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#1 |
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practical experience, FTW
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 341
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Making interesting characters
I tried searching for this and found nothing relevant. Do you have any tips on the subject?
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I ask questions because I know nothing. |
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#2 |
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That hairy-handed gent
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Who ran amok in Kent
Posts: 26,233
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Characters need to do stuff. Have them do interesting stuff.
caw
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Without a reader, the story doesn't exist -- James D. MacDonald |
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#3 |
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practical experience, FTW
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Queens, New York
Posts: 460
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You have to give your characters a personality, idiosyncrasies, interests and habits. What makes people interesting to you? Think about that.
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Current WIP: Historical fiction, working title: The Keegan Inheritance. 86k. Third draft. Blog: The Sunflower's Scribbles Twitter: @Sunflowerrei |
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#4 |
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Powdered Toast Man
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: The Lost Moon of Poosh
Posts: 747
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Honestly, this question is very, very broad. My only response to it is: what would YOU find interesting in a character? When you figure that out, you will have answered your own question.
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#5 |
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Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Entebbe, Uganda
Posts: 9,329
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I don't base characters on real people, but I do take things real people say and do and amp it up a notch in a way that fits that character. Perhaps characters are parodies, even if they aren't so much funny as tools for what I want to accomplish with the scene and the story.
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Short Fiction and Novel in the AW Library Shorts on sub: 12 Now available! ![]() Adventures of Duke and Eddie Querying! Resingled Querying! Nyasaland 68K/90K Write on, Brother! (blog)
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#6 |
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figuring it all out
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Carbondale, Illinois
Posts: 94
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Holly Lisle has a good character creation workshop for free. Just start there and invent from there! =]
http://hollylisle.com/the-character-...igning-a-life/
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If you get bored, or stressed, check out my blog. =] http://undergradtoauthor.blogspot.com |
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#7 |
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Impractical Fantasy Animal
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Posts: 4,230
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Analyze why some characters are really interesting to you as a reader/viewer.
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#8 | |
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Huh.
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Left of center.
Posts: 2,860
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Quote:
What the heck. You're at a party. You don't know anybody so you walk over to the nearest two guys. You say to the first guy, "Hi." He nods, takes a sip of his scotch. You say, "My name is satyesu." He says, "Oh. Hello." You turn to the second guy. "Hi," you say. He says, "My buddy here's about as interesting as a dead librarian, no offense, buddy." He punches the guy in the arm and the guy's scotch sloshes out, spilling on his jacket. "Oops," he says, smiling broadly, revealing a set of gold teeth. He sees you looking and says, "You're looking at my retirement plan. What do you think about that?" and he punches you in the arm. Hard. But he's smiling and you can't help yourself, you rub your arm and smile right back. Who's more interesting? The interesting character does unexpected things. He's got a unique personality. Quirks that set him apart from the unwashed masses. He makes an impression. You might like him or you might hate him, but you won't forget him anytime soon.
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“Astute observation, Mr. McGuire.” “Huh?” “You told me I’m not dead yet and I’m not.” “Neither am I,” he said. ~ D. Brandt, CHERRY Last edited by kkbe; 12-28-2012 at 03:39 PM. |
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#9 | ||
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(wannabe) writer of Orcotica
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: in the depths of my tbr pile
Posts: 4,384
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Not only is it broad, it's also very personal. One person that kkbe might find dreadfully boring could be someone I find fascinating.
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My sort-of-not-really blog. |
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#10 |
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Official AW Carnivorous Pony
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,037
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Trick question: The first guy, who's secretly a dinosaur.
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Current WIPs Baby Pictures of Famous Dictators: (571,056/780,000) Invasion of the Complaining Chickens (Geriatric Fiction): (1,124,641/1,520,000) Hardonasaurass Rex (Dinosaur Erotica): (215,919/285,000) Some Dude I'm Kidnapping: (Trunked) This is my blog. I'd like you to read it. Thanks!
(It has nothing of value right now, so don't bother.) [Most recent update: 5/11/13] |
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#11 | ||
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Huh.
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Left of center.
Posts: 2,860
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Quote:
Quote:
And a couple of stiff scotches. Prefaced by a couple of stiff scotches.
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“Astute observation, Mr. McGuire.” “Huh?” “You told me I’m not dead yet and I’m not.” “Neither am I,” he said. ~ D. Brandt, CHERRY |
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#12 |
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practical experience, FTW
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: An antique land, whose lone and level sands stretch far away (sometimes the UK)
Posts: 1,530
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The first guy, who is in fact a dead librarian, recently reanimated but now only speaks in dewey decimal code.
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#13 |
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Huh.
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Left of center.
Posts: 2,860
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. . ."speaks" being a relative term, as he actually communicates via a series of rapid blinks followed by extravagantly choreographed hand gestures.
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“Astute observation, Mr. McGuire.” “Huh?” “You told me I’m not dead yet and I’m not.” “Neither am I,” he said. ~ D. Brandt, CHERRY |
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#14 |
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The grad students did it
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 9,010
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Characters are made interesting by what they do, and how they do it. So, a timid partygoer can be made interesting by how he/she expresses that timidity.
So have that first guy in kkbe's example respond with that sterile "Hello," but then have him move his hand to the revolver tucked into the back of his pants. Suddenly that boring, timid character becomes interesting to the reader.
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Phoenix (Historical - 2006)First Place, 2007 Arizona Authors Assoc. Book Awards Whiskey Creek Press Something Bad (Horror - 2007) Medallion Press. Silver Medal, 2008 IPPY awards, Horror category Rollicking Anthropomorphisms (Poetry Collection - 2008) 2009 EPPIE Award Finalist Whiskey Creek Press Agnes Hahn (Psychological Suspense 2008) Medallion Press Silver Medal, 2009 IPPY awards, Horror category Imola (Sequel to Agnes Hahn 2009) - Medallion Press 3.99 (Psychological Suspense/Mystery 2012) - Musa |
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#15 |
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Official AW Carnivorous Pony
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,037
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I think it's a bit of a stretch to assume some random guy at a party has a revolver tucked in the back of his pants.
Revolvers are old-fashioned; he probably just has a regular pistol.
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Current WIPs Baby Pictures of Famous Dictators: (571,056/780,000) Invasion of the Complaining Chickens (Geriatric Fiction): (1,124,641/1,520,000) Hardonasaurass Rex (Dinosaur Erotica): (215,919/285,000) Some Dude I'm Kidnapping: (Trunked) This is my blog. I'd like you to read it. Thanks!
(It has nothing of value right now, so don't bother.) [Most recent update: 5/11/13] |
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#16 |
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Huh.
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Left of center.
Posts: 2,860
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. . .unless your story is a retro-steampunk thingie set in the Wild West, circa mid-1800s.
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“Astute observation, Mr. McGuire.” “Huh?” “You told me I’m not dead yet and I’m not.” “Neither am I,” he said. ~ D. Brandt, CHERRY |
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#17 |
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The grad students did it
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 9,010
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...and even more interesting if it is a contemporary story AND it is a revolver. Remember that interest can be generated in the same way humor can be generated--by having something unexpected happen.
But you may want to check out the (currently available) Smith & Wesson model 29, and the Smith & Wesson model 10. Revolvers. Better yet, do a google search of "Smith & Wesson revolvers." The list of models is long.
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Phoenix (Historical - 2006)First Place, 2007 Arizona Authors Assoc. Book Awards Whiskey Creek Press Something Bad (Horror - 2007) Medallion Press. Silver Medal, 2008 IPPY awards, Horror category Rollicking Anthropomorphisms (Poetry Collection - 2008) 2009 EPPIE Award Finalist Whiskey Creek Press Agnes Hahn (Psychological Suspense 2008) Medallion Press Silver Medal, 2009 IPPY awards, Horror category Imola (Sequel to Agnes Hahn 2009) - Medallion Press 3.99 (Psychological Suspense/Mystery 2012) - Musa Last edited by NeuroFizz; 12-28-2012 at 07:14 PM. |
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#18 | ||
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(wannabe) writer of Orcotica
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: in the depths of my tbr pile
Posts: 4,384
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I dunno...seems par for the course in a lot of parties I go to.
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My sort-of-not-really blog. |
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#19 |
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In need to caffeine
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,427
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There are many character sheets for fiction that you can download from the internet. They might be as simple as listing the character's traits and motivation/goal or as complicated as filling out a detailed questionnaire from the POV of the character.
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#20 |
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Old dog trying to learn new tricks.
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: California, U.S.A.
Posts: 283
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Sometimes a character doesn't have to be interesting at all. Consider the "fish out of water" scenario.
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#21 |
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practical experience, FTW
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 341
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Thanks, guys 'n' gals. ^^
__________________
I ask questions because I know nothing. |
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#22 |
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Simplify.
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Georgia
Posts: 612
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Hrm, I made a blog post a little bit ago on some things I learned from Stephen King's On Writing. Among them was,
"Every supporting character deserves an arc. Because in real life, we all think we're the protagonists, even if we're the quiet kid who spends lunches in the library. Want a short-cut to create compelling, multidimensional characters? This is it. You don't have to show every single character's arc in your story. As a matter of fact, if they're not relevant to your plot, you probably shouldn't show them. But I think, as the writer, you should know them."
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"To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish." |
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#23 |
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writer, rider, reader
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: NC, USA
Posts: 3,076
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Give them really interesting conflicts.
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The Stone River |
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#24 |
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practical experience, FTW
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Missouri
Posts: 5,506
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What are your favorite characters from other books? What makes them so interesting? Take that and apply it to your work. Don't copy them obviously, but create characters that make you feel the same way.
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My writing blog: http://ryanmuellerwriting.blogspot.com/ WIP: The Man in the Crystal Prison (Upper MG Contemporary Fantasy): 66K Revising and Editing White Fire (Epic Fantasy): 114K Revising and Editing. |
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#25 |
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practical experience, FTW
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Southeast England, UK
Posts: 113
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I'm not certain this is a serious question. How can you say you found nothing relevant? Try typing "character development in fiction" in a search engine like Google and you'll get LOTS of tips and relevant information.
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