#and i love u writers who give your readers personalities and backstories and motivations

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

i really need to stop falling in love with people’s reader inserts this can’t be normal human behavior 💔💔💔

[tell--your--world]

Building (a) Character

I created my first character when I was eleven. He was a neurotic, red-shelled turtle monster (a Koopa Troopa to those familiar with the Mario games), and his name was Rookooth. Being “cannon fodder”, he had a fatalistic outlook on life, responding to perceived threats by either asking to be killed quickly or fainting.

That's literally all there was to the character. He had no depth and served no real purpose. Every fiction writer has to start somewhere, though, and I'm glad to say that as I grew older and started thinking about my favorite characters more deeply, my creations grew deeper as well.

In general, characters can be divided into two groups; major and background. Major characters are your core group, whose exploits are the story's focus, and a supporting cast of friends, rivals and others who interact often with the core group. Background characters exist to make the world richer, and range from the nameless bartender who is only seen once to familiar faces who put in small, frequent appearances. It's normal for writers to put more effort into their main cast, but don't make the mistake of ignoring the rest of the world. You might not think they matter as much, but trust me, your readers will know if you don't put the effort in.

So how do you build a character? Sometimes you don't have to. You might need a teacher and be able to picture her immediately, right down to her mannerisms and style of dress. But other times you'll struggle just to decide on the gender of your lead’s best friend, and that can be frustrating. Ultimately the only way to develop a character is to write them, but here’s a simple method to get started.

The first question is, what role does the character play? Are they the star of the show, or the antagonist? Are they a relative of one of your main cast or are they a reporter who only appears once to harass the police about a crime? Once you know why they're in the story, imagine them with a stereotypical portrayal. That's the template you're going to build from. Background characters don't need much else to start, so we'll come back to them later. For now, think about your main cast and try to sum them up with one phrase: the smart friend, the rival, the love interest, the outcast. You won't have a comprehensive list of every main character when you first start writing, so only label the ones you know you need or can already picture. When you're done, you can start developing them.

The most important thing to know about each major character is what they want and why. Let's bring back our ghostly protagonist from the last post as an example: he wants to be left alone because he was bullied in life. This motivates him to drive off anyone who enters his home. Later, when he learns that the kid he scared is also being bullied, he decides to effectively haunt them because…? Does he want to protect the kid, or are the bullies just a stand-in for his own tormentors so he can finally have some revenge?

Don't limit yourself with moral concerns when you're figuring out what motivates your characters. It's perfectly all right to have a mean-spirited hero or a villain who isn't pure evil. But your protagonist, in particular, needs to be likable, so don't go overboard. No character should ever exist simply so you can do whatever you want without consequences.

Once you know what your cast wants, develop their backstories. If the smart one in an academic setting wants an A on every test because his parents expect it, you already have the outline of a childhood spent striving for perfection. Take a moment to build on that - does he always do what his parents want, or does he have a rebellious streak? Can you think of anything specific that happened to him growing up? - then look at his goal again and ask, does he really want that? Or does he have his own dream? Compare the goal and backstory, and make whatever changes come to mind until it feel right. Then ask yourself what the pros and cons of his upbringing are. Maybe he's a musician or artist on top of being academically smart, but at the cost of low self-esteem and no free time to spend with his friends. Maybe the stress of trying to be perfect has given him health issues.

This is a good time to warn you against the cringe-inducing perfection known in fanfic circles as a Mary-Sue (or Gary-Stu if male). On the most basic level this is a character who's literally too good to be true. If our previous example was a musician, artist, and genius who was also physically fit and the confident leader of his group of friends, we would have a perfect example of a Gary-Stu. Want to make him even worse? He's also handsome and can have any girl he wants, but is too gentlemanly to ever mistreat one. Would you want to read about this character?

Let's look at another example. Your main character is perfectly ordinary, and she makes sure to remind the readers of this fact often. Despite her painful normality she has the attention of some of the most desirable boys in school, but is also too nice to just pick one for fear of hurting the other(s). She's not perfect in the sense of her accomplishments, but the way she always gets exactly what she wants in the end makes her intolerable.

It's a common misperception that Mary-Sues can be avoided by giving the character a few flaws. But this rarely solves the true problem, which is the lack of realism. The key isn't to give them flaws, but consequences. If they spend all their time honing their mental skills, their social lives and physical abilities will suffer. If they're nothing special, they aren't likely to get together with the most popular guy in town unless they’ve already been friends for years. And no matter their social status or ability, please don't put a young character in a position of power unless they have a mentor or adviser making the real decisions. Your older cast isn't going to go for it, and in all likelihood, neither will your readers.

Another problem to avoid is the villain who's evil for the sake of being evil. Every enemy your protagonists face should have a reason for doing what they do, even if that reason is simply a need to eat. In fact, if you want a truly interesting villain, don't create him to be evil at all. It's true that some people will know that their actions are wrong and simply not care, but unless your antagonist is mentally ill, they should see themselves as the hero. They should be able to justify their actions as necessary to achieve their goals, or else have a belief system which makes their actions okay - if they grew up in a culture where slavery is normal and death is the sentence for certain crimes, their perception of moral behavior will be very different from that of someone who has never kept a slave and hates the idea of a death sentence.

You can also make villains more sympathetic this way. Perhaps the leader of a movement has a taboo against killing children because he can't justify it to himself, or a terrorist treats women with respect because he was raised to be a gentleman. Ask yourself how he behaves with those close to him - unless they have a reason to keep others at arm's length, most villains will have friends, family, or even subordinates whom they care about to some extent. Once you know who your villain is, all you need to do to make him the bad guy is show how other characters talk about or react to him. The stalker who equates possessive behavior with love will look much different from the outside.

Regardless of role, it's not necessary to show a given character’s history unless it has plot relevance. The backstories are primarily for your use, and can be as vague or detailed as you need them to be. In general, the protagonist should have the most developed past, followed by any character whose history impacts the present day. Background characters only need enough history to make the world interesting: if the shopkeeper who only makes one appearance hates the king, take a moment to figure out why. Others might feel the same way for similar reasons.

Once you know who the characters are and what they want, there's nothing left to do but to start writing them. Take a scene you know you'll need and see how those involved interact. Use their motivations and what you know of their upbringing to influence their behavior. It might feel awkward at first, but as you get the feel for their personalities, it'll be easier to decide how they should act in various situations. And again, don't neglect the background characters. The stereotype you assigned them earlier gives you something to work with while drafting a scene, but at some point you need to give them a bit of history or a visible quirk to make them feel real. Your readers will notice flat characters, so it's worth taking a few minutes to give them life. They - and the world you're creating - will thank you.

If you're curious about my fanworks or want a better idea of my abilities as a writer, you can find my fics on the following sites: just remember that older stories and chapters don't reflect my current writing style, and are slated for editing.

My AO3 account:

http://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkDecepticon

My fanfiction.net account:

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4428055/

If you wish to support this blog on Patreon, you can do so here:

https://www.patreon.com/darkstarofchaos

[wyrmsandrocs]

You know what you dared (anyone really) me personally to send all the writer asks so FUCKIBG ALL OF THEM BETCH

1. Favorite place to write. - I really like taking my laptop with me and writing at parks or in hotel lobbies when my fam travels, but its comfortable and familiar to write at my desk in my room2. Favorite part of writing. - letting characters be sassy and snarky. also letting characters heal.3. Least favorite part of writing. - actually putting words on the page lmfao4. Do you have writing habits or rituals? - i put on my writing playlist and if i can grab a diet coke bc it helps me feel like im ready to be productive5. Books or authors that influenced your style the most. - ooh, for writing style Caroline Lawrence’s books influenced me a lot when i was younger and more recently @lbardugo and six of crows6. Favorite character you ever created. - ahhh probably Linde, a shapeshifter who rejects all human concepts including gender7. Favorite author. - again, Leigh Bardugo. also @canipetyourdragon but like technically shes not published yet 8. Favorite trope to write. - enemies to lovers lmfao9. Least favorite trope to write. - ahh idek 10. Pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about. - @canipetyourdragon and we’d probs write abt some wacky adventure11. Describe your writing process from scratch to finish. - 1) have an idea and daydream abt it for a month 2) worldbuilding/character building for a g e s 3) finally get around to writing a shitty draft 4) s u f f e r 12. How do you deal with self-doubts? - whine at someone and then remind myself that nothing starts perfect and i have time to make it better. tbqh a lot of the time i remind myself that Six of Crows started as smthn like 31,000 words and is a lot longer in the final form and, no offense to leigh, was probs kinda crap at first lmfao13. How do you deal with writers block? - i remind myself that its not gonna get written if i dont write it, i sit my ass down, and i write something. anything. any stupid sentence. and then i write another one.14. What’s the most research you ever put into a book? - hoo boi am i bad at research n o t m u c h 15. Where does your inspiration come from? - a lot of my inspiration comes from music and other books, i have playlists that remind me of my characters and story on spotify and those help a lot16. Where do you take your motivation from? - i remember that i’ve always wanted to be a writer since i was like 5 and could barely write my name and i think about how much i want that to be a reality.17. On avarage, how much writing do you get done in a day? - ehh i’d say maybe 400 words on average? the least ive written recently is 100 words the most was 1,50018. What’s your revision or rewriting process like? - ah i havent worked on one story enough to know yet19. First line of a WIP you’re working on. - No matter how many she saw, Siora couldn’t get used to Outer Land bars.

20. Post a snippet of a WIP you’re working on. - “In a shocking plot twist, the rich Kitonian girl used to be a thief,” Linde said, mimicking some sort of announcer.

“Are you just here to add sarcastic commentary?” Siora glared at them.

She seems to glare at them a lot, Dema thought.

“That’s the whole reason I’m following you,” they said, then added, “Don’t give me that look, you know I don’t really care about the war.”

“My question is why is Siora still putting up with you,” Asteria laughed.

“Don’t give me any ideas,” The Beati girl grumbled, a smile playing on her lips.

“Oh yes, don’t encourage her. She might try to hurt me with one of her toothpicks.”

Dema laughed, “Don’t insult a lady’s knives, it’s not wise.”

“What’s a lady?” The Gerum asked, feigning confusion.

“Dema is a lady,” Asteria kissed the girl on the cheek, laughing.

“Doesn’t seem very ladylike to me,” Siora snorted.

“Like you’re one to talk,” Dema shot back.

“If anyone here is a lady, it’s me,” Linde said, sticking their nose in the air.

“You aren’t even a girl!” Asteria shrieked, grinning.

“Fair enough,” They nodded.

21. Post the last sentence you wrote in one of your WIP’s. - “Yep, now we’re just doing a final check to make sure we have everything,” The girl said without looking up.22. How many drafts do you need until you’re satisfied and a project is ultimately done for you? - ahh depends i havent really “completed” any big projects, but for short stories usually only one or two23. Single or multi POV, and why? - multiple because i have so many characters and none of them is really the /main/ character24. Poetry or prose, and why? - i love prose but tbh im a poet at heart i write a l o t of poetry

25. Linear or non-linear, and why? - linear, otherwise i get too confused26. Standalone or series, and why? - standalone, because i think the story im working on rn is only one book long. altho i do have another story in this world planned dont tell anyone 27. Do you share rough drafts or do you wait until it’s all polished? - i share as i write

28. And who do you share them with? only sharing with @canipetyourdragon tho29. Who do you write for? - myself and my future readers30. Favorite line you’ve ever written. - for prose? “You complain so much I’m starting to think it’s a religious observance,” Siora said, leaning against the wall. the answer is dif for poetry tho31. Hardest character to write. - a s t e r i a i love her but shes not fully fleshed out yet. also shes so good32. Easiest character to write. - linde that snarky bastard33. Do you listen to music when you’re writing? - yep i have a playlist that reminds me of my story34. Handwritten notes or typed notes? - both35. Tell some backstory details about one of your characters in your story. - Siora was raised to be the right hand guard of the princess, but was exiled when she died.36. A spoiler for story? - the villain gets redeemed37. Most inspirational quote you’ve ever read or heard that’s still important to you. - hm i really dont know. writing wise, i love the quote “if the muse is late for work, start without her.”

38. Have you shared your outline of your story with someone? If so, what did they think of it? - I tell wyna about all my story shenanigans and schemes, and so far i think she likes it lmao39. Do you base your characters of real people or not? If so, tell us about one.- not characters i like. sometimes background redshirts are based on people i hate so that i can kill them40. Original Fiction or Fanfiction, and why? - both. I love writing fanfiction, but i also have a lot of original stories to tell41. How many stories do you work on at one time? - only one at a time for me42. How do you figure out your characters looks, personality, etc. - a lot of the time it just comes to me, but i also answer ask memes like this as that character43. Are you an avid reader? -  y e s 44. Best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten. - hm im really not sure45. Worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten. - most unhelpful? “it sucked ass” - daedalus46. What would your story look like as a tv show or movie? - o h dude i would love to see it as a movie it would be a really cool fantasy aesthetic omg the effects for the shapeshifters would be so cool to see

47. Do you start with characters or plot when working on a new story? - this story actually started with setting48. Favorite genre to write in. - YA isnt a genre is it? technically fantasy i guess49. What do you find the hardest to write in a story, the beginning, the middle or the end? - the middle for sure50. Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had. - idk abt story idea but when i was 12 i killed a character by turning him into a tortilla ¯\_(ツ)_/¯51. Describe the aesthetic of your story in 5 sentences or words. - fantasy eclectic influence and design.52. How did writing change you? - honestly writing poetry gave me a way to express my feelings safely. it honest to gods helped me stop self-harming.53. What does writing mean to you? - to me it means putting my ideas and thoughts and self into the world in a way that people (hopefully) read and enjoy54. Any writing advice you want to share? - start writing and dont stop. if you think that its crap, remember that everything starts as crap, and if you think no one in the world wants to read it, remember that i definitely want to read it if you tell me about it.

tysm for asking omg!