her because when my friend writes her throughout our collaboration, all I see through her vary interaction with my characters, my friend makes Rose talk about Blake. Like, her entire topic is just Blake this and Blake that. And I'm there writing, thinking to myself, "should my characters say something about this weird obsession?"

It isn't just Rose. It's his other female characters like Val, who seem to enjoy talking about Blake for some odd reason? I've read his stories, and throughout the course of his story, not once did Blake do something that would be considered "attractive" or an act that would cause characters to be obsess over him.

I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking things. What kind of female characters do you enjoy? What kind of female characteristics do you think needs to be explored?

I enjoy FMCs who have actual use and not just the MC's 'rah rah' girls. And also, those who have ambitions themselves, and would never defer those ambitions just to suck up to the MC.

 

[RinThao]

Of course it depends on the story, whether the character is background character, a part of the main cast, or just meant to have one defining characteristics. Even if their only personality trait is "like this certain character", that can be find depending on the story.

But, if you think its a problem then it doesn't hurt to bring it up, especially if its a collaboration. Which is kind of the point to find issues, and discuss differences in opinion to create a even better story.

"What kind of female characters do you enjoy?". Like I said for reading purposes I find with pretty much anything. But during my own writing adventures, male or female I do like to give each of my central characters some even basics likes and dislikes, sometimes hobbies (Other traits depends on the story I want to write).

"It isn't just Rose. It's his other female characters like Val, who seem to enjoy talking about Blake for some odd reason? I've read his stories, and throughout the course of his story, not once did Blake do something that would be considered "attractive" or an act that would cause characters to be obsess over him."
I mean that sounds like hundreds of other stories I've read. Not saying that's a good method of writing but it's one many people do. Like some Harem stories or Parise the MC stories. Those types of stories can be fun, but usually end up average or boring if ones not careful.

The more I think about it. I felt like it didn't bring anything useful to the context of the situation in our collaboration. Like, there's a scene where the villain is falsely killed (he comes back and ambushes the heroes, generic villain stuff), and all Rose talks about is how much of a great man Blake is—the topic just has to be about Blake otherwise it wasn't conversation. That's how I felt, like bro, we just defeated the villain at the time, do we always have to talk about how great your boyfriend is?

It just felt unconsistent in her character. Like, truth be told, when I go back and read her character, her character just dumbed down ever since she started dating his MC, Blake. Which I couldn't fathom or comphrehend how a great character just turned into a—StrongArm said it the best—a "robo fuck doll".

I enjoy FMCs who have actual use and not just the MC's 'rah rah' girls. And also, those who have ambitions themselves, and would never defer those ambitions just to suck up to the MC.

Same here. Btw, huge fan of your work!

 

[Deleted member 54065]

Same here. Btw, huge fan of your work!

Uhm...sorry, I was surprised by your reply; still, thank you (I mostly get negative feedback, see?). What work are you referring to?

 

[RinThao]

Uhm...sorry, I was surprised by your reply; still, thank you (I mostly get negative feedback, see?). What work are you referring to?

What? You get negative feedbacks? I actually enjoy them. And I am referring to The Human Saint is Bored series. I remember reading them when you had 3 volumes at the time. Of course, I don't read them due to time constraints on my schedule, but I usually stop by and read them every now and then.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

What? You get negative feedbacks? I actually enjoy them. And I am referring to The Human Saint is Bored series. I remember reading them when you had 3 volumes at the time. Of course, I don't read them due to time constraints on my schedule, but I usually stop by and read them every now and then.

Man...I'm happy to receive feedback like this, and on this site too. A lot of denizens here hated the harem genre >.<

Still, thanks! Your comment boosted my 'writing mode' even more for Volume 15 (which I'm about to start writing now). ^_^

 

[Lloyd]

Delete all women!

 

[RavenRunes]

He's doing it wrong. She needs to talk about Blake boobily.

 

[SilvoidVorstellung]

So I'm currently working on a writing project with a friend of mine. Everything seems fine, right? At the very least that's what I'm trying to convince myself. However, every time I see my friend writes his female characters—he has the need for them to feel "robotic"? I don't know how to describe it, but they certainly don't feel human for sure.

I'll give out an example with one of his characters—Rose. She is the main love interest for his main character, Blake. She's kind and is very optimistic about life, but that's all that is remotely "interesting" about her because when my friend writes her throughout our collaboration, all I see through her vary interaction with my characters, my friend makes Rose talk about Blake. Like, her entire topic is just Blake this and Blake that. And I'm there writing, thinking to myself, "should my characters say something about this weird obsession?"

It isn't just Rose. It's his other female characters like Val, who seem to enjoy talking about Blake for some odd reason? I've read his stories, and throughout the course of his story, not once did Blake do something that would be considered "attractive" or an act that would cause characters to be obsess over him.

I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking things. What kind of female characters do you enjoy? What kind of female characteristics do you think needs to be explored?

The lack of subtext in the dialogues could make the character sound robotic/inhuman, but that just my guess since I haven't seen how he write it.

 

[PervyCatHermit]

...you can turn his weakness into a strength. Let him write the female robots in your writing project.