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Young Writers Society


Creating "Good" Characters?



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Sat Feb 28, 2015 8:13 pm
UntamedHeart173 says...



It's definitely not a silly question. I've asked myself this exact question a lot! When I started writing the novel I'm currently working on, Neverland's Curse, I wasn't sure if I liked my characters. I knew I loved the idea I had and I liked a few characters but one in particular was bugging me. Acacia, my main character, was off. (Her name was True back then. I've changed it since and her character flows so much better now.) Anyways, what I did was pose a pretend interview between myself and my character. It helped make her more real to me...and also helped me like her better because I felt like I knew Acacia better. I've done the same thing with my other characters and I usually end up liking them a lot more. If you know your characters you'll know what you need to change in order to flesh them out better.

Sorry if that didn't make any sense at all. I tend to ramble. Lol good luck!

Colly
Dean: Of course, the most troubling question is why do these people assume we're gay?

Sam: Well, you are kind of butch. They probably think you're overcompensating.
  





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Sat Feb 28, 2015 8:59 pm
AttackOfTheFlash says...



@UntamedHeart173 Thank you for your advice! It made perfect sense. You see, the biggest issue I have is creating character's personalities/traits. For example, the main character of one of my stories and a secondary main character in another share a lot of the same traits and their personalities are alike. They're both painfully shy, they're both very sensitive, etc. See what I mean? (They even kind of look the same now that I think about it!)
Even after I've made this thread and had tons of help I *still* can't manage to create personalities.
Are you living or simply existing?
  





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11 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 565
Reviews: 11
Sat Feb 28, 2015 9:08 pm
UntamedHeart173 says...



Try "interviewing" your characters. Come up with some questions and let your characters answer them. I have a set of twins in "Neverland's Curse" and they were way too much alike in the beginning. So I interviewed them. Turns out there's a lot of differences between them, I just didn't know that until I interviewed them. It works for me ninety percent of the time and it may work for you. :)

Colly
Dean: Of course, the most troubling question is why do these people assume we're gay?

Sam: Well, you are kind of butch. They probably think you're overcompensating.
  





User avatar
65 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 5752
Reviews: 65
Sat Feb 28, 2015 9:18 pm
AttackOfTheFlash says...



@UntamedHeart173 I think I'll have to try that! :D
Are you living or simply existing?
  








Between living and dreaming there is a third thing. Guess it.
— Antonio Machado