#character tips

[tanaor]

Want quick tips to add instant chemistry to the relationships of your characters??

(🥳With examples🥳)

First of all, I want to say that you can also use most of them for platonic/ non-romantic relationships, so feel free to use this tips however you think they might work better in your story. So, without further adue, let's get to the tips!!!

Make your characters LISTEN to each other. Like, if A tells B they're not a morning person, B could make some coffee for A or lower the volume of their alarm.

This might sound quite obvious, but show that you characters care for each other. It might be as simple as one of them giving the other a glass of water when they feel a little dizzy, but it works wonders!

Make your characters physically close. When you are emotionally close to someone, you tend to be physically close too. But here is the thing. Make your characters react like it's second nature: "how would I not hug B when I haven't seen them in days?" or "Of course I'm gonna take A's hand when I feel afraid".

They don't have to be constantly thinking about each other, but when they do, MAKE IT MATTER!! For example, character A is out shopping, and they see B's favorite cookies. B didn't have a good day, and A knows that. But A also knows B is gonna fucking love the cookies, so they buy some.

Let them believe and trust each other. Also applies if one of them is a little distrustful: let your characters rely on one another, even if at the start they aren't as comfortable doing it. For a distrustful character, letting the other one help with chores might be a HUGE thing.

Other tips for writers: previous | next

[maplewozapi]

Heyo! I hope it’s okay to ask, but I have a question about character design.

I had the idea for a phoenix themed mage, and was considering having feathers growing alongside their hair. But my second thought was how I don’t know if that would be offensive to indigenous people.

If you don’t know the answer, do you know where I could learn?

The thing about feathers and character designs is that nowhere else uses feathers like we do and the silhouette is very unique to us specifically. Looking up feathers in character design or in specific cultures it always seems to come back to us good or bad. So in order use feathers in character designs you have to try not to use our silhouettes with the feathers. (Eagle feathers, head dress, brooches,bustles,ex.) I feel like people don’t understand the importance of feathers like each one you earn or is past down to you by family. During powwows and ceremonies if one falls off they have to completely stop the competition/ceremony and you are disqualified and you have to give away that feather because you disrespected it. And by law we are the only ones allowed to have eagle feathers 🤷‍♀️ it’s a religious thing not an aesthetic

I say consider what bird you wanna use, what they associated with, and use the feathers in a different manner silhouette wise. Like incorporating the bird’s silhouette and stuff. I like what the warrior cats fandom did and moved the feathers to the shoulders instead of head. Because yes we put feathers on our animals as well for the same reasons.

[moon-delia]

★ ៸៸៸ FRIENDSHIP 1 ╱ post ❜ ✸ ៸ !?!

Good friendships can turn a decent story into a memorable one as, it not only does it make the reader care more about the story, it adds emotional weight to the story.

But there's one problem. Good relationships are difficult to write. You thought writing romance was difficult? Well, writing friendships is a whole new level of difficulty.

Romances normally rely on professions of love and staring into one's eyes for lengthy periods of time. But, how do you develop friendships?

# ៸ make each character their own person.

If a character's only purpose in the story is to act as "the friend", then it's guaranteed that they will be a flat and uninteresting character. This will lead to a friendship that no reader will be invested in.

Unfortunately, a lot of stories are like this ― you have your main character, and then their 1-dimensional friend who might crack a joke every once in a while. 

We have some good examples from movies like Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings. He isn't just "Frodo's friend" who tags along. He's a gardener and a cook. He has a fascination with elves, a crush on Rosie, and a bad habit of eavesdropping. He is loyal, brave, and can persevere even when there is seemingly no hope.

You see this is in Toy Story as well. Even though Woody and Buzz both have the same goal ― to escape Sid's house ― they both have different journeys. The story means different things to each of them. Woody learns to not be as selfish and Buzz struggles with accepting that he is just a toy.

# ៸ give them something in common.

Once you have fleshed out your characters, you need a reason for them to be friends. What brought them together? What gives them the reason to hang out? You need to give them similarities.

This can be a number of different things, like:

★ Status

★ Hobbies

★ Struggles

★ History

★ Background

★ Interests

★ Enemy

★ Goals

★ Dreams

# ៸ give them meaningful differences.

Once you've established their similarities, it's time to dig deeper and create their meaningful differences. Don't just make your characters different. Give them meaningful differences that can build off of each other.

With those differences, your characters can help support their strengths and build them up during their times of weakness. This can lead to a strong friendship.

Here are some great ways to give them differences:

# ៸ skills.

★ One of the friend can be smart in terms of intelligence while the other is good at using her hands and inventing stuff.

★ One might be good at coming up with plans, while the other might be good at improvising when the plan goes awry.

# ៸ conflict resolution.

★ If there is a bully bothering them, one might want to go and blow up at the bully, while the other chooses to ignore it.

★ If they are having an argument, one friend would want to talk it out maturely, while the other just likes to play devil's advocate and throw more heat into the argument.

# ៸ personality.

★ One is confident and sly while the other is shy and awkward.

★ A is cold and determined while B is relaxed and compassionate.

★ B is an easy-going pleasure seeker, and B is a serious planner.

# ៸ method of action.

★ Both friends are trying to break into a house. One will look up videos on YouTube about how to pick a lock. The other friend will just break the window with a rock.

★ The two friends are trying to persuade someone to do something. One friend uses bribing techniques, and the other friend uses a more passive-aggressive approach.

# ៸ reaction.

★ One friend with freak out and the other friend will stay calm.

★ A will get discouraged and want to give up, and B will encourage them to keep going.

★ One person is terrified out of their mind, while the other tries to stay positive.

[the-smut-analyst]

Making Characters That Make Sense

Walk-through character template & "how to" guide for writing complex, original protagonists.

If you google "character templates for writing", you'll get a lot of very basic examples that read like a grocery list: eye colour, hair colour, skin colour, positive traits, negative traits, etc.

And sure, filling out this kind of template isn't completely useless - but it's also not particularly useful, either. Choosing whether your protagonist has blue eyes or green eyes isn't going to determine whether readers connect with them or not.

Instead, I prefer to use the below template:

There's some fairly left-of-centre categories here, so in this blog post I'll be creating a character from scratch to demonstrate what each section means and how to use the template effectively.

Primary Goal & Raison D'Être

Fantasy Romance is having a bit of a tournament-to-the-death moment right now, with Hunger Games-inspired stories like Fourth Wing, Throne of Glass, The Savior's Champion, and The Serpent and the Wings of Night in high demand - so that's what we're going to work with in today's blog post.

The story premise and primary goal of the protagonist are almost always interconnected. In this case, the story premise is a tournament to the death - and the character's main goal is to win that tournament, obviously.

But where there's room for some originality is in the raison d'être. This loosely translates to "reason for being" or "purpose". It's the why of it.

For example: what motivated this character to risk their life by entering such a tournament in the first place?

It is sometimes helpful to look at similar stories when thinking about this category. Not so you can copy their protagonist's motivations - but so you can do something different.

The whole selfless-self-sacrifice thing, for example - that's done. At least in relation to this particular sub-genre. We can do better for our hypothetical Maera Mystfang character.

Actually, let's really turn the trope on its head and make her raison d'être incredibly self-centred.

Already, this is character is shaping up to be something a little bit different within the niche of tournaments to the death. Which goes to show how putting a little bit of thought can go a long way, even with something as simple as identifying your character's initial purpose.

Primary Obstacle

Every protagonist needs a goal - and every goal needs an obstacle. This is what gives the story some tension and keeps readers turning the page.

