writeworld-blog reblogged
Writing Antagonists, Antiheroes and Villains
Obviously there’s a lot of overlap between the three, despite their differences, which is why this is all one post. In fact, some of the articles have one of those words in their title but the content of the article belongs in one of the other categories.
I think the links about the antagonist’s journey are some of the most interesting on this list.
Antiheroes
Heroes and Anti-Heroes - What’s the difference? Anti-heroes in Science Fiction Movies 5 Types of Anti-Heroes You Need More Scoundrels in Your Life: How to Write a Han Solo Hero in Six Easy Steps! Han Versus Luke – Who’s the Better Hero? Defining and Developing Your Anti-Hero, excerpt from Bullies, Bastards & Bitches by Jessica Page Morrell 4 Ways to Make Your Antihero Deliciously Irresistible
Antagonists
When Being Bad is Good: Creating a Great Antagonist Being Evil: Plotting From the Antagonist’s Perspective 10 Traits of a Strong Antagonist 12 Tips On How To Write Antagonists Your Readers Will Love To Hate Types of antagonist Seven Types of Antagonists Ten Tips for a Terrific Antagonist 10 Essential Tips for Writing Antagonists How To Write The Bad Guy Likable Villains 3 Traits Your Hero and Villain Should Share Guide to Writing a Villain A Guide to Villainous Motivations
Villains
Guide to Writing a Villain Creating an Interesting Bad Guy The Sympathetic Villain WriteWorld: Villains Exploring The Dark Side: The Anti-Hero’s Journey - despite the title, this article is about villains, not antiheroes as the term is usually understood Killer Personalities The Antagonist’s Epiphany How to Create a Credible Villain in Fiction How to Avoid Creating a Weak Villain 5 Characteristics of an Epic Villain Writing a Great Villain 14 Motives for Becoming a Supervillain Writing Villains Vs. Writing Heroes Villains Are People Too, But… A Short Defence of Villains by Agnes Repplier Villains: because a good bad guy is the author’s best friend. The Other in Fiction: Creating Wonderfully Wicked Villains Three-Dimensional Villains: Finding Your Character’s Shadow 10 Traits of Highly-Effective Villains Writing Tips #79:How To Write Better Villains Villains by Vicki Hinze The Sixteen Villain Archetypes
The Antagonist’s Journey
You’re welcome to use these creative writing worksheets for teaching in class or online. I only ask that you do not redistribute them as your own. Thank you!
If you’re short on time, you can download 1 master PDF containing all of the worksheets in the Coterie Library.
Source: eadeverell.com
writeworld-blog reblogged
Anonymous asked:
I'm trying to develop a character who's arrogant, has a big ego, and needs to be reminded to think about how his actions affect others - all without turning him into someone hateful. Right now my writing keeps wavering between "100% jerk" and "woobie who can't think mean thoughts." Does anyone have any tips to keep him true to what he's supposed to be, without being too unlikeable?
So, we’ve talked about character likability before, but this is a question I’m seeing crop up in the ask box a lot recently.
To start, here’s just a friendly reminder that we have a navigation page.
‘Likeability’ is located under the ‘Character Help’ section, and there we have this response I wrote a while back which breaks down how to present an unlikeable character as likeable.
As a summary, in the case of a character like this, it is more important how you present the information, over what the information itself is. The ‘information’ here, being that your character ‘has a big ego’, ‘needs to be reminded to think about how his actions affect others’, but ‘isn’t hateful’.
Since you’re the writer, you need to feed the information to your reader(s) in a way that makes them feel positive towards the character (as this is what you want). A really good example of this type of character for you to look at is Moses, in Dreamworks’ The Prince of Egypt. I’ll refer to him throughout, but in general, here is how to write a potential jerk character as likeable:
1. Juxtapose the Good and the Bad
You already have your character’s flaws worked out, so what about the good stuff? We have one to start with: he’s not hateful, which means he doesn’t do cruel things with the intention of being cruel, even if his arrogance leads to him doing cruel things in the first place.
This is exactly how Moses is in The Prince of Egypt.
It helps that the first we see of Moses, is through the eyes of his family as they desperately try to save his life from the slaughter befalling baby Hebrew boys. We see their pain, fear, and worry as they smuggle him to the river’s edge, and release him into the water. So our first glimpse of Moses is that he is helpless and vulnerable, but also incredibly, incredibly lucky to survive the perils ahead of him, and be welcomed into the house of the Pharaoh himself.
The next we see of Moses, however, is him riding through the streets with his brother, Rameses, causing a huge amount of chaos and upset for the ordinary people there. They ruin a temple that the enslaved Hebrews have worked under the crack of a whip to build. What this tells us is that, in his sheltered, privileged life, Moses has become complacent, selfish, and arrogant. He does what he wants, because he can.
Yet… he is also honourable. He readily takes the blame for what they did afterwards, and encourages their father to show mercy on Rameses. This is important because in comparison to the reckless Moses we saw charging through the streets, we now see a fair-minded, humble Moses. He isn’t power hungry. He doesn’t wallow in self-pity over the fact that it will be his brother, Rameses, who will inherit the mantle of Pharaoh. He seems genuinely interested in helping Rameses to gain a better relationship with their father…
Only for him to go straight back to his cunning, childlike foolishness in the very next scene. He wants to help Rameses, sure, but for him it’s funny to see Rameses get in trouble, and to torment Hotep and Huy. This scene reiterates that Moses is carefree of what he does to others. In harsher terms, he’s ignorant and cruel to people in the name of having fun.
But then we have to…
2. Consider the Consequences
The way to remedy the negative effects this type of behaviour would usually have, is to show the reader that either,
- Your character can express remorse, or make an effort to right the wrong he has committed; or
- The wrong is inconsequential, or played down as mere tomfoolery.
