developing your ocs is 50% waiting for bursts of divine inspiration like an oracle sleeping next the vapours seeping from fissures in the temple floor and 50% stalking them in your mind relentlessly like a persistence predator until they tire out enough for you to get close and scamper away with the bloody scraps of "eye colour: brown" and "dislikes: people who think they're funny" clutched in your mouth like a hunting trophy

Sometimes they sneak up behind you with a 2x4 while you're busy doing something else and that's going to leave some damage you're just not going to recover from.

Sometimes they whisper in your ear some fleeting revelation that's absolutely incredible, and it's always at a time when you're unable to record it anywhere, so you get to just watch it slip between your fingers like the water from your writers-blocked tears.

Good Traits Gone Bad

Exploring good traits gone bad in a novel can add depth and complexity to your characters. Here are a few examples of good traits that can take a negative turn:

1. Empathy turning into manipulation: A character with a strong sense of empathy may use it to manipulate others' emotions and gain an advantage.

2. Confidence becoming arrogance: Excessive confidence can lead to arrogance, where a character belittles others and dismisses their opinions.

3. Ambition turning into obsession: A character's ambition can transform into an unhealthy obsession, causing them to prioritize success at any cost, including sacrificing relationships and moral values.

4. Loyalty becoming blind devotion: Initially loyal, a character may become blindly devoted to a cause or person, disregarding their own well-being and critical thinking.

5. Courage turning into recklessness: A character's courage can morph into reckless behavior, endangering themselves and others due to an overestimation of their abilities.

6. Determination becoming stubbornness: Excessive determination can lead to stubbornness, where a character refuses to consider alternative perspectives or change their course of action, even when it's detrimental.

7. Optimism becoming naivety: Unwavering optimism can transform into naivety, causing a character to overlook dangers or be easily deceived.

8. Protectiveness turning into possessiveness: A character's protective nature can evolve into possessiveness, where they become overly controlling and jealous in relationships.

9. Altruism becoming self-neglect: A character's selflessness may lead to neglecting their own needs and well-being, to the point of self-sacrifice and burnout.

10. Honesty becoming brutal bluntness: A character's commitment to honesty can turn into brutal bluntness, hurting others with harsh and tactless remarks.

These examples demonstrate how even admirable traits can have negative consequences when taken to extremes or used improperly. By exploring the complexities of these traits, you can create compelling and multi-dimensional characters in your novel.

Happy writing!

YESSSSS let’s see both sides of traits in characters!!! I love it!

if you’re white and wanna write a poc character and feel awkward about it i implore you to ignore any twitblr stuff treating it as a massive ethical burden and instead come in more with the same mindset you’d have if you wanted to write about idk firefighters but didn’t know anything about firefighters so you do... research. Like fuck off with the weird kinda creepy calls for spiritual introspection you’re not writing about god damn space aliens you’re writing about humans and if you think you need more perspective of different life experiences just read?

If I were writing about firefighters I'd also, in addition to just reading about them, take advantage of Our Blessed Internet to ask actual firefighters about how shit works. I'd do the same for a minority I'm not a part of.

I remember when there was this LiveJournal community where you could just ask about anything you needed for your novel - medicine, professions, vehicles, how things function in country X - and people who knew something about that would answer.

We need to bring this back.

And apparently just this summer they DID bring it back - it's called Little Details and it's on Dreamwidth!!!!

I have done a post about this before, but I tried to find it and well you know the tumblr search engine.

So I will say it again.

STOP SHITTING ON YOUR WORK IN THE TAGS AND SUMMARY ON AO3.

My god, please don't hate yourself this much. Self deprecating on a website where people go to read about fictional characters doing things we all make up, isn't as funny as maybe you think it is.

If you post in the summary "Old and bad, readers be warned," I am going to take you at your word and not read it because you said it is bad.

Be kinder to your past self who was learning and having fun for the love of pete.

You were brave enough to post, be brave enough to respect yourself and the work you did.

LET’S GO A STEP FURTHER…

What if we actually ENJOYED our own work?

Can we admit that we’re good at something, or at least tried hard, or we like what we make, without us thinking it’s arrogant or prideful?

I love reading what I’ve written.

It’s literally the one area of my life where I feel competent. And I work hard at it too.

When I share something I’ve created, I want to be able to unabashedly be like, “Look!! I think this is awesome and I think you will too!” 🥹

Is it gonna be for everyone? No. And that’s okay. But why would I drag it down? There will always be growth and improvement to be had. But we can also give ourselves a little credit along the way. 💕 And even if it doesn’t get the reach or reception you hope for… Can you at least enjoy it? Otherwise, what’s the point? 😜

I know there are all kinds of explanations and nuances, buttttt…

Dang, this is fascinating! So many interesting comments and thoughts left in the tags. And it's so close! I love it! :D