An obvious choice of obstacle for this hypothetical character, since we're dealing with a fantasy romance, would be that Maera starts to develop feelings for one of her fellow competitors.

This concept has definitely been done, but that's okay. Not every section of this list has to break the mould. Tropes exist for a reason and it is totally okay to lean into them sometimes.

However, just for funsies, I'm going to try and put a slightly different spin on this one too.

Instead of the obvious "I love one of the people I'm meant to kill", let's make Maera's (previously dormant) conscience be the problem. Her reasons for entering the tournament may have been self-motivated, but as she gets to know her fellow competitors - admires some of them, even - she starts to second guess those reasons.

Core Traits

A lot of character templates will divide personality traits into positives and negatives - but I don't think this is particularly helpful. It is far too one dimensional - not to mention unrealistic. The key components of someone's personality aren't usually so black and white.

In fact, most core traits are both good and bad at the same time - it just depends on the context.

Instead of being wholly positive or negative, try to think of three core character traits that can serve as two sides of the same coin, with both positive and negative implications to each.

For Maera, I've given her these core traits:

Self-reliant;

Rebellious; and

Good-humoured.

Her self-reliance means that she is incredibly capable - but it's also the cause of her selfishness. She's always had to look after herself, so she expects others to do the same.

Her rebellious attitude means she isn't willing to accept the status quo. But at times she is also a rebel without a cause, causing trouble just for the fun of it.

Her good sense of humour means she is fun to be around, but she also tends to not take things as seriously as she should.

Thinking of core traits in this multi-faceted way not only adds realistic complexity, but it also sets you up well for showcasing character development and growth throughout the story.

Fatal Flaw & Character Arc / Growth

You've probably read negative reviews that throw around terms like "Mary Sue" or "Gary Stu". People tend to be over-zealous with these terms, especially for Mary Sue, but the gist of it is that the character in question is "too perfect".

They're the chosen one, they're good at everything, all the boys like them, etc.

Some characters can get away with this just fine. Look at Aragorn. He's the ultimate Gary Stu but I still swoon every time he opens those damn doors. You know the scene I'm talking about.

Ooft.

But for the most part, you want to incorporate a fatal flaw into your protagonists - because this is what gives them room to grow.

And, no. "I was born to be King but I don't wanna" does not count as a fatal flaw.

Instead, think bigger. Think worse. Think about where your character starts versus where you want them to end up. Think about how you want the events of the narrative to change their world view - or even their initial goal.

For Maera, her fatal flaw is pretty obvious, given her initial motivations for entering the tournament. Similarly, her growth/arc is linked to her primary obstacle, which is developing a conscious.

Her journey throughout this hypothetical story might be learning to appreciate how her past shaped her, while also acknowledging that there are things she can do to ensure others don't have to go through what she did. By being shown acts of kindness, she learns to appreciate their value.

First Impression

Now that we've covered all the "big picture" stuff, let's get into some of the smaller details that give your character some texture.

The first impression category is a hypothetical exercise where you image how your character might appear to a room full of strangers. In dual, multi, or omniscient POVs, you might even get the opportunity to include this impression somewhere in the story.

But even for first-person narratives, it is still worth thinking about, because it will help to inform how other characters interact and respond to your protagonist (at least at first).

For Maera, I've written this first impression as: a fun person to have a few drinks with - so long as you keep a close eye on your wallet.

From this description, we can guess that Maera probably likes to have a good time, but also comes across as untrustworthy. Whether that impression is deserved or not is up to you, as the author, to decide.

There's also a lot of deeper directions you can take this first impression category, too. Like if most people react to Maera this way, but one particular character doesn't, then your readers are going to sit up and pay extra attention during that interaction. Especially when that person reacting atypically is the future love interest.

Spirit Animal

Ah, this one is a fun one!

I always encourage my authors to assign a "spirit animal" to their characters - especially when they're doing multi-POV.

There are two main reasons for this:

It will allow you to assign some very distinct adjectives and verbs with that particular character; and

It is an opportunity to flesh out some additional character traits beyond the core traits.

For Maera, I've chosen "spider" because she is solitary by nature, opportunistic, and patient.

But, more than that, I also like the idea of Maera being the kind of person who knows how to watch and wait. While her first impression might be "here for the good times", her joking façade is actually a mask she wears while carefully observing others.

For example:

Her words were laced with venom. She crawled her way across the rooftop. At some point, weaving lies had become more of a past time that a necessity. Her thoughts were a tangled mess. She didn't bother to conceal her predatory gaze. Inch by cautious inch, she crept forward. Her sanity was already hanging by a thread. If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was spin a good story - truth be damned.

I've never outright compared Maera to a spider in these examples, nor have I made it blatantly obvious that that's what I'm doing. But by peppering these kinds or words throughout the story, I'll be able to subtly create a very distinct kind of impression for her character.

For comparison's sake, let's assign "cat" to the love interest. Examples of possible words to consider in this instance might be:

He clawed his way through the bushes. "What are you doing?" he hissed. The comment had some bite to it, that was for sure. He slunk away into the darkness. His still, unwavering focus was unnerving. He prowled towards her. In a few quick, agile steps, he'd made it across the parapet. He yawned and stretched out beside her.

Of course, not every single word you use in association with a character needs to be related to their spirit animal. But keeping a certain type of animal in mind - and finding opportunities to throw in some subtle messaging through language choice - can be beneficial on so many levels.

It helps to distinguish your characters from one another through the kind of language you use to describe them - but it's also just really, really fun way to add some bonus texture to your characters. Giving your readers some little easter eggs like this is never a bad thing.

Love Language

If you're unfamiliar with the concept of the five basic love languages, then here's a quick visual overview:

Love languages aren't a consideration that's specific to romance. They're important for friendships and familial relationships too.

Because thinking about what your protagonist values most in love is going to tell you a lot about who they are. Especially when you take the question deeper and think about why this is something they value.

For Maera, I've chosen "Acts of Service" because this ties in quite well to her character arc.

In terms of Maera's why, I could easily go with "because this was how she was shown love as a child" - and this is a good enough option most of the time. However, since her love language is very much tied into growing out of her fatal flaw, then I actually want to do the opposite.

Maera winds up valuing acts of service because this is something she craved - and wasn't given - as a child. She had to do things the hard way instead. Hence why she ends up appreciating the kindness of others so much. Such generosity is new to her - and precious.

Conflict Response

This is potentially one of the most overlooked character components. Conflict and tension is central to story telling, yet there is so little attention given to creating authentic, original responses to conflict.

The way I see it, there are three main considerations in regards to conflict response:

How your character reacts in the moment;

The unhealthy methods they use to deal with the aftermath; and

The healthy methods they use (or discover) to self-sooth.

When faced with conflict, Maera's immediate reaction is to antagonise. She doesn't like to back down and enjoys creating trouble.

However, in the aftermath, the conflict affects her more than she lets on. She stews on it - and her solution to that is to get drunk until she can forget about it completely.

But even though she sometimes forgets it, Maera has a more healthy coping mechanism at her disposal. When she is surrounded by nature - in the forest, by the sea, whatever - it calms her.

In addition to identifying your protagonist's various responses to conflict, it is also helpful to think about why. Again, this is a great opportunity to insert something unique into their character backstory.

With Maera, for example, let's think about why she finds nature so soothing. Perhaps, amidst a very bleak childhood, one of her fondest memories is of picking grapes in a vineyard.

Perhaps the elderly woman who owned the vineyard was very rude and abrupt - but also quite kind to Maera in her own way. Maybe she would sometimes stitch up Maera's clothes or feed Maera a hearty, meaty dinner - even though she didn't have to.

If you're struggling to think of a real, tangible, unique memory such as this - then it's always helpful to go back to the old classic of write what you know. Think of a real life moment or memory - something that's stuck with you, no matter how simple - then adapt it to your character.

To create this vineyard example, I simply drew on my experience of picking strawberries with my Nonna after school.

Mentor / Idol

I could write an entire thesis on mentors. Or, more specifically, the "death of the mentor" trope - both in its literal and metaphorical interpretations.

But, for the sake of brevity, let's save that sh*t for another time and focus on what's important for a basic (yet complex) character template. And that is:

The Formative Mentor (past); and

Transformative Mentor (present).

The formative mentor (or idol) is someone who influenced your character prior to the events of the novel. Sometimes they're a character the reader will meet, or other times, they're long gone before the novel even begins.

The transformative mentor is a much looser term. It doesn't necessarily have to be a traditional mentor character, but rather it is a character who heavily influences or changes your protagonist throughout the events of the novel.

For Maera, I want her earliest idol to be a random female sell-sword who she crossed paths with. Prior to meeting this sell-sword, Maera was living without hope for a future, surviving on scraps and petty crime.

But after seeing an independent and moderately wealthy sell-sword in her local tavern, Maera got a glimpse into the kind of life that might be possible if she learned to fight. With the right kind of skills, she might be able to earn some decent money for a change - and travel the world.

This is an example of how "mentors" don't always have to be a wise wizard who oversees your protagonist's training and education. Young minds are impressionable - and even distant figures can have a lasting impact.

Just look at all the women who cite Legally Blonde as the reason why they were drawn to law. Elle Woods wasn't even real - but for plenty of young girls, she made an impact.

Similarly, your protagonist's "present" mentor or idol doesn't necessarily have to be a wise wizard either. It can simply be someone who motivates them to change their world view or strive to be better.

In romance, it is more than acceptable to have the present mentor coincide with the love interest - especially in standalone enemies-to-lovers. I know this seems counter-intuitive, since the word "mentor" implies a power imbalance, but it makes more sense if you readjust your definition of mentor to be "inspires change".

However, for Maera, I kind of like the idea of pairing her up with a love interest who shares some of her flaws. I vibe with the idea of making him a bit self-interested too, although for different reasons.

So in her example, I've listed the present mentor as a selfless secondary character. The way I would envision this going is Maera and the love interest team up early on - but somewhere along the way a secondary character saves them both. They're both heavily influenced by this character before this character sacrifices themselves. The aftermath of this incident rattles both Maera and her love interest, and serves as the spark for growth.

I hope you found this template - and very long explanation - useful!

[ahungeringknife]

Let's talk about Aspec characters and relationships!

I'm aroace. I write a lot of characters who are aspec in some way. I have a lot of aspec friends. And this is why your aspec character is driving me crazy. There's also sex talk in here so if you're not mature enough to handle it please scroll past.

Edit: Allos also should reblog this if you found it helpful.

First lets get some terms right:

Aromantic (aro) and Asexual (ace) are two distinct things. Aroace means you're both aromantic and asexual at the same time. It is generally referred to as 'aspec' (aro/ace spectrum) when you fall on one or both spectrums. If you are not aspec you are allosexual/alloromantic (allo). It just means someone who isn't ace or aro. You can also be aroallo or aceallo (aromantic allosexual, asexual alloromantic). All these terms are neutral and not used in derogatory ways similar to trans/cis. It's a descriptive word not a put down.

Now about those characters and their relationships. Because that is the most :))))) to me as an aroace is when people just don't know how to handle an aspec character. Usually because they're allo. But that's okay you probably don't know and we're all here to learn from each other. Here's some things to consider when you want to make or write an aspec person.

Ace's do sometimes have sex. They just aren't motivated by sex. That's it.

Along with sex your ace character may also masturbate and feel good being touched. They also might only like touching themselves and hate when other people do it. They usually also know when someone is hot/sexy and will comment on it. Finding someone sexy =/= we want to fuck them. Thinking someone is hot =/= we want to fuck them. We're still human. We know what a hot human looks like. Your ace character might be attracted to someone's appearance aesthetically but have no interest in their bits. Your ace character might fall in love with the most beautiful person in your story and never show any interest of wanting to bed them.

They can have boyfriends/girlfriends/romantic partners they do or don't have sex with. But they can be anywhere on the spectrum of sex repulsive, to sex positive, to absolute sex hound. Some of the horniest people you know are probably ace. Some of the horniest people I know are ace, and I have a lot of ace friends.

And we're not all virgins. Some ace's had sex and realized 'nah fam. Didn't do it for me' and never did it again. Others are virgins and have no intention ever of having sex. Others are virgins but don't care either way? It just hasn't happened. Others enjoy sex with their partners. Some are parents! You can be ace and had enough sex to procreate. Some also think sex is icky or it squicks them out. Some might be squicked out at the thought of sex with another person but they're fine looking at porn or doing it themselves. There is a wide range of what asexuals are into just like allos.

Aros also sometimes do the sex. They are not motivated by romance. That's it.

That being said your aro character can have a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner and it can be 'romantic'. It doesn't have to be a queer platonic relationship. Your aro character also might not want to be in a relationship at all. It is not weird for your aro character to call their partner their partner or bf/gf or if they're married their husband/wife.

Aro people do not get butterflies. They don't really get flustered around people they like. There's no spark. And they don't feel that romantic attraction allos do when they meet someone and fall in love with them. I've found that aro people are also terrible at flirting or picking up flirting cues. At least in my own personal experience when it took my aro ass 3 years to realize some girl was flirting with me and I just thought she was being nice to me. Take the 'useless lesbian' trope and take it to 11. We just don't know. Aro people also know when other people are hot. Just like aces just because we're aro doesn't mean we don't know a baddy when we see one. We just probably won't realize said baddy is flirting with us...

Aro character still love. They love their family, they love their friends, they love their partners. And it's all real love. The love is still there. Aro characters also probably know what they should do to mimic being in love. Even if we don't love someone more than platonically they may still do the things romantic partners do with their partner. Some don't! And that's fine too. Sometimes you're boyfriends and you share the same bed with him, and sometimes your girlfriend is just your roommate. Both are totally valid aro relationships. Maybe your character kisses their partner passionately and they like it, or they might only kiss during sex, or they might not kiss on the mouth. All valid and correct, still no romo. Kissing =/= romance for aros. Sex =/=romance for aros.

Aroace characters do all those things! At once! They can do the sex, and the boyfriend/girlfriend/partner and loving their friends. They just are not motivated by sex or romance. Kissing =/= sexual attraction. Sex =/= romantic love.

Being aspec is looking at the most beautiful and delicious cake in the world and going 'neat, cake' and walking away not even wondering what it tastes like, not even for a second considering having a bite. It's a cake. Neat. You are not motivated by cake. You don't even really care about cake. It's nice that other people fucking loooooooove cake but it's just not for you.

We also know what love is supposed to be like, what a 'healthy sexual' relationship should feel like. It's everywhere. All around us. Constantly. It's also sometimes fucking exhausting! It's why some aspec people can be a bit agro. We get it you're in love/got a new partner/are sleeping with someone/really sexually attracted to this person/keep spamming us with your celeb thirst pics/etc. It does get tiring sometimes. We don't care about the cake and sometimes listening to you talk about the cake drives us crazy. Consider that too when writing aspec characters. Sometimes their friends and their cakes are annoying no matter how much they love them platonically or romantically.

Anyway just some things to consider for your aspec OCs from an older aroace. Should be said aspec is a wide spectrum and I'm drawing on my own experience as an aroace with aspec friends, and my writing of those characters. If you have more questions about writing characters on this spectrum feel free to ask!

[five-sided-dice]

"Answer three questions for every character: - Who is this character, - What do they want, - And How can I stop them from getting it."

-Someone once said something like this

[ticcitavvi]

y’all.

asexuality ≠ aromantic, and vice versa.

asexuals are perfectly capable of having and/or wanting romantic relationships.

aromantics are perfectly capable of having and/or wanting sexual expierences.

please stop assuming the two are interchangeable.

[3hks]

Tips to Create a GOOD Relatable Character

Let's be real: we all love a good character that's unique and stands out from all the other boring ones because they're so different. They diverge from what we're used to. Thus, if the author pulls it off correctly, they become a fan favorite! Though they may be dissimilar from the other characters, they may be more alike to you than you initially assumed. Authors do this by keeping the character distinctive while throwing in some relatable qualities. Now, most people won't consciously notice these similarities, but they will be able to register them!

When creating a major character, relatability is one of the most important yet overlooked characteristics. It is able to fuel empathy within the reader, which keeps them interested in the story. And these are a few tips on how to create this effect!

There are several things you must remember when writing. Firstly, books and novels are shared with people. They are meant for others to read, but your purpose for writing shouldn't be for society. Write what you want to, what you believe in! Write for yourself! This allows you to express your ideas and emotions freely on paper. Secondly, you aren't alone. People have gone through what you have before, and while some experiences are unique to you only, there are definitely experiences we all share. The point is, someone will find parts of your character relatable and someone else won't. That's okay. Thirdly, you don't need to express yourself through only one character. Personally, I spread traits I have over many of my different characters as I see fit.

I think that those basics help you realize that your character's relatability should be built on what you believe, what you feel, and your experiences. Not anyone else's. And don't worry, many readers will still be able to connect with such traits! Now, onto the REAL thing! :D

You must understand yourself and your emotions on a deep level. Have you ever been betrayed by a friend? How did it feel? Did you break down? Did you not care? If something you've been through does happen in your writing and you find your answer similar to an answer your character might have, include it! Because then, you're writing from your heart, the event means more to you because you lived it! For the readers who haven't been in such a situation or reacted in an akin way, they will still notice the quality of writing and don't think that they won't empathize!

Your character does not need to consistently be relatable to the reader, it can be overwhelming and not to mention, a wide spread. In addition, the character will seem more basic. Sometimes, just a humane act from someone that isn't so benevolent will gain the audience's empathy, and that's really all you're trying to achieve. You want people to understand your characters. (This can also apply to the type of character I mentioned in the first paragraph). Perhaps you have a cold character with violent tendencies. A humane act for such a character may be saving or showing compassion for someone, but you have to consider their personality, it's most likely that they won't save a random stranger. Instead, it might be someone close to them. If you really want it to be surprising, then maybe they save an enemy! When the reader sees something like this happen, it will slightly alter how they view the character, and the moment will be more impactful because it's unexpected.

While in my opinion, the best way to create a relatable character is by channeling yourself into them, some people will disagree. In this case, you may want to focus more on feelings because more people will understand the emotions a character goes through better than their choices. However, this will work best on a more simplistic yet important character. One that isn't too complex, and will act like how most people would in their shoes. This could be the main character, even, as many authors try to make their lead relatable to the reader.

This is getting too long, (apologies) so in conclusion, you cannot make every character relatable, they all act and think differently. Reveal their qualities through small snippets at a time during appropriate moments! Different people will find different things relatable, anyway, so use your experiences as a guide! I hope that this will help!

Happy writing~

3hks :)

[sprinklesdonut15]

More Character Things

Decide their handwriting - Maybe write in their handwriting. Is it small and messy because they don't care? Do they write quickly because they're always in a hurry? Do they write neatly because they take pride in themselves? Handwriting can determine a lot.

Make them a playlist - Further adding onto this, their music taste can determine a lot. Maybe their music interest aren't the basic "because I like it, it's relatable, etc." Maybe someone used to play it in their car. Maybe their friend recommended the music. Maybe it's the music taste of someone close to them who passed.

Give them random quirks - Enough of those lengthy and excessive character sheets. Just make bullet points. Random little things about the character, some I have are things like "always has candy & soda" "anger issues tbh" "likes being out of the house". Nothing has to define a character, but it sure can help.

[story-brainstorming]

Unsettling character traits bc I couldn't find a list

Doesn't blink (great to include with intense direct eye contact)

Smile doesn't reach their eyes (comes across as disingenuous)

Head moves before their eyes (people usually look before turning their head)

Eerily calm or repeated inappropiate emotional reactioins to a given situation

Invades personal space

Slightly off proportions

Too many teeth

Too unrealistic/perfect (they could be putting on a persona)

[artist-issues]

A question: I'm working on a story of mine that deals with the problem with obsession, like obsessing or worshiping ideas, skills or people within the context of a people who are master artisans called the Yetenek. How would I go about conveying a message which says ' worshiping the material and temporal only leads to chaos and crossing lines?' Because the main character suffers from a worshiping complex concerning his absent father that gets pulled apart due to it causing tension and hurting others. I'm hoping that by the end, my main character will still want to find his dad but in a much more healthy way that doesn't involve him nearly killing his group.

Hi! This sounds like a story with a lot of punch behind it, I’m sure it’s going to be good!

Do I have this right: your character’s desire to find his dad is representative of worshipping tangible things?

If I have that right, I think it’s best to introduce an alternative to the Finding-His-Dad goal. Think Treasure Planet. Silver’s a character who’s singlemindedly, doggedly after Finding-His-Treasure. They design his character, introduced with missing body parts, to demonstrate that he’s already willing to cross lines. So he’s a pretty good template for the same mindset or flaw your character’s got, in a way. Like I said, what stories like this usually do is they have an alternate object-of-worship introduced. Silver worships the idea of having that treasure. Then the alternate-object-of-worship is Jim Hawkins. The whole movie builds up their relationship until Silver has to choose, in the climax, between what he’s been obsessed with, and something else, something better, to be obsessed with.

That might sound like a strange take on Treasure Planet because I’m using the word “obsessed.” So I can hear people going “no, Silver is obsessed with treasure, but he loves Jim Hawkins.”

Okay, but we’re talking about worship in this context. And human beings have a tendency to worship what we love. Usually, one all-consuming object of worship is what every other love in our lives falls under. So your character worships the idea of being with his dad. Even though he loves his friends, (group? You said “group.” Are they friends?) that love for his friends “falls in line” under the all-consuming object of worship. Usually, that’s not a bad thing. As long as what you’re worshipping is worthy of that worship.

(If his dad were really standing next to him, and was a good dad, his dad would probably say “no son, take care of your friends.” So the two wouldn’t conflict. But he’s not worshipping his dad, a person who’s next to him able to direct him—he’s worshipping the idea of being with his dad. One is “good” and worthy and would help him order his priorities; the other is “bad” and unworthy because it’s a fantasy in his head.) In a situation like your story, remember that when a character has a strong flaw/motive with deep roots, and you want them to grow out of it, your character needs something stronger to force itself on him in the course of the story until he comes to “decision-time.” That “something stronger” can be a relationship (it most often is) or it can be a new idea, or it can be a new dream. But remember, you have to tell it in a way that clearly displays the progression. His grip loosens on the old obsession, step by step, scene by scene, and is sort of reaching for a new obsession, inch by inch, scene by scene, warmer and warmer, until the climax, when it’s time to make a decision that shows how he’s grown.

The very natural solution to all of this is for your character to not care too much about the group at the beginning, because he’s so focused on Finding-His-Dad, but then as the adventure continues he starts to care more about the group, or see their value, or see the value of real people who are immediately affected by what you do over the value of a fantasy where you get to be with your dad. In that way, your story follows the same basic template of Treasure Planet or Onward. And that’s not a bad thing—I’m not saying it’s derivative.

I’m saying it’s a tried-and-true lesson, because in real life, all of human history is kind of the story of us being made to worship something good that would help us get our priorities straight—but instead we worship literally anything else and so our priorities are wrong. It’s a really good truth you’re going for!

Pause.

But time-out. Here’s the thing I feel like my brain hit a snag on as soon as I read your ask.

Your character does not have his dad. Right? So that makes his motivation, the thing he’s obsessed with, a dream. A hope. Something he has faith in and looks forward to; a scenario where his father is all he should be to him, including present. Which means? Your character is obsessed with something intangible. It’s intangible because he has no certainty that he’ll ever find his dad, or that it will be a good thing when he does find his dad. Meanwhile, his “group” is right there with him on the adventure. People present, actively affected by what he does, and he needs to learn to care about them more than his fantasy. Which means? Your character needs to be obsessed with something tangible.

You want him to go from “worshipping an intangible hope” to “worshipping tangible people around him.”

But your message was, “worshiping the material and temporal only leads to chaos and crossing lines.”

Maybe I mis-phrased it? Or was not understanding? More likely you meant, “He needs to go from worshipping this fantasy in his head to realizing that he can’t cross any line for that fantasy—and that realization is expressed by the way he stops nearly killing his group.”

Okay. But what I’m saying is, consider this: if you want your character to tell the story of someone who learns that material, tangible things are not worth worshipping, and he’s an artisan (right?) have him be more obsessed with whatever he’s in the process of creating. A painting, a magnum opus, a piece of his own worksmanship.

You don’t have to get rid of his motivation to find his dad. But maybe he worships art as a form of (what’s that ladies and gentlemen?) god-like communication. He sort of worships his own talent, his own ability to make something that would be seen and loved by everyone—and in his heart of hearts, maybe his long-lost dad will see it and come find his brilliant artisan son. See? All the characters’ hope, faith, and worship is now in how powerful his own artistic skill is. And so he is willing to sacrifice the group around him to get this special piece it needs, or find the best inspiration for it, or it’s already made, but he needs publicity—and he’s willing to sacrifice anything to get that.

And then you know what you could do? Make it fail. That’s what I would do. Let him do it. Let him go on this journey with his group, sort of nearly getting them killed a bunch of times, but also bonding with them, and there’s a building tension of “how long is he going to keep risking everything for this dream?” and then when the pre-climax comes, and he has a choice to sell his friends out and get his craft in front of the eyes of the world—he does sell them out. Because he really believes it’ll work. Give him the thing he’s worshipping. And then have it crumble out from under him.

Then, even better, you can have him see that it was never worth it, and go back to his friends, and give them an opportunity to forgive him.

These are just ideas. I don’t have enough info to tell you what the best thing to do is; I’m just spitballing about the idea of a story based on the great message you’re going for. What I’m saying may not be the direction you were thinking of at all—and that’s not bad, as long as the direction you were going in still ends in the same place: communicating that great message.

Basically, in conclusion: Give the character something that is tangible which he’s obsessed with. Something that clearly has some value, but no lasting value. And then have him worship it—but introduce an alternate, worthier object of worship that gets stronger and stronger over the course of the story, while his previous object of worship seems weaker and weaker by comparison. Have him cross lines. Big lines. Then show that he should never have “trusted his weight” to the tangible object of worship, and crossing all those lines was totally in vain—then end it however you feel gets the point across. I’d have the alternate-object-of-worship save the day. But you might end it there, as a cautionary tale, sitting in the ruins of an idol. 🤷‍♀️

I think you have the bones of it! It’ll be really good because your head is on straight and you’re focused. I’m no expert, so thank you for asking me and reading all this! Hopefully I’ll get to read/watch this story?

[informl-lawlietonthings]

OKAY last ooc question for now but do you have any tips for like acting as Light? I know this is an L blog but you are a genius and I trust your intuition cause you're doing so well at playing L! I'm planning on making a Light blog purely because death note is a current obsession and even though I hate him lovingly I would love to play as him too but I need TIPS cause this bastard has too many facades and stuff >:( - Misa (I promise I only get more annoying from here on/hj)

OOC: DON'T WORRY ABOUT BEING A BOTHER! I'm very talkative when stuff I'm into is talked about, so send an ask whenever!

I'm no genius but thank you so much for the compliments! I don't have much experience playing these characters but their psyche and reactions are so interesting that I can't help but go mental over them; none of these goofs can be labeled as one-dimensional because, although they do stem from character archetypes, each one brings something new to it, without being a copypaste of the genre. My relationship with Light is very similar to yours lol, I hate him but he's such a great character that I appreciate his complexity.

Therefore I can't guarantee that I'm the best person to ask for this, but here are my thoughts anyway!

Light's character keeps the 'model student' trait up until the second half of the show, it's an asset that is extremely useful to him as both a cover and advantage in terms of gaining trust/information easily; this doesn't get to his head unlike the DN, despite how many times he uses it, it's all that it is to him, a title. He weaponizes it but doesn't view it as an achievement, it's more like a standard that he has to live up to; a "normal" person would jump of joy or at least be happy to be the number one student nationwide, to be praised no matter where they go, but he doesn't care, ergo: he's not a bragger. Sure, he utilizes his high intelligence to get his way, acknowledges his superiority to others in intellect, but he never outworldly brags about, he rejects it. On the outside he is moderately humble and denies/gently pushes away the flattery he's given, even though he knows it's true; the same goes for women, he knows he's popular and uses that, the only time he's proud of it is when he's talking to Ryuk about, which sounds like explaining attraction to an aromantic or science to a philosopher.

One common misconception that has been floating around for decades about his character is his personality pre-death note, which I am very against; the statement that Light without the Death Note would have been a wonderful guy who’s modest and kind is so fundamentally wrong that it’s jarring to me. It’s so reflective of the treatment of serial killers in real life that I can’t not mention it; if the person who committed the crime was “good” or performed good actions, then something turned them into a monster or drove them to do whatever crime they did. While they can be conditioned/solicited by outside sources, saying it happened out of the blue is erroneous; I can understand why people would think that, even more so if they were someone they trusted or saw in a good light, because believing otherwise would crush them. No one does things that major without reason, yes they can be pushed to do it, but the intent is there, it has been, it doesn’t appear out of thin air, take this as an example; when you cry while laughing, it’s because you laughed too hard, when you unintentionally leave the light on it’s because you forgot about it, when you miscalculated it’s because you weren’t paying attention to your calculations etc…

How does this have anything to do with Light? People seem to believe that he’s ‘innocent’ or wouldn’t have become a mass murder if he hadn’t found the note; this is mainly the Yotsuba Arc’s fault, which led to misinterpretations of his character, it’s true that Light feels horror at the sight of these killings because of the sheer brutality, but he’s not completely against them either. In that same scene, Light is contemplating if he could really fit the profile of a merciless serial killer, subsequently reiterating his possible motive for doing something so cruel; eradicating evil. He admits that and we hear it, yet his innocuous behavior is the only aspect the fandom highlights, not his self awareness or the re-affirmation of his established morals. This conveys the message that it’s all the DN’s doing, and while all of this mess wouldn’t have happened without it, it’s wrong to say that it’s the root of all evil when it’s not. The DN served as a catalyst for Light’s nihilistic morality to be enacted, exteriorized, the switch that flipped his passive worldview into an active one; Lighr saw the world as rotten long before he picks up the notebook, the world has always been full of weeds that need to be removed to him, the DN was just his means to do it, the apple for Eve, if you’re looking for a religious metaphor.

Another thing is how he interacts with people. The obvious thing we can learn is that he’s extroverted and a role model for other people to follow and idolize, but he’s actually the most alienated university student ever, take Patrick Bateman from American Psycho as an example — he has everything, he embodies the ideal American man, except he doesn’t feel human at all and feels alienated from humanity which drives him to commit murder. Both of these characters know they aren’t like everyone else, know that the expectations that they are raising are just a cover for an empty soul that can’t understand why it’s different. Light consistently draws this line between himself and other people because they’re not equal to him, he’s something else that doesn’t follow human nature or behavior; he has been emulating it since day one, which is why his attempts at behaving ‘normally’ to avoid suspicion actually increases it and doesn’t feel normal to us, the audience, at all. His words and mannerism, neatness and appearance, are what people expect of him, his conversations prioritize what other people want to hear instead of what he wants to say.

I have no clue if this helped at all, I’ve tried writing down my thoughts as coherently as possible, please don’t be afraid to ask questions if there’s anything I said that confuses you!

Thank you sm for the ask! -K.

[ahb-writes]

Writing Problem: The Characters Are All Stereotypes

Problem: The Characters Are All Stereotypes

Solution: To be more than a collection of tropes, characters must be emotionally differentiated, possess myriad insecurities, battle visible and invisible vulnerabilities, willingly blur their own logic to achieve what they perceive as necessary, and debate their own flaws. Solid characters, well-rounded characters, and well-defined characters give readers a reason to stay engaged.

To craft these characters, authors should be conscientious of what internal rules the story's characters follow, what flaws these characters must overcome, and what trajectory each character arc takes in parallel to the overall narrative arc. Not every character needs to know who they are or how they want to influence the story to stick in readers' minds, but the author should have a good grasp how the character grows (or regresses) relative to how they engage the story's central conflict or theme.

Writing Resources:

10 Traits of a Strong Antagonist (Fiction University)

The No-Effort Character Sheet for Lazy Writers (justsomecynic; ahbwrites)

How to Write Deep P.O.V.: 8 Tips and Examples (Now Novel)

Character Flaws: Creating Lovable Imperfections (Now Novel)

How to Use Character Flaws to Enrich Your Writing (Perpetual Stories)

Character Flaws: When Is Too Far Too Far? (The Character Therapist)

20 Powerful Romance Tropes (and How to Make Them Original) (Jericho Writers)

Does Your Character Have a Secret? (Writers Helping Writers)

Creating Villain Motivations: Writing Real Adversaries (Now Novel)

Some Quick Character Tips (Coffee Bean Writing)

Dynamic vs. Round Characters: Who Needs a Character Arc? (The Novel Smithy)

❯ ❯ Adapted from the writing masterpost series: 19 Things That Are Wrong With Your Novel (and How to Fix Them)

[moon-delia]

★ ៸៸៸ JEALOUSY ╱ post ❜ ✸ ៸ !?!

Along with many other emotions, jealousy is very complex emotion and requires you to break it down into tiny pieces in order for you to identify and write them.

It is very effective in writing as it helps a character realize what they really want and how badly they want it. It doesn't have to be central to the plot; it can be understated and supported by anger or fear.

It comes across in simple examples like a villain who is jealous of the hero, when two characters want one thing / have the same goal or when one character is more successful than the other.

★ ! THE TYPES ❪ 🎧 ❫ ៸ !?!

# ៸ sexual jealousy ― when a character's spouse or significant other displays or expresses sexual interest in someone else.

# ៸ romantic jealousy ― when your character fears the loss of a romantic partner or fears rejection from a potential or current romantic partner.

# ៸ possessive jealousy ― when he/she feels threatened by someone who could interrupt a friendship or relationship that they value.

# ៸ separation jealousy ― when your character has fear of separation or loss of a lover, partner, friend or parent due to their relationship with another person.

# ៸ work jealousy ― when your character feels cheated out of a promotion at work, or feels jealousy towards a specific person at work.

# ៸ friend / sibling jealousy ― When he/she feels inadequate when comparing themselves to their friends/family/siblings (they always try to one-up their friend/sibling).

# ៸ abnormal jealousy ― extreme psychological jealousy that results in or a combination of morbid, psychotic, psychological, delusional, anxious, controlling, immature and insecure behavior.

★ ! WHAT FUELS IT ❪ 🎧 ❫ ៸ !?!

There are many reason for someone to be jealous of another person. It could be rejection, confusion, frustration, powerlessness, insecurity, suspicion, loneliness or distrust. Choose the reason that fits the type of jealousy.

★ ! HOW IT EFFECTS ❪ 🎧 ❫ ៸ !?!

Do they have an increased heart rate or body temperature? Do they become angry and clench their fist, have verbal outbursts, stare downs and tensed muscles? Do they become quiet and have a dry mouth?

★ ! THEIR REACTION ❪ 🎧 ❫ ៸ !?!

★ make up stories/gossip about that person so that others will have negative feelings towards the same person.

★ feel overwhelmed and underachieve in every sphere of their life.

★ avoid the person all together.

★ take up a bad habit or addiction in an attempt to deal with their feelings.

★ become obsessed about something (like over exercising and dieting to beat their rival in a tournament or something more sinister like plotting another character’s demise).

★ manipulate others into feeling sorry for them.

★ over criticize themselves and everything they do.

★ harm themselves, their environment or others.

★ show a blatant disregard for the needs and desires of others to fulfill their own.

★ bully or intimidate the people around them to gain a false sense of power.

★ abuse others physically or psychologically.

★ flaunt their wealth (or fame, intelligence, status, beauty, etc.) to mask their own insecurities.

[markersmadness]

𝙒𝙍𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂: 𝙀𝙈𝙊𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝘼𝙇 𝙎𝘾𝙀𝙉𝙀𝙎

𝒂 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆'𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌. 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕... 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏 [𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓]'𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆.

𝐎ne thing I notice new writers tend to think is that a emotional or important scene has to be dangerous. that there has to be risk. but that isn't true. in fact, the opposite can be! scenes where the surroundings don't reflect a character's emotions make them feel real; the rain won't conveniently come for you, so why should it for your character?

Scenes where a character isn't surrounded by pain, perhaps even surrounded by joy can make their misery all the more impactful. Describe the energetic, lovely, happy people around them. How their friends cheer and hold one another, play games and run amok. The bubbly, warmly colored room, the nostalgic and dazzling music. All while your character is breaking apart, their eyes glazed over like newly cut glass.

Using impactful words to show a character in pain makes the reader feel it, too. metaphors to describe their perspective, the hints that they aren't really okay, meshed with descriptive narratives depicting celebration causes such a contrast that it makes a heavy impact.

Of course, there are times where it's better to have the atmosphere match the emotions. this technique only works when used sparingly; having the same scenario, same metaphors makes your writing dull. if you feel like you're running out of writing methods, or that you're repeating your self, be it word choice or characterization or anything really, try writing one shots! think of a different approach to write each time for each one shot, so that you can explore what is best to write in what circumstance.

The world around your character is just as important as the character themself. Yes, it's important to have dimensional characters, and to build on their traits. But it doesn't matter if you're unable to convey it. One of the hardest things to do is to write an interesting story when a character and the world don't "match"; the character isn't motivated, doesn't care, doesn't... feel for their environment. Hence why so many authors and writers try to explain and show how important motivations and goals are for your characters, but then they don't explain it, don't tell you or show you why it is that they need a goal.

It's still possible; it's difficult but it is possible to write a story for a character without a motivation. It's just a very bad starting point for those who are new to writing, or haven't entirely figured their characters or writing style out yet. So don't take it as a "never", take it as " do this only if you really think you can work with it "

I'll make a separate post for a list of metaphors and descriptors I like to use, some are listed here above in the example (bolder) but there are lots more if you're at a loss!

[cepheusgalaxy]

Hello, I saw your post about Brazilian OC because I'm researching to write one too. May I ask for tips please?

The premise of my story (the plan is maybe 15k-20k words) is about an American who moves to Brasil alongside his sister to restart a new life because of a dark past. He meets a 12-year-old girl whose perspective inspires him to face his past in the end.

I set the story in the Northen Brasil; more accurately, Rio Preto da Eva, Amazonas (long story on why but I got suggested to by a friend then I got attached to the place). Do you have any tips for me for portraying this little girl? Like her mixed race, her disposition, her family, her culture, food, her mannerisms, her body language, her English speech as a second language is like (she's bilingual just so they can communicate, maybe imperfect but fluent enough); how to show that she's Brazilian, basically? Not just a random kid in a random country that you can replace with another country and it will stay the same.

Thank you! I'm sorry if it's too much.

Hello! ^^ You can definitely ask for tips, and I'll help in any way I can. As a warning, this may be a bit rambly.

Firstly though, I'd like to say that I myself am not from the North, but from the North East, and there are a lot of cultural differences from here to there so I may not have advice as specific and as accurate as another person may give, but I'll give the tips I can. This is a somewhat long so I also put it under a cut :)

Now, moving on. I decided to divide this into topics so it's easier to understand:

Appearence (hair, clothing, etc.)

You ask about her race first. Amazonas is known for having the biggest amount of Indigenous communities from all the country (i fact checked that just to be sure), but the majority of people in there is also Parda [mixed black and white, you could translate that as Brown]. White people are at a minority of 24% of the population, following the <10% of Black people, so the Brown population is three times the white one. You may, ofc, chose whatever you want for her if you haven't already. Just throwing these statistics there in the case it might help.

If she's Brown, she probably will have coily hair, and she may wear it tied back or braided with a fun color, you decide. The climate in the North is mostly very warm and humid, so having her hair falling on her neck might be a bit uncomfortable so she probably wouldn't wear it loose unless it's for a special occasion or a party where she would want it super neat.

Ofc this changes from person to person, but at least in my city, girls with long hair tend to tie it for the most part and take especial care to leave it loose when they want it neater, since combing your hair with cream for it to look good loose takes a little bit more of work than just making it look nice in a ponytail or pigtails or a fancy bun. Short hair works differently and its more common to wear it loose, since there are less options for tying it and it's not as hot in your back and neck.

As a side note, she may also have straight hair. Girls her age sometimes like to straighten natural curly hair, or maybe she has indigenous ascendance if she's not indigenous herself and her hair is straight and her skin, dark.

Lots of girls also like to wear earrings and usually at twelve i don't see a lot of big ones so she may prefer to wear tiny ones, bracelets, etc.

An acessory you might also see is this one:

[ID: A toddler wearing a blue stripe turban, a bandana-like cloth on their hair, tied in a flower at the front. /end ID.]

For some reason I couldn't find an example of any older kid but it'll do lmao. This is a turban, or headscarf, that is common among women here and comes from African influence. We have the ones that cover more of the hair, and this one, which is more common for younger children, that has the shape of a stripe and has a stylized knot in the front. They can come in patterns or plain colors, like this. It's pretty cute, although not very popular amongst tweens and older teens, with some exceptions. The kid's ones usually come already tied and we call them tiaras.

Moving on to clothes, as the northern areas are very warm we usually wear tshirts, small dresses and short shorts or trousers. That is probably where the stereotype of Hot Skimpy Brazilian comes from (hand in hand with racism ofc). I notice that in colder countries people tend to layer up and wear long sleeves and pants in the summer but unless it's a party, an event or a particularly cold day that's really unusual here. Bc of the warmth, leggings and crop tops are super popular too.

Patterns are also really really common, not just in shirts but in dresses and shorts as well. That's also from African heritage.

Though I am pretty sure that patterned, long skirts are very common in Amazonas. You may want to research this one a bit more.

Accent

You also note that she speaks English, and I don't know exactly how the subject is in schools there, but in my area we learn English in a very basic and very simple range, especially at her grade. I'd say it's very unlikely that she'd have learned it there, but there's always exceptions though! If she didn't learn it in school, however, the most common way to learn it is by engaging in content in English. I learned it by engaging with the PJO fandom that is mostly in the US, for example, and my cousin learned it by playing pirated Pokemón that he couldn't get in Portuguese. Maybe she loves subtitled shows and learned there!

I'm not sure about her accent bc I'm not generally good at pointing them out, but a few things in her native language that may influence it are that, in Portuguese, vowels are a little bit more open most of the time, and she may also have trouble spelling the r in the way you do, and will probably acentuate it to compensate (my little sister does that) or switch it to a french r or a spanish r (if you've heard French or Spanish you may know what I'm talking about). She probably also speaks a little slower or accentuating each syllabe to make sure she's speaking right.

She may also just make some sounds completely wrongly, like spelling the S as a Z sometimes, like "azexual" (in portuguese when the S is between two vowels it has the sound of Z), pronounce X as "CS" or "SH" like Asecsual (asexual) or Eshtra (extra) or accentuate the Ts at the end of a word, something native anglophones tend to set aside for the most part, I've noticed.

School (coz I think that this might appear sometime, if your story doesn't take place in summer break)

A thing I'd like to note is that schools in Brazil work very differently than in the US.

Firstly, the "grades": We call them Years and they are divided in three parts: Fundamental School I [Ensino Fundamental I], Fundamental School II [Ensino Fundamental II] and Highschool. Before all of that, optionally we also have preschool or "childhood garden" or just daycare, that we also refer to as alphabetization.

F. I or E.F. I -- from 6 to 10yo. Here we have 1st year, 2nd year, etc allup to 5th year. Kids learn the basics and may or may not get in already knowing how to read and write.

F. II or E.F. II -- from 11yo to 14yo. Here we start from 6th year and go up till 9th

Highschool -- You know this one. Three years, called 1st, 2nd and 3rd year. A literal translation of its name would be Middle School. (Ensino Médio.)

We don't have homeschooling, and by law kids are obliged to attend school as soon as they are old enough to.

Schools here also have a pretty big difference from public to private that idk if you have in there.

Private schools are owned by individuals and Public schools are owned and funded by the government, as you probably know. All schools in Brazil also have uniforms.

Each private school has their own particular uniform, and you have to pay for your child's subscription, uniform, materials and snacks.

Public schools are divided in two categories: State schools and Municipal schools. State schools are owned by the state, and municipal schools are owned by the city. The state and the city all have separate uniforms, so every municipal school from a city is going to have a shared uniform, and every state school from a given state is going to share a uniform too. In public schools, the subscription is paid by taxes, and so are the uniform and food; you just have to pay for your personal material, not including books, that are provided by the school, and any school outings your child may attend to.

I took the liberty to take a look into the Amazonense public uniform and the uniform from the city you choose too:

[ID: A bunch of students wearing jeans or black pants and a white shirt with a green and yellow arc at the bottom, and a small crest on the chest. /end ID.]

^ Amazonense State Uniform

[ID: A little kid wearing black trousers and a white t-shirt, both with an orange crest. /end ID.]

^ Rio Preto da Eva Municipal uniform.

As you can see, the uniforms usually consist in trousers or shorts for younger kids or pants for the older ones and a plain shirt with the school, state or city simble. Unlike other countries, where the (girl's) uniform usually consists of some kind of skirt, the uniforms here are the same regardless of gender and come in some different sizes (Small, Medium, Big and Big-Big). Private schools also follow this model.

In Municipal Schools you usually get both the shorts and shirt by the school, and in State Schools you just get the shirt and can wear whatever pants you want, but following a dress code (usually it's "jeans or black or dark blue pants and closed shoes" and trousers are only allowed if they're a certain lenght, but maybe Amazonas has another code I'm not aware of)

Another difference from State and Municipal schools is also the offered curriculum. Fundamental I, sometimes II, is offered in Municipal schools, and highschool and Fundamental II are offered in State schools. Some schools may not follow this rule and have more or less stages.

And also the school year is a bit different: The year starts in the beggining of February, then there is a starting weekbreak for Carnaval, then the classes start for real. The year goes on till July where we get around 15 days off, then the classes come back and end at the start of December. This may change a little depending on the school's jurisdiction (Private, State or Municipal).

Schools also work in turns: Morning "Matutino" (7 to 11AM) and Afternoon "Vespertino" (1 to 5PM) or Full-Day "Integral" (7AM to 5PM or earlier). Most Municipal Schools as far as I know are morning + afternoon.

And lastly, as a side note, some medical services in Brazil are also public and free, like the SUS (unique health system), where your insurance is paid by taxes so you don't pay for it unless the service costs more than what your plan allows for.

Food

Now about food, I'm not completely familiarized with culinary from the North, but we share some dishes in common and I also did a quick search. So we have:

Lots of fish -- the Amazonas is cut by a lot of big rivers so fish is very important to the culinary

Cupuaçu -- a tropical fruit that gets delicious in ice cream

Açaí (another fruit you can make great ice cream with) with beans. Half of the people like it and the rest claim it tastes like mud.

Maniçoba -- a dark soup made of cooked cassava leaves and meat basically

Muqueca -- a kind of fish soup

Pirão -- it has the texture of mashed potatoes and it's made of cassava flour cooked in fish broth

Fried banana - you cut up banana in slices and fry them in the pan till they go gold and it's very sweet, crusty and delitious tbh. Some people put it in couscous

A lot of fruit juice, like guaraná, cupuaçu, graviola and any other fruit you can find in there

Beiju -- beiju is a sort of flour you prepare like pancakes (rolled up pankakes, that is) and they are crispy and you usually put salty toppings like chicken and cheese in there. some people like it alone though

Pão de queijo -- technically "cheese bread" but it's a completely different kind of cheese bread. it is very small and round and also crusty

You can search for more of the food but this should give you an idea.

For table manners, at least where I am from, idk about Amazonas, it's considered rude by some people to support your elbows on the table, and by most it's also considered rude to speak while your mouth is full.

Family and other details

I'm not sure how family would be very different and idk much about family in Amazonas but where l live specifically (northeast) I've seen these elements in families very commonly

single mom (usually black and poor)

a dad or grandfather with a lot of abandoned children with many different woman so you may have 7 unknown siblings/uncles

idk about other areas but here we greet our older relatives by 'asking bless' (pedindo a benção or just bença)

I am not really aware of mannerism differences but I can give you a silly list of swear words because 12 is just the age kids are really sweary and I think she could literally translate some of these by accident and some don'r rlly work in english but here they are:

Desgraçado - disgraced. Medium swearing

Miserável - miserable. Light swearing

Filho da puta - son of a bitch. you know this one. Can be very heavy or very playful

Filho da mãe - son of a mother. Heavy swearing

Filho da égua - son of a (female) horse. Medium swearing

Seu cu - your ass. Light to medium swearing.

Tomar no cu - go take it up your ass. Light swearing but can be heavier depending on circumstance.

Seu porra - the only translation i can think for "porra" is cum but it can also mean fuck. this one is calling someone a porra. a bastard in this context. light to medium swearing

Porra

Foda - can mean fuck, can mean shit, can mean badass, can mean 'it sucks', can mean 'hella cool' and really really depends. light swearing when it's used like that

Caralho - i am not sure how to translate this one. it's usually a term for when things suck. or are very cool.

Rapariga - calling someone a bitch lightheartedly. light swearing

Viado - faggot. can be very heavy or very playful

Quenga - similar to rapariga but more agressive

Desgraça - disgrace. usually to express frustration. medium swearing

Portuguese has a lot of curse expressions actually.

Some other things that may be worth noting are:

Most brazilians, unless they're very wealthy, don't have dishwashers. Or drying machines for that matter. Since it's hotter here we mostly dry up things in the sun. We use strings for that or just hang them up the wall at the back of the house.

Some brands we refer to when we mean certain products (but this one may not apply to Amazonas): Maizena (corn starch), cotonete (cotton swab), QBoa (bleach), Veja (disinfectant), Nikito (a brand of stuffed cookie), Springles (you have that one too), Play-Doh (play dough), Amoeba (a weird slime toy) and Oreo

'Gringo' is a word that means foreigner. If you're not from here, u a gringo

Your character may struggle to use 'it' to refer to some objects, because in portuguese we don't have it as a pronoun. Objects are either he or she so your girl is probably gonna call the table a she and the car a he a lot of the time. I do that too sometimes.

Very specific anime thing if she likes anime: there's a culture here that if you watch dubbed anime instead of subtitled ur a loser. it's silly but it exists.

If she's twelve she probably grew up watching Sítio do Pica-Pau Amarelo. It's a child's cartoon based off a classic child's author work, Monteiro Lobato. And she probably read Turma da Mônica as a child (the comic books ever)

She also prob watches a lot of dramas. They usually air in channels like Globo or SBT. Three very popular and classic ones are Chiquititas (a show about a bunch of children from an orphanage and one of them was the secret heir of some rich guy idk. my sister loves it), Carrossel (i don't watch novellas but i know there's a school and a black boy and this racist girl. it's also a meme) and Chaves. Some more recent ones are Romeu e Julieta and As Aventuras de Pollyanna.

We tipically use the 24 hours format so if your mc can't understand that he'll probably confuse himself a lot

"Meia" (half/middle) usually refers to the number six, when we're talking about phone numbers. That's because three and six sound way too similar and you may confuse them up so to avoid that we replace six with meia

A dozen and half a dozen are also used a lot, like when you go get groceries and eggs, idk about other countries

Vasco -- vasco is a soccer team that is a meme because they Always Lose. We have the expression "went vasco" to express someone got fucked over

She will probably refer to soccer as football when speaking english bc in portuguese, soccer is "futebol". Depending on her personality she may refure to correct herself

The girl almost definitely cheers for a soccer team. I know few people who don't cheer for a soccer team.

Talking about soccer, another team that is a meme is Flamengo. Bc they don't ever win a "world" medal. Idk much about soccer but a world medal or a mundial is a class of tournaments?

Soccer is a big thing here. We cancell classes when the soccer world cup is near.

Now for your last line--how to show that she's brazilian. I'm not really skilled in showing different nationalities in writing, but I think that the most effective tool you could use is the cultural difference. How do things work differently here in opposed to there? What is your usamerican character used to or not used to, what does he have to adapt to? What does the girl think your character should know, or be used to, when he isn't? What are the things your character prides herself for in her culture (like soccer or the food bc of the meme of Bad USamerican Food)?

Anyways, this is a really wide topic but I hope I have been able to shed a little light or offer some guidance. If anybody who sees this is from Amazonas, your insight could be helpful too!

Good luck with your story, anon!