#oc tips

[endomentendo]

Anyone got tips in oc making?

[redtailarts101]

Design tip: adding "imperfections" to your character designs helps differentiate and diversify them, and makes each individual design more interesting. Add acne. Blemishes. Moles. Freckles. Keratosis pilaris. Vitiligo. Eczema. Other skin conditions. Give them an overbite or crooked nose. Your designs will be more unique this way and they'll be visually interesting even without having to clutter other parts of the design.

"but I don't know how to do any of that" okay look up tutorials or just go in blind and try! You're allowed to do it "bad" and then get better with time.

[narcpocalypse]

TBH the best way to flesh out a character (which works for me) is to put them in two interview settings. One where they have to tell the truth no matter what and one where they can say whatever they're comfortable with. One will show their depth and the other will show how they want to be perceived

EDIT: OMG YALL TY FOR BLOWING THIS UP???? Here's a template for this idea with 3 interview settings!

[cybermangoes]

Just some element/power Ideas for anyone making a ninjago oc :3!🦴🎀

—slime

—sand

—radiation

—flight

—flexibility

—phantom

—telekineses

—mind control

—glitch

—dance

—air

—weather

—thunder

—flowers

—snow

—healing

—love

—colour

—illusion

—magnetism

—hypnoses

[narcitism]

do you have any tips for me as somebody whos trying to accurately write a character with npd?

hi!!!! okay so I can try on this but beware beware i'm low on spoons and shit at typing today wah wah wah

SO big glaring tip, don't villainize the NPD symptoms or anything like that,, if that makes sense!! i've seen so many narc-coded characters written as horrible villains and it sucks

if they are a villain make sure to make is obvious its not just because they've got NPD

ALSO make sure the character isn't just a one-note "I want all the love in the world" narc,, because while wanting and needing attention is part of it it definitely isnt everything!! remember to write their low-moments such as a black split or narc crash or anything like that!!! it can help flesh out the character and keep them from getting steriotypical

more stuff that seems really NPD coded are things like focus on outward appearance, a lower inner-self esteem while portraying a perfect image, a general focus on what others could be thinking, whatever whatever im not the typer rn

hope these help somehow,,,!!!!!! you should ask some other blogs for help too

[a-mimic-and-a-jester]

OC NAMING TIPS!!

quick tips for naming when your super confuzzled

-Find an adjective or attribute that desccribes your character well, and search up "names that mean xxx" (Example: Mustafa=Chosen, Amaris=child of the moon, Circe=magic. etc!)

-Open a random letter generator (i know, i know) and go until you find a good name, feel free to modify ofc

-Imagine the character's general personality: what would they want their name to be? if given the choice what would they choose?

-be cryptic and make secrets. rearrange words important to the character or reverse them. is it cringe? cringe culture is dead. be fucking spooky.

-stare at their design until a random fucking name pops into your head (works I swear)

-set in a normal, realistic IRL environment? look through baby name lists online or ask ur guardians if your in casual contact with them

-https://www.name-generator.org.uk/character/ this link, super fuckin good

RB with other tips for this if u know em bc apparently ppl need this really badly </3

RB to show more people who need this!!

[cocoafloodsthemetro]

♡ Body type diversity ♡

[deeeshka-14]

useful(useless) popee the performer OC guide/tips!!!!

hello everyone!!! my name is dishka, and im an PTP fan since 2019! recently, i did an OC and thinked alot, looking at ptp characters to make it more canon-like. soooo i wanna share what i noticed in characters designs that may be useful for making OC's! lets start

APPEARANCE: based on colors, mostly.

okay, let's take a look at PTP characters:

so, when you first looking at those characters, you can mainly notice the colors, maybe. its like 3-4 main colors(not taking shades of one color as different. also im not sure if white counts!). there is ALWAYS some print on outfit(stripes on popee's jumpsuit, stars on kedamono's shorts) or its just double-colored(papi's jumpsuit). i guess i should say there's something like a main theme in character. even if im not sure about "animal" theme(because kedamono is just a straight up wolf and popee is still a human just in animal outfit), theres space theