User blog:Memai/So you want to write a better character?

Writing characters for fun and profit.
So you want to write a character? Good, I love making characters, and I love making sure they're good characters to boot. This a new and improved, quick-start writing guide to creating cohesive, interesting and well-balanced characters. The important part of any story (whether it's RP or fanfic) is of course, the characters. In any video game, movie or novel, what drives the story is the cast of characters. What makes people want to see the story till the end are the trials and tribulations that the characters face in order to reach their goal.

Throughout this guide, we'll go through my personal process of how I personally create a character. There will be examples and writing guides and outside sources that I'll link to, as well! I've been a hobbyist writer for a long time, and for a few years now, I'm an actual, professional writer, writing for various mediums, formats and purposes. So all the advice given are ones I've had to read up on, learn from and understand... so you don't have to ;)

Why should a good character matter? If you're writing for an audience, you want to make sure that audience isn't turned off by your work, you want them to keep coming back to your story to find out what's going to happen to that character they love so much. A good character can carry even the weakest of plots to the New York Bestsellers list. There are hundreds of ways people can tell the story of a kid going out to save his town/kingdom, and what makes each story different is how this main character handles their problems.

In terms of RP, it makes it an enjoyable experience: I want to play with someone who has an interesting character, because that makes the time I invest into writing worth it when the interactions are fun! Of course, if you're writing for yourself and just want to to do whatever you please, you're more than free to discard this guide. This is for people who are looking to improve their work, and looking for help in creating better characters in the future.

Without further ado, let's begin!

The Process
Alright, so you're itching to make a character. Maybe you've been inspired. Maybe you're just itching to write a new character. No matter the reason, you're on the path to making a new character. So where do we start? Here's a process of how I normally create characters, and this could be used as a guide to making your own:

For starters, I like to come up with a very basic idea. This could range from something as vague as "I want to make a greaser girl" to "I want to make a boyfriend for this other character of mine, but he has to be a Jock." Setting up simple parameters like that helps you define your starting point.

Let's say we're going with a 'greaser girl', keep things simple, hey? The next step is to figure out what kind of personality she has. We know the greasers have a tough-guy act, they don't just look tough, they are tough. But even the boys have their own quirks and personas: Norton is artistic, Peanut has a need to please everyone, Ricky is still getting over his girlfriend, Lucky's an all-round decent guy. So what's my greaser girl gonna be like?

Once I figured out her personality, it's time to give her a name! Any name would do, of course, but there are caveats and tricks to making sure the name you pick is the right one for your character. It's kinda like naming a baby, only there are less diaper changes involved.

When we've settled for a name, how will she speak? How does she 'sound' to the other members of her clique? Does she have an accent? Does she not? What sort of words does she use? Any phrases she's picked up? Once all that is established, we can go on ahead and start writing her backstory! Here we can find out where she's from, what's her family life like, what drove her to be a greaser (aside from being poor and living in New Coventry)? Little things that start making your character seem like a real person and less like a Barbie doll.

Then once we know what she's like, where she's from and what her interests are, it becomes a lot easier to design her. If she gets into a lot of fights, she might want to keep her hair short. But if she's more feminine, she might put more work into styling her hair. Does she adhere to the dress code? Why or why not?

And finally, once we've molded her and put her out into the world, we get to figure out what her story is and what role she'll play!

The Cult of Personality
The basis of any character (and indeed, real life people) is their personality. What are they like as a person? The cliques all have their stereotypes but the individual members of the clique all have their own personality. Take the jocks, for instance: Bo Jackson is actually one of the few who's doing well academically. Juri is fresh off the Russian boat, and thus, still adheres to a lot of Russian social cues (we'll talk about international characters in the backstory bit).

One way to start figuring out what your character is like is to observe real people. Think of the people you know in real life. What are the types of people you admire? Are they hardworking and resilient, always able to overcome hardships? Or are they kind and gentle, always willing to lend a helping hand to whoever that needs it? Alternatively, think of a person you don't like and figure out why they may be that way: she's catty and bitchy, but she's also blunt and unafraid of voicing out her thoughts. Or she could be demanding and bossy, but she only wants to see her team excel and be the best.

It doesn't even have to be people you know. It could even be characters from a TV or movie. Keep in mind though, not to make the characters too similar! You're trying to imitate the style, not steal the substance. A character who's whiney and unmotivated like Usagi Tsukino might not be liked by the greasers as is, but if she's funny, always willing to help her friends and loyal, there's more reason to love and respect her as a friend.

Try and also think of other little details like, is she flirty? Is she courteous? Always on-time? Again, look at the real world and the people who are in it-- you'll be surprised at what you could find!

Here's also where you could give her some flaws too! Is she lazy, stubborn, unwilling to try out new ideas? Giving them flaws makes your character more interesting to read. We're not perfect, and perfection is often boring. A bad trait can also be used as a goal of sorts, or at least used as a sub plot. My character wants to be famous, but must be willing to make a lot of changes to be just that. She's stubborn and wants things to stay the same, to have her cake and eat it too. How she overcomes that is a subplot all on its own!

If all else fails, check out this random character personality generator to help you start getting some ideas.

The Name Game
Alright, so now we have a greaser girl. I've decided she's playful, a little lazy and a bit of a daydreamer, but always willing to help her pals out. Cool. Nice kid.

But what do we call her?

Finding a good name is hard, and often times when RPing or reading fanfic, there are characters who are named so awkwardly, it takes me out of the story for a second to think, "Are they really named that?". In Bully's case, a lot of the characters have names that you'd most likely find in your average high school. There are some pretty out there names, but nothing that can't be justified.

Think of how your characters parents would've named them. Depending on when my girl was born, I can look up statistics that show for a certain year, these names were popular. So in 1990, based on the popular names, I could go with Samantha, Amanda, Jessica, Alyssa and a whole lot more. There's a lot of names to choose from, so let's pare that down.

If she's a greaser girl, she's most likely Italian-American. Let's pick a surname for her first! I'm gonna go with 'Russo', as it's common, and it seems like the other greasers took their surnames from this list too. If she's Italian-American, she might go with a typical American name, so a name like Jessica Russo wouldn't be too bad. But what if her parents wanted to give her a name that reflected her heritage? She'd most likely be called something like Mercedes or Mariangela or Daniela.

How about outlandish names? They can absolutely be done, but think why that is. For my greaser girl, I've settled for 'Desdemona', a name from Shakespeare's Othello, her mother's favorite play. It's artistic and weird and to my girl, probably embarrassing. But her mother loved the character's tragic background and thought it'd be romantic. It's certainly not a name my girl would pick for herself. What about nicknames? While we may think it's cool to give your character a nickname like "Raven" or something of that ilk, no one actually... does that. A nickname is a way for people to get to know your character on a friendly, equal basis. There's a reason why authorities tend to use formal first names instead of nicknames; they're not trying to be your friends. But a friend, parent or lover might call your character by their nickname. In the case of my greaser girl, she'd go by "Dani" or "Mari" or "Mercy" if we picked the more Italian names. "Sam", "Jess" or "Manda" for the more American names, and for her more outlandish names, probably "Dez" or "Mona". If you met your character, what name would you call them by? Not all names need a nickname, by the way! Need help picking names for your character? This is the best site I've seen so far. They even have one forsurnames too !==The Voice== Let's see where we are.

We have a friendly, fun-loving greaser girl named Dez Russo. So far so good! So, how does she talk? Giving your character a 'voice' helps them grow as a character, and also tells a lot about how your characters grew up without having to write a nitty gritty backstory about them!

Dez is poor and grew up poor, and grew up in a big family. She's most likely to use simple words to get her point across faster, and also, she talks loudly, because that's the only way she could make herself heard in her family. She might use outdated slang or phrases that go along with the greaser clique, but largely speaks like an average, Italian-American girl from New Conventry.

Think about how your character would talk. If they're foreigners, depending on how fluent they are in English, might not use a lot of slang and don't shorten their words. EX: They say "It is" instead of "It's", or "We are" instead of "We're". Very minor, very little touches, but it helps make your characters stand out and give them loads of personality without having to overdo it.

If your character is intelligent or uses a lot of big words, make sure they're used correctly, or that the terms are used properly! It frustrates me to read about a science-based character who throws around the word 'energy' without much thought (EX: It's created with energy!), which to me, means the author hadn't done much research themselves.

The best way I find is to watch videos or listen to podcasts or something and listen to how different people talk. How do scientists talk? Pastors? Teachers? A distinct voice can really cement your character's personality.

And for the love of all things decent and sweet, please do not type out accents. Please. Just don't. If you're writing a foreign character and have established that your character speaks in accented English, we can read it ourselves, there's no need to put jarring, badly spelled words in place of readable dialogue.

The Backstory
The easiest way to create a backstory for your character is to use a little common sense.

Ok so we have a greaser girl, that comes from New Coventry. She has a large family. That means she probably grew up poor, but she had a very loving, close-knit family. Her other siblings take care of each other, while their parents go out to work. Maybe some of the older siblings work with the parents as well.

Your character's backstory can be as plain and simple as possible. What a backstory does is to justify why a character is a certain way, or why they believe the things they do. A character who grew up in a very religious household might have a different opinion than someone who grew up with agnostic parents. Likewise, a character who grew up in a ridiculously rich household will have different spending habits and anxieties around money than someone who grew up poor and always having to save money.

Ah, but what about tragic backstories?

Those are absolutely fine, but again, ask yourself why you're giving your character this backstory. Is there a very good reason to give them a backstory? The most common reason is to give the character a more sympathetic edge, usually to soften a harsh character. A character who's harsh or mean to other characters might be that way because they're still grieving over a sibling who passed away. A character who often says cruel things might have terrible self-esteem issues from growing up in an abusive household.

It softens the blow, but if your character is a genuinely terrible character who constantly does terrible things, that doesn't mean their actions are excused or wholly justified, it's just explained. On that note, if your character has nothing but bad things happen to her time after time, with no hope in sight, it gets boring real fast. We want to see her overcome obstacles, not subscribe to pain porn.*

''*G.R.R. Martin, though a celebrated writer, is notorious for this. While it presents a darker world full of gritty characters, a lot of the cast in A Song of Ice and Fire become unrelatable or unbelievable because of how much awful happens to them all the time.''

It's all about Appearances
I'll be honest. We all want a character who's good-looking, one where other players/readers would praise them for being so handsome/cute/pretty/whatever. The thing about looks is that it's all very subjective, so what you may think is attractive might not be so for your audience. To get this out of the way: Divorce the idea that your character is beautiful, unless there's an absolutely good reason for them being that way.

Looking good takes a LOT of work. Do they work out or get regular exercise? If anyone claims fast-metabolism, they'll get a swift rap on the knuckles. If they have perfect skin, is it because they spend a lot of time and money on buying products that combat their skin problems, or do they hide that under expertly applied makeup? If they're stylish, do they have access to a lot of money to buy clothes that will always look good on them or do they have a strong sense of design and style?

If they're pretty just because they're pretty that makes 'em a little boring. Look at actors and actresses in movies and shows; they're not always gorgeous, and some have quirky features that make them stand out.

Looking for a face? Try booting up the Sims and hit the random button until you land on an interesting face. Found someone online that has an interesting feature, try and design around it. What sort of features do you normally like? Try imagining a character with the OPPOSITE of those features. And don't be afraid to make a character that's overweight or plain looking! Beauty is forever in the eye of the beholder, after all ;)

That said, what about clothing? Because Dez is in the greaser clique, she'll need the standard leather jacket and Bullworth sweater. Remember, Bullworth Academy has a strict dress code, so your character MUST absolutely wear something with the Bullworth crest on it, or wearing an item from the school shop. If your character openly flaunts this rule they will get written up. And remember, these are teenage characters, so unless they have access to a lot of money like the Preps, they most likely won't be wearing the latest fashions and would need mom and dad to help them buy new clothes, or get a job to finance these purchases.

Even things like makeup can cost a lot in the long run (go on, browse the Sephora online store and look up the price of a Kat Von D foundation. Tell me that's cheap). So unless your character is very interested in makeup, a lot of teenage girls forego makeup, save for very simple items like mascara, powder and lipgloss.

Also, sneakers and flats instead of high heels, please. Standing around in them for an hour is killer, unless your character wears them every single day for YEARS. Most girls often bring a pair of more comfortable shoes when they go to work just in case, your character in high school most likely won't get away with 5-inch Jimmy Choos.

Story time!
Ok, so we've got a girl named Dez, who's bubbly and friendly, poor but happy and wears a scrappy outfit from whatever she could afford.

Why should we care?

What's her story? What are her ambitions or goals? What's in the way? A story is what makes your character do things, it's what makes people interested to see in how they handle the situation. A character without a goal a story does not make. And a story comes with a situation. A goal. An obstacle. An opportunity.

Dez wants to be a famous musician. She wants to be the biggest, baddest rockstar there is. She practices on her guitar and singing, and has written some songs. She thinks she's good, her friends certainly are very supportive of her. Dez hears there's a big talent show happening the next town over, and if she could just make it over there, she's sure she'll have her shot to stardom. But with the preps coming down hard on the greasers, and a big exam happening on the same day as the talent show, will Dez ever make it? Sure, it's a simple story, and maybe even a little cliched, but the way she handles her problems is what makes it her story. Some characters might forget about the exam and put their heart and soul into getting to the talent show. Some characters might just go ahead and finish the exam. Some might try to stop the preps before they do anything.
 * The goal: She wants to be a musician. She's not bad and her friends/family support her dream.
 * The opportunity: There's a talent show coming up, she's sure she'll be able to get her foot in the door this way.
 * The obstacle: The preps are for sure going to stop her. There's also an exam she needs to pass on the same day.

Setting up the goal, opportunity and obstacle helps a TON in determining your characters' ambitions, and how they might go about it. It also gives your characters more to do than just 'standing around and doing nothing'. In Dez's case, she's actively working on her music, so she'll be practicing, writing songs, performing, etc.

Think about those sort of goals for your own character! Keep them tangible and realistic. If your character's dream is to be a model, does she engage with a lot of photographers or help out in photography projects? Does she go to casting calls?

Roleplay or Fanfiction?
Here's a handy dandy "chart" I use to determine how I write for a character depending on WHAT media I'm using:

If it's a roleplay: A loose idea of their goals, but their primary focus should be on their voice and personality. This character could be in a number of different situations in an RP setting, so making sure they have a solid personality and voice keeps the character interesting and consistent. A goal helps them have hobbies and a loose idea of what they'd like and value in the future, but not super important in an RP setting.

If it's a story/fanfic: The goal here should be the focus, as well as the personality. Readers want to see the goal fulfilled, no matter how the character gets there, and the adventures they have trying to overcome the obstacle presented. Never be afraid to throw a monkey wrench in your characters' plans. Never be afraid to let them fail and hit a brick wall, it just makes the ending all the more satisfying :0

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS?
One thing I've noticed is that there are a lot of international characters here, but none seem to... feel like foreign or international characters. There's a lot of stuff that goes on with being an international student that might not be apparent, especially in a country like the United States where there are TONS of paperwork.

Keep in mind that not every foreign student speaks in badly accented English; Western Europeans like Germans or French might be able to speak very well and can switch between the two languages frequently, for instance.

These kids are also subject to immigration laws too! There's a very real fear among older students that any small infraction might get them deported. Even submitting visa renewal papers on time can be a cause of great stress and anxiety!

DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY
Female characters often get the short end of the stick, I find. When writing a female character (especially when you don't identify as female), try to write the characters as people, and not as objects. Give them personalities, flaws, and everything else in between!

Again, teenage girls are just starting to learn how to wear makeup, so they won't be spectacular at it. Or if they are, have spent a lot of time/money in order to make it work for them. So don't be afraid to describe your female character as looking a little plain, boring or just average. We're not America's Next Top Model, and some of the plainest faces can be seen as beautiful to some people!

(more to come!)

In Summary...
So basically, there's some work to making a character and by no means is this the ONE, RIGHT way. What it is though is comprehensive and pretty much covering most of the bases to creating an interesting character.

Remember: A character is a vessel with which to carry your story. You can make the character as plain or as dramatic as you like, but they should be interesting! They should have a goal to work towards to, a personality that matches their backstory, an interesting or appropriate design, and of course, a name we can all come to love!

I'm more than happy to help with character building help, so feel free to leave a comment :3

Other resources
Other resources. My guide is the tip of the iceberg. Here are other places for you to check out!

(to add as they come along!)