Alongside the opening number in The Prince of Egypt, we see the toil and slavery that builds the setting of the story around us. Any sympathy we have after Moses and Rameses damage the temple should only be directed at the slaves who worked to build it.
Yet we don’t see, at this stage, any direct consequence on anybody but Moses and Rameses. Nobody gets whipped or beaten. There are no guards yelling at the workers for what has been done. What we see is the Pharaoh scolding his eldest son, Rameses, whilst Moses is mostly left out of it. Plus, all we have really seen of Rameses at this stage is him as a much younger child, desperately reaching for his mother’s attention after she fishes Moses out of the water. Now his own father is treating him harshly, whilst apparently favouring Moses. It is Rameses we feel sorry for here, because he is the one facing the consequences.
The reason we don’t hate Moses for this, is because he then tries to make things better by asking the Pharaoh to go easy on his brother, which shows he can be sorry for what he has done, and that his aim isn’t to be cruel, even if his actions look that way at first.
We can see this notion of consequences appear again in the scenes afterwards, as Hotep and Huy are one matter, Tzipporah (the captive Midian woman Moses allows to fall back into the water) is another. Hotep and Huy are comic relief characters when Moses drops the sack of water on them. There’s no real consequence to what has been done, at least not to Moses, because 1) it is Rameses again who is stood in the spotlight, and 2) the worst Hotep and Huy can do is run to the Pharaoh, and all the Pharaoh will do is scold Rameses. There’s no real consequence, as Hotep and Huy aren’t injured, and are relatively privileged themselves.
Tzipporah, however, is there in the palace against her will. We see her fighting to be free, and refusing to bend to the will of the elite. Moses’ natural instinct is to protect what he knows, which is the Pharaoh and the people around them. He wants to embarrass her, because to him, her indignance is disrespectful. Of course, what he does do is in poor humour; Tzipporah is degraded and embarrassed in front of a whole crowd of people, and Moses is immediately invited to feel shame about it when his mother shows disapproval. There was none of that in the earlier scenario with Hotep and Huy. It was a much more lighthearted affair in comparison.
So we get to see that Moses can feel ashamed of his actions, and does, as he later helps Tzipporah to escape as a way of making up for what he did.
To summarize, if you can’t have your character make up for the wrong he does, then downplay the wrong to be inconsequential, so that the reader doesn’t have anybody else to feel sorry for, or compare the main character to in a negative way.
Then comes the most important part…
3. Redemption
Even if your character has these flaws, you need to show that the more positive traits are able to quell them. Moses doesn’t lose his playful, lighthearted nature, it just grows into a more harmless version of what it was. Instead of belittling and hurting other people in the name of fun, he instead chooses to save the Midian High Priest’s three young daughters from bandits. With age, he calms down, and becomes a hard-working, trusted member of Jethro’s desert village. The rest, you probably know… and if not, I’d highly recommend you watch it…!
All characters should grow throughout the story. It helps the reader to understand who the character is, and where their morals lie. So long as your character isn’t always stuck in the mischievous, arrogance stage, the reader will be able to appreciate his more positive traits as and when you reveal them.
I hope this helps, Anon. As always, keep an eye on follower responses via replies/reblogs, as more helpful information could be added there…!
Best of luck.
- enlee
writeworld-blog reblogged
Writing with Color: Description Guide - Words for Skin Tone
We discussed the issues describing People of Color by means of food in Part I of this guide, which brought rise to even more questions, mostly along the lines of “So, if food’s not an option, what can I use?” Well, I was just getting to that!
This final portion focuses on describing skin tone, with photo and passage examples provided throughout. I hope to cover everything from the use of straight-forward description to the more creatively-inclined, keeping in mind the questions we’ve received on this topic.
So let’s get to it.
S T A N D A R D D E S C R I P T I O N
B a s i c C o l o r s
Pictured above: Black, Brown, Beige, White, Pink.
“She had brown skin.”
- This is a perfectly fine description that, while not providing the most detail, works well and will never become cliché.
- Describing characters’ skin as simply brown or beige works on its own, though it’s not particularly telling just from the range in brown alone.
C o m p l e x C o l o r s
These are more rarely used words that actually “mean” their color. Some of these have multiple meanings, so you’ll want to look into those to determine what other associations a word might have.
Pictured above: Umber, Sepia, Ochre, Russet, Terra-cotta, Gold, Tawny, Taupe, Khaki, Fawn.
- Complex colors work well alone, though often pair well with a basic color in regards to narrowing down shade/tone.
For example: Golden brown, russet brown, tawny beige…
- As some of these are on the “rare” side, sliding in a definition of the word within the sentence itself may help readers who are unfamiliar with the term visualize the color without seeking a dictionary.
“He was tall and slim, his skin a russet, reddish-brown.”
- Comparisons to familiar colors or visuals are also helpful:
“His skin was an ochre color, much like the mellow-brown light that bathed the forest.”
M o d i f i e r s
Modifiers, often adjectives, make partial changes to a word.The following words are descriptors in reference to skin tone.
D a r k - D e e p - R i c h - C o o l
W a r m - M e d i u m - T a n
F a i r - L i g h t - P a l e
Rich Black, Dark brown, Warm beige, Pale pink…
If you’re looking to get more specific than “brown,” modifiers narrow down shade further.
- Keep in mind that these modifiers are not exactly colors.
- As an already brown-skinned person, I get tan from a lot of sun and resultingly become a darker, deeper brown. I turn a pale, more yellow-brown in the winter.
- While best used in combination with a color, I suppose words like “tan” “fair” and “light” do work alone; just note that tan is less likely to be taken for “naturally tan” and much more likely a tanned White person.
- Calling someone “dark” as description on its own is offensive to some and also ambiguous. (See: Describing Skin as Dark)
U n d e r t o n e s
Undertones are the colors beneath the skin, seeing as skin isn’t just one even color but has more subdued tones within the dominating palette.
- Mentioning the undertones within a character’s skin is an even more precise way to denote skin tone.
- As shown, there’s a difference between say, brown skin with warm orange-red undertones (Kelly Rowland) and brown skin with cool, jewel undertones (Rutina Wesley).
“A dazzling smile revealed the bronze glow at her cheeks.”
“He always looked as if he’d ran a mile, a constant tinge of pink under his tawny skin.”
Standard Description Passage
“Farah’s skin, always fawn, had burned and freckled under the summer’s sun. Even at the cusp of autumn, an uneven tan clung to her skin like burrs. So unlike the smooth, red-brown ochre of her mother, which the sun had richened to a blessing.”
-From my story “Where Summer Ends” featured in Strange Little Girls
- Here the state of skin also gives insight on character.
- Note my use of “fawn” in regards to multiple meaning and association. While fawn is a color, it’s also a small, timid deer, which describes this very traumatized character of mine perfectly.
Though I use standard descriptions of skin tone more in my writing, at the same time I’m no stranger to creative descriptions, and do enjoy the occasional artsy detail of a character.
C R E A T I V E D E S C R I P T I O N
Whether compared to night-cast rivers or day’s first light…I actually enjoy seeing Characters of Colors dressed in artful detail.
I’ve read loads of descriptions in my day of white characters and their “smooth rose-tinged ivory skin”, while the PoC, if there, are reduced to something from a candy bowl or a Starbucks drink, so to actually read of PoC described in lavish detail can be somewhat of a treat.
Still, be mindful when you get creative with your character descriptions. Too many frills can become purple-prose-like, so do what feels right for your writing when and where. Not every character or scene warrants a creative description, either. Especially if they’re not even a secondary character.
Using a combination of color descriptions from standard to creative is probably a better method than straight creative. But again, do what’s good for your tale.
N A T U R AL S E T T I N G S - S K Y
Pictured above: Harvest Moon -Twilight, Fall/Autumn Leaves, Clay, Desert/Sahara, Sunlight - Sunrise - Sunset - Afterglow - Dawn- Day- Daybreak, Field - Prairie - Wheat, Mountain/Cliff, Beach/Sand/Straw/Hay.
- Now before you run off to compare your heroine’s skin to the harvest moon or a cliff side, think about the associations to your words.
- When I think cliff, I think of jagged, perilous, rough. I hear sand and picture grainy, yet smooth. Calm. mellow.
- So consider your character and what you see fit to compare them too.
- Also consider whose perspective you’re describing them from. Someone describing a person they revere or admire may have a more pleasant, loftier description than someone who can’t stand the person.
“Her face was like the fire-gold glow of dawn, lifting my gaze, drawing me in.”
“She had a sandy complexion, smooth and tawny.”
- Even creative descriptions tend to draw help from your standard words.
F L O W E R S
Pictured above: Calla lilies, Western Coneflower, Hazel Fay, Hibiscus, Freesia, Rose
- It was a bit difficult to find flowers to my liking that didn’t have a 20 character name or wasn’t called something like “chocolate silk” so these are the finalists.
- You’ll definitely want to avoid purple-prose here.
- Also be aware of flowers that most might’ve never heard of. Roses are easy, as most know the look and coloring(s) of this plant. But Western coneflowers? Calla lilies? Maybe not so much.
“He entered the cottage in a huff, cheeks a blushing brown like the flowers Nana planted right under my window. Hazel Fay she called them, was it?”
A S S O R T E D P L A N T S & N A T U R E
Pictured above: Cattails, Seashell, Driftwood, Pinecone, Acorn, Amber
- These ones are kinda odd. Perhaps because I’ve never seen these in comparison to skin tone, With the exception of amber.
- At least they’re common enough that most may have an idea what you’re talking about at the mention of “pinecone.“
- I suggest reading out your sentences aloud to get a better feel of how it’ll sounds.
“Auburn hair swept past pointed ears, set around a face like an acorn both in shape and shade.”
- I pictured some tree-dwelling being or person from a fantasy world in this example, which makes the comparison more appropriate.
- I don’t suggest using a comparison just “cuz you can” but actually being thoughtful about what you’re comparing your character to and how it applies to your character and/or setting.
W O O D
Pictured above: Mahogany, Walnut, Chestnut, Golden Oak, Ash
- Wood is definitely an iffy description for skin tone. Not only due to several of them having “foody” terminology within their names, but again, associations.
- Some people would prefer not to compare/be compared to wood at all, so get opinions, try it aloud, and make sure it’s appropriate to the character if you do use it.
“The old warlock’s skin was a deep shade of mahogany, his stare serious and firm as it held mine.”
M E T A L S
Pictured above: Platinum, Copper, Brass, Gold, Bronze
- Copper skin, brass-colored skin, golden skin…
- I’ve even heard variations of these used before by comparison to an object of the same properties/coloring, such as penny for copper.
- These also work well with modifiers.
“The dress of fine white silks popped against the deep bronze of her skin.”
G E M S T O N E S - M I N E R A LS
Pictured above: Onyx, Obsidian, Sard, Topaz, Carnelian, Smoky Quartz, Rutile, Pyrite, Citrine, Gypsum
- These are trickier to use. As with some complex colors, the writer will have to get us to understand what most of these look like.
- If you use these, or any more rare description, consider if it actually “fits” the book or scene.
- Even if you’re able to get us to picture what “rutile” looks like, why are you using this description as opposed to something else? Have that answer for yourself.
“His skin reminded her of the topaz ring her father wore at his finger, a gleaming stone of brown, mellow facades.”
P H Y S I C A L D E S C R I P T I ON
- Physical character description can be more than skin tone.
- Show us hair, eyes, noses, mouth, hands…body posture, body shape, skin texture… though not necessarily all of those nor at once.
- Describing features also helps indicate race, especially if your character has some traits common within the race they are, such as afro hair to a Black character.
- How comprehensive you decide to get is up to you. I wouldn’t overdo it and get specific to every mole and birthmark. Noting defining characteristics is good, though, like slightly spaced front teeth, curls that stay flopping in their face, hands freckled with sunspots…
G E N E R A L T I P S
- Indicate Race Early: I suggest indicators of race be made at the earliest convenience within the writing, with more hints threaded throughout here and there.
- Get Creative On Your Own: Obviously, I couldn’t cover every proper color or comparison in which has been “approved” to use for your characters’ skin color, so it’s up to you to use discretion when seeking other ways and shades to describe skin tone.
- Skin Color May Not Be Enough: Describing skin tone isn’t always enough to indicate someone’s ethnicity. As timeless cases with readers equating brown to “dark white” or something, more indicators of race may be needed.
- Describe White characters and PoC Alike: You should describe the race and/or skin tone of your white characters just as you do your Characters of Color. If you don’t, you risk implying that White is the default human being and PoC are the “Other”).
- PSA: Don’t use “Colored.” Based on some asks we’ve received using this word, I’d like to say that unless you or your character is a racist grandmama from the 1960s, do not call People of Color “colored” please.
- Not Sure Where to Start? You really can’t go wrong using basic colors for your skin descriptions. It’s actually what many people prefer and works best for most writing. Personally, I tend to describe my characters using a combo of basic colors + modifiers, with mentions of undertones at times. I do like to veer into more creative descriptions on occasion.
- Want some alternatives to “skin” or “skin color”? Try: Appearance, blend, blush, cast, coloring, complexion, flush, glow, hue, overtone, palette, pigmentation, rinse, shade, sheen, spectrum, tinge, tint, tone, undertone, value, wash.
Skin Tone Resources
- List of Color Names
- The Color Thesaurus
- Things that are Brown (blog)
- Skin Undertone & Color Matching
- Tips and Words on Describing Skin
- Photos: Undertones Described (Modifiers included)
- Online Thesaurus (try colors, such as “red” & “brown”)
- Don’t Call me Pastries: Creative Skin Tones w/ pics 3 2 1
Writing & Description Guides
- WWC Guide: Words to Describe Hair
- Writing with Color: Description & Skin Color Tags
- Describing Characters of Color (Passage Examples)
- 7 Offensive Mistakes Well-intentioned Writers Make
I tried to be as comprehensive as possible with this guide, but if you have a question regarding describing skin color that hasn’t been answered within part I or II of this guide, or have more questions after reading this post, feel free to ask!
~ Mod Colette
THIS NEVER CEASES TO BE AMAZING, bless writingwithcolor
writeworld-blog reblogged
Can I Create Emotionally Complex Characters if I Don't "Get" People?
Hey there, community. Recently we received an anon message asking an extremely important question: could they, a person who is terrible at understanding people, still create emotional depth in characters? The more I thought about it, the more I realized this anon couldn’t be the only person worrying the same thing: is the development of my story dependent on my interpersonal skills? If I don’t understand people, am I bound to create shallow characters? With that on my mind, I decided to answer by speaking to you all in article form, since this is a widely-applicable concern. Anon, I hope this is helpful to you.
I’ll be speaking from the perspective of my own autism and the struggles I sometimes have with empathy. Bear in mind, followers, that there are many, many reasons people might struggle with interpersonal empathy and that everyone’s experience is vastly different, so take what you will from this and run with it. I mean to speak to as broad an audience as possible.
Character Development as a Codependent Process
So: Is it possible to improve your own understanding of people to improve your character development, and does the development of characters depend on this? Or is characterization a separate process entirely? The answer to both of those questions is yes. It is possible to improve interpersonal skills and learn how to understand people; there are a variety of ways to go about it. Often, you can use your character development as an exercise in teaching yourself how to understand people in real life. For me, a highly analytical person, that process has involved lots of reading, lots of thinking about why I love the characters I love, lots of character meta from other people talking about the characters they love (thanks, Tumblr), and a lot of long dinner conversations with my writing partner about how our characters respond to the environments we put them in. You’ll notice that most of those things have highly constructive elements. For me, the key to deepening my understanding of my characters - and therefore to creating emotional landscapes inside and between them - lies in treating them as complex, 3-D puzzles where every piece affects several other pieces and chain reactions are part of the norm.
It may seem contradictory, but the more I treat them objectively in terms of cause and effect - in other words, the more I think of them as intricate machines - the more organic my understanding becomes of how they think and feel, and why it matters.
So on one hand: yes, you can improve those skills, and you can even use your craft to help yourself do that. On the other hand, the mindset of using character development as a tool in that way necessitates a pre-existing mindset that character development, like our anon suggested, is its own process entirely.
Character Development as an Independent Phenomenon
Here’s what I mean: I spend a lot of time thinking about character development, psychology and interaction. I spend a lot of time talking about it. I’ve learned a lot about how to piece those things together to a) understand what makes my favorite characters tick and b) create realistic human impressions when I write about my own. In theory, I have emotional connections to those characters and an intimate understanding of how they work. Yet at the same time, I do not understand people in real life. I struggle to find empathy for people around me unless they’re already very, very close to me. My first reaction to other people is usually a negative one - I see only the very shallow, the very obvious, and the very stereotypical assumptions that are often made during flash judgements, and for me that’s usually as far as I get. That says nothing about my desire to get to know people or to show compassion for them; it just means that in day-to-day life, I don’t really understand them.
Does that affect my ability to create sympathetic, relatable, fascinating characters? Not really. The reason is because there is a fundamental difference between the spontaneity of our own human interactions and the scenarios we create for ourselves as we work. The first environment is real life: unplanned and uncontrolled, with lots of different wills bumping up against one another and no time for analysis. The second environment is where we hold all the strings. When we write, we enter a laboratory where every variable can be analyzed, understood, duplicated, altered and controlled by us and only us. Nothing happens that we don’t authorize. No character acts outside the bounds of our own understanding. In short, it’s a safe environment to explore in, and there’s no opposing consciousness to take control from us. That means replicating human empathy is a far easier, more foolproof, less time-sensitive endeavor.
And Here’s a Reminder:
You will gain points of emotional reference as you go about your life. Just as you develop an understanding of what types of things affect your characters emotionally, things will come along to affect you. To illustrate my point, here’s a personal example: six months ago, I learned what it meant to loathe someone so much it made you want to rip out fistfuls of their hair, claw their faces with your fingernails, and throw them out into the snow. From the same incident, I learned that I am far more easily angered when my friends are hurt than when I myself am hurt, and that my aggressive streak is the most dangerous when it comes to protecting people I love. Previously, I just thought I was an aggressive, vengeful prick who obsessed over people I didn’t like for far too long. The more you know, huh?
Most importantly, that incident gave me firsthand knowledge about how those emotions feel. The next time I sit down to write about an angry character, I know I’ll have new material to draw from. I’ll have better words to use and a more realistic end goal in mind. I’ll have an emotional experience I can manipulate to fit the needs and circumstances of whichever character is angry. And that’s the heart of what character development is, when you get down to it: it’s taking what you know of the human condition and pulling it apart to see what works (or what doesn’t). And just like we writers are always looking for new ideas, we should be keeping our eyes out for our emotional experiences, as well.
To summarize:
Yes, improving your empathy towards other people is possible. It takes practice and exercise, like any muscle, but for most people it is possible. And yes, it is also possible to experience the emotional development of your characters in a completely independent context. You can even have both happening at the exact same time, as I tried to illustrate above. How these processes manifest depends entirely on your experiences as a person and the methods you’ve developed so far as a writer.
Don’t forget, you’re still living. Experiences will come to you that will shape and deepen your understanding of people. You still have a lot to live and learn from - we all do.
So good luck to all of you writers out there, especially those of you who, like me, struggle with empathy. I have every confidence that with time and practice, you’ll come to your own understandings and find ways to think about these ideas that work for you. Now go out there and get developing!
–Senga
writeworld-blog reblogged
How a Character’s Choice of Clothing Benefits the Story
When writing, it’s important that everything you include serves a purpose. The character’s name, their favorite color, and their choice of companion give an impression about the character, the world around them, and the past that shaped who they are. The more you amplify these elements, the greater the image you’re painting for the reader.
For example, say the plot calls for the character to buy a car, and they choose a blue one. “Blue” is a necessary detail to include in the narrative, but by giving this specific decision meaning, you make it important. Perhaps blue was their parent’s favorite color, and they strive to please them. Perhaps blue is a calming color, and it reflects their calm personality. This makes the narrative richer.
In the same way, characters need clothing, so why not make it a useful element in the story? Take advantage of this opportunity to tell the reader something. Here are three things your character’s choice of clothing can amplify in the story.
- It Says Something About Their Personality: The way a character dresses can reflect their tastes, views, and emotions. For example, your boisterous character might be best dressed in colorful shorty shorts to reflect her free spirit. Her sass and disregard for other’s opinions is what tells us her personality, but this small addition has made the fact visual as well as mental. In another case, your reserved and slightly distrustful character might be better dressed in a bulky designer coat; this reflects on his desire to be enclosed but also regarded as superior. Your character’s personality is independent, but the proper clothing can complement and amplify their unique views.
- It Says Something About The Setting: Dressing your characters in clothing that reflects their setting will reinforce this new atmosphere in the reader’s mind. Colors give impressions all on their own; dark colors such as greys or blacks will match the dark atmospheres. If you’re trying to show a contrast between two groups – one more successful and the other starving – dressing one group in bright pinks or yellows will give a sense of light and energy, making them seem healthier. The style also reflects the world; conservative dress such as long sleeves or coats can reflect order or oppression, while less conservative clothing can show rebellion and freedom. Your world itself will determine the setting, but clothing can complement it, amplifying the atmosphere.
- It Can Say Something About Them Physically: In addition to symbolism, clothing can serve a literal purpose. If you have a young character, dressing them in outfits which are colorful and airy can complement their younger attitudes. If you have a character with an embarrassing scar or injury they wish to hide, constantly dressing them in long sleeves, despite weather, can subtly reveal this. These details can amplify the characters themselves but also open new doors for foreshadowing.
Every detail included in your piece of fiction should serve a purpose, and perhaps even tell a story within a story. Minor details such as a character’s style, their choice of design, or their choice of color can breathe new life into the details of your narrative.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll post different character clothing options as inspiration, and detail how each item could be an asset to your story. Hopefully this will stir up some creative juices and help you make choices to apply to your cast.
Happy writing! And feel free to check out my website: Ember Ink Wordsmithing
writeworld-blog reblogged
Source: helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com
Characters are the central element in any kind of storytelling. You can learn all about creating characters in the Gotham Character course. And you can also start the process right here on this page.
One of the best ways to get to know your characters is to ask questions about them. Many writers do this as a kind of homework before they actually start writing a story. The more you know your characters, the fuller they will be. This might also make your story easier to write. The following questionnaires may be downloaded so you can work with the actual documents.
Source: writingclasses.com
writeworld-blog reblogged
Antagonists are tricky. Too little work, and the antagonist comes across flat. A flat antagonist is easy and boring, because he or she won’t push the protagonist hard enough. Plus there’s that practice of making fleshed out characters and having interesting three-dimensional people, blah blah.
We all know the saying: Every villain is his own hero. Though I wrote these questions and prompts with famous antagonists in mind, you could actually pose them to your protagonist or other characters (just switch out the protagonist-themed questions for antagonist-themed) and it will still work.
I’ve always found it most helpful to answer questionnaires in my character’s voice, so I have written this addressing your antagonist directly. Try to answer in the way he or she would. You’ll uncover hidden backstory, depth, and softness in your antagonist.
But remember – even something “soft” (like empathy) can be a terrible motivator.
Your Antagonist’s Backstory
- Hurting people hurt others. What hurt you?
- When was the first time you were frightened by something you did?
- When was the first time you experienced pain?
- What is the most painful thing you have ever gone through?
- Do you have a mentor, or someone you’ve modeled yourself after? Who is it, and why are they so compelling?
- Have you killed anyone? Who was the first person you killed? (Alternatively: Who is the person you’ve hurt most?)
- When did you feel the most humiliated by someone else?
- Tell me about a time you faced rejection.
- Is there something you’ve said or done you wish you could take back?
- Who (or what) do you miss?
- What’s one thing you can never forgive? (Could be an event in the past, or a character trait like lying.)
- When did you feel the most accomplished or successful?
- When have you felt helpless?
- What was the first lie you told? What do you lie about most often?
Your Antagonist’s Habits
- What do you do to relax?
- Where do you go when you want to feel like you belong? If you can’t get there, where would you like to go?
- What do you like to read? What shows do you watch?
- What do you daydream about?
- What is your weapon of choice? How did you learn to use it?
- When you feel uncomfortable, what do you do to cover it up?
- What sort of clothes do you wear? Would you make changes to your wardrobe if you could?
- Do you have any unusual or advanced skills?
- How do you like to approach a problem?
Your Antagonist’s Personal Life
- Who are your parents? Do you have any siblings? Are they still alive?
- Who (or what) is one person (or thing/ideal) you would never harm?
- Who (or what) do you love? Would you call it love?
- What is one secret you’ve never told anyone? Would you consider revealing it to another character? If so, who?
- What lie do you tell yourself?
- What is one silly thing you’re afraid of?
- Tell me about your dream vacation.
- What is one fault in others you just can’t stand?
- What type of people do you like to be around (if any)?
- What about you do you feel other people misunderstand?
- Do you like kids? What about animals?
writeworld-blog reblogged
Writing: Creating Your Main Character
Ah, the main character. If your story were a ship, they’d be the pilot. It’s their job to incite, propel, and solve the plot, all while making the readers laugh and smile and cry and get frustrated, and oftentimes they carry with them the moral lesson. This is a pretty tall order for one character, and deciding what kind of main character you’re going to have can be very stressful. Hopefully this list will help you with this process.
- The main character can determine the audience.
- This isn’t always true, but usually the age, gender, moral compass, and sometimes even physical appearance of the main character decides what kind of people are going to read the book. A book about a 14-year-old female fashionista usually attracts different readers than a 50-year-old FBI director. Don’t let this scare you, because there are outliers depending on how the character is written, but bear in mind that people of like-minded interests usually read books with main characters that share some of those traits, so plan accordingly.
- The main character’s personality traits should coincide with the plot and theme of the novel.
- High-fantasy and adventure novels are usually headed by strong-willed, talented, reckless characters. (Think Luke Skywalker or the Winchesters from Supernatural.) Realistic fiction, however, are usually home to goofier, more human characters (such as Greg and Earl in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl). While your main character doesn’t have to be the cookie-cutter model of the “normal” protagonist for genre and theme, they should exhibit at least some of the traits. Give some of the entertaining, off-color traits to supporting characters if you can’t live without them.
- Make them human.
- Real people are complicated. Their emotions and actions are driven by complex, sometimes misguided desires. Real people make mistakes for much the same reason. Real people doubt themselves, and they have low and high points. Real people change over time based on the people and circumstances they surround themselves with. Real people sometimes lie to others and themselves about their true motivations. Real people need help and support from others to reach their goals. Sometimes, real people never reach their goals at all. Characters should reflect all of this in their stories, especially main characters, with whom your readers should identify with and root for the most.
- Make them likable.
- This doesn’t mean they have to be perfect by any means, nor do they have to be friendly and sweet 100% of the time. Your main character can actually be a total asshole but still have readers like them or be entertained by them. The main thing is that you have to make sure that the reader roots for them, because if the reader is hoping the main character will fail or loses interest in them completely, you haven’t done your job as a writer. Beta readers can help you by telling you whether or not they like the main character and agree with their actions.
- Make them fit their story.
- Characters are TOOLS, just like every other story element. They are there to ad to the reader’s experience, and whatever triumph or turmoil they go through is so that the reader can be entertained and enlightened by their story. That’s why it’s important for them to be treated as such, and NOT like friends or ways for the author to live vicariously through their own story. We have fanfiction for that. When you’re writing, if it seems like your story is revolving around amking your main character happy, or that they’re becoming just too perfect to be entertaining, you may need to step back and re-evaluate their score on the Mary Sue litmus test and see if you’re writing a character or a mannequin doll.
- Some helpful links I found.
- Fuck Yeah Character Development’s masterpost of character creation and development templates and websites.
- My personal favorite character template sheet, written by Dehydromon on Deviantart. It’s the first link on FYCD’s post and has 370+ questions to answer about your character. (For a shorter version, go here.)
- Writerswrite’s how-to-create-a-character guide. (It’s basically another template, but I thought I’d include it in case someone didn’t like the others I provided, and also because it comes from a more professional source than Deviantart and Tumblr.)
- Wikihow’s tips on creating a fictional character from scratch. Their tips are very broad, but they leave a lot of room for interpretation as well, if you prefer that.
- Thecreativepenn’s 5 tips for creating interesting characters. This article seems to be geared towards screenwriters, but the tips apply to all forms of creative writing.
writeworld-blog reblogged
Writing Characters with Enhanced Senses
Characters with extraordinary senses come up a lot. Maybe your character is of supernatural or alien origin, or maybe they were just born with a genetic quirk. Maybe they have a sensory disorder that only makes their hearing seem extraordinary. There are lots of reasons why a character might have extraordinary senses and a lot of different ways those senses might be put to use, but here are some of the drawbacks you might consider when writing a character who has a super sniffer, excellent eyesight, or high-quality hearing!
Sight: If your character has super sight, chances are that they can see farther and more clearly than anybody else, which is pretty cool except that the human eye can still only really focus on one thing at a time…so your character might want to be careful not to get distracted when they’re, say, crossing the street. If they’re watching a burglary occur a thousand yards away, they might not notice the car that just whipped around the corner behind them. Other super-drawbacks might include heightened sensitivity to light, color, or movement - and you have to remember that nobody can see three-hundred-sixty degrees at all times, so your character is probably going to have a blind spot (unless they’re an owl). Also, they may frequently look like they’re staring off into space when they’re really just watching something very intently.
Hearing: Have you ever been standing in a crowd of people who are all talking at the same time? Now imagine if you had super hearing! It can be hard to pick out individual pieces of information or even follow a single conversation when you can hear everyone in a six-block radius…and it’s not just conversations. You can also hear every car, every pet moving around, every jingle of a key, the air moving through the vents, and so on and so forth. This is another one of those abilities that may make it look like your character is just really easily distracted - it’s not that they don’t want to pay attention to their friends, it’s just that they’re playing “name that tune” with a radio four blocks to the southeast!
Smell: Think about your shower routine, whatever it might be. How many scented products do you layer on your skin? Soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, deoderant, maybe perfume or cologne, shaving cream or aftershave - the list goes on and on. If you had a super nose, you might be able to smell every single layer a person was wearing, and that kind of assault on the nose could be eye-wateringly overwhelming. Consider your reaction to someone wearing strong perfume! There are a lot of other types of smells in the world too, from cut grass and shoe polish to rotting garbage…and a lot of bodily functions have smells too: passing gas, excrement, or urine, menstruation, or sweating, for example. Your character might even be able to smell disease. This type of character might have to wear a mask or a scarf over their face to dull their super-sense, which might give them an odd appearance, but just imagine how much weirder it would look to be standing on a street corner sniffing at the air when all anyone else can smell is car fumes.
Taste: What’s the strongest flavor you’ve ever tasted? Maybe it was something fishy, or spicy, or sour. Everyone’s answer is bound to be different, but imagine if every single thing you ever ate or drank tasted that strong. Eventually you might get kind of tired of it and start preparing food that is more bland, right? Alternately, imagine if nothing ever just tasted like itself to you: you’re eating a french fry, but instead of tasting “french fry” you’re tasting potato, salt, oil, the metal of the fryer, the latex in the gloves used to scoop them into the paper tray, the paper tray itself…that would be pretty overwhelming! The major drawback to super taste is that your character might have trouble eating out or eating in front of other people. When you taste a lemon, your face puckers up…just think of how much more sour it would taste with a super tongue!
Touch: Did you know that every day you suffer a million tiny hurts and your brain just ignores them so that you can keep on functioning normally? If you had an enhanced nervous system, that might not be the case. Think about the number of tiny things we ignore every day: actions like walking, scratching, accidentally biting your tongue, or blinking could hurt pretty bad if you were super sensitive to touch! People with super touch might have a hard time getting comfortable all the time, and they might have to deal with not liking the feeling of clothes, being annoyed with air moving over their skin, or being extra-sensitive to physical contact. If a hug felt to me like someone was trying to break my ribs, I’d avoid them too!
So what are some things to keep in mind when writing about characters with extraordinary senses, other than drawbacks? Here are some things to consider:
- Set limits. Your character shouldn’t be able to see past the curve of the earth - that’s just silly! Likewise, if they can hear something happening through the entire planet, you may want to rethink. Consider things like range and clarity when you’re setting limits on super senses: how far away can they see things and how clearly can they see them, for example. When it comes to touch, this is a little more tricky, and you might want to think more about the direct effects of pressure on the character: how much pressure does it take before it hurts?
- Enhanced senses require enhanced brainpower. I don’t mean that they raise your character’s IQ level, but consider how much effort it takes to sort through and process sensory information. If your character’s brain can’t handle it, they might be in a constant state of sensory overload.
- Speaking of sensory overload, that might happen to your character sometimes anyway! Everyone faces extreme situations in their lives where their brains just can’t keep up with the workload, and the threshold for that point is probably lower for people with super senses. If you’ve got a character with super hearing and four people are trying to talk to them at once, they might experience sensory overload and have to go recover for a while, so do your research into sensory overload and what to do to help them.
- Finally, their super sense is going to impact how they experience and relate to other people. Maybe your character doesn’t remember a person’s name or face but they’ll never forget her voice. Maybe they just can’t even be in the house with Great-Aunt Helen because she always wears the same musty old perfume and it gives your character a headache. Maybe your character appears to be constantly zoning out when really they’re just looking closely at peoples’ jewelry. How your character perceives others, and how others view your character, is going to be impacted by their ability - count on it.
If you’re writing about a character with super senses, I hope that this has been helpful and maybe even inspiring to you, and I’d love to hear your thoughts too! Thanks for reading, and good luck!
-Kyo
writeworld-blog reblogged
How Do I Make This Different?
I get a lot of questions from writers who think their story is too close to its inspiration or too similar to another story. I can’t give you direct answers because it’s your story. I can’t write it for you. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t help you find a way to make it different.
Step One: Similarities
Is your story too similar to another story? Or is to too similar to the inspiration? Make a list of all the similarities between them. This includes, plot points, dialogue, characters, back stories, fight scenes, world building, settings, sub plots, and character interactions.
- Characters: Make sure names, appearances, back stories, personalities, and roles of characters differ. I can’t give you a number of “how much is too much” in terms of similar characters because it depends on cast size. You can have characters who share some similarities, but try to make those similarities a little bit different too.
- Character Roles: If you can match up all of your character roles or archetypes with the characters in the other story, you should change things around a bit. You don’t want too many parallels.
- Back Stories: These can be unique to characters more than appearances or names. Make sure these are different. If your characters have the same or similar back stories as characters in another story, it’ll be difficult to make these characters original.
- Major Plot Points: Stay away from the major plot points and major parts of the story you’re trying to distance yourself from. Did the other story have its opening scene in a school? Put your opening scene elsewhere.
- Specifics: This is mostly in relation to world building. Make a list of everything that is specific to the inspiration source or the other story (for example, the word muggle and its usage from Harry Potter is specific to that universe). You cannot use any of these things. Stay away from them.
Step Two: What Can’t Happen?
Make a list of things that are specific to the inspiration or to the story that yours is similar to. An example is a boy wizard with an odd scar. That’s obviously Harry Potter. That’s something that you can’t do unless you separate it from Harry Potter so much that no one thinks of Harry Potter when they learn about your character. This is an example of what you cannot do.
Continue making a list of everything that you cannot do or don’t want to do in your story. Do you want to write a dystopian that is original? I can tell you right now to get rid of any sort of system in which people are separated and assigned a career or are associated with one particular thing because of that. This has been used in the dystopian novel since before any of us were born. Getting rid of that will lead you away from most dystopian novels right from the beginning.
If you find that one of your plot points is too similar to that of another story, take note of what happened in that other story. Your story can’t do that. Do something else. However, you should do more than just change the outcomes of the plot points. The whole story should go in a different direction due to this change.
Step Three: What Never Happened?
If you find something that never happened in the inspiration source or the original story and if it works with your story, put it in. Make it as different as you can. Adding the new and taking away the used can help you do this. If you’re writing something similar to Percy Jackson, don’t use the same myths. Use different myths. Take away some of the used myths. If you’re writing something similar to Harry Potter, use different magic systems and different magical creatures.
Step Four: There Are Still Similarities!
Yeah. There’s going to be a lot of similarities to lots of other stories too. You’re going to have tropes in common with most of the stories within your genre. Pure originality is impossible. Some stories have the exact same premise (The Hunger Games and Battle Royale), but have different settings, characters, plots, outcomes, and are different overall.
Step Five: It Takes a While
This is not going to happen overnight. You need to put effort into your story and it’s going to take a long time if you want to get it right. Don’t give up after a week.
Over time, your story will evolve on its own. Writers rarely end up with what they first imagined their story to be. It will naturally go off on its own road. Follow it and stick with it.
Step Six: The Test
Find a beta reader who has read/seen the inspiration source or who has read/seen the story that is similar to yours. Don’t tell them that you’re trying to distance them. Don’t mention the inspiration source or the other story at all. Have them read it. If they say nothing about it being similar to those other stories, you should be okay. However, you should still ask and see what they say.
writeworld-blog reblogged
writeoutofmymouth
I write and run a lot of campaigns in the new World of Darkness (hereafter, WoD) roleplaying system, a system that focuses on the story over the dice-rolling. In the World of Darkness, players rarely have any idea of what scenarios they will find themselves in until they are thrown in the middle of the conflict. The character creation system focuses on helping the players develop characters they understand well enough to make quick decisions that are loyal to their characters’ personalities. Due to this, WoD’s character creation is actually really useful for developing unique characters for writing. I will probably go into greater detail in later posts, but I will explore the five following components of character creation: epithet, vice, virtue, demeanor, and nature.
CHARACTER BIO: MAIN PROTAGONIST
Objective: Dig deep with a character, discovering background history, personality, psychology, and current goals.
Exercise: Write a detailed description of your main character (1 page only).
Remember: You are describing a dramatic character, so present him/her to us in a way that is cinematically useful.
Hints: We need to understand their drives, fears, goals, and we’ll have to be able to picture them and hear them.
Source: thescriptlab.com
We all have the same goal as fiction writers—we want to transport our readers inside the pages so that they feel like a part of the story. Characters are an extremely important part of making that happen. And characters don’t just transport the readers; they drive the story, or at least mine do. In fact, I’ve learned to listen to them when they argue with me.
So how does one develop effective, memorable characters? To begin with, it might be helpful to examine what distinguishes an effective character from an ineffective one. In my experience, most writers like to read, so you can probably think of characters that are particularly memorable for you and also some that you didn’t feel any connection with. Let’s look at five potential traps that can lead to ineffective characters. You’ll notice they are all connected, because one often leads to another, and some characters are guilty of all five: they’re one dimensional, they’re stereotypical, they’re too perfect, they’re inconsistent, or they’re dull.
writingbox
The 8 steps of the character growth arc
Source: writesmarternotharder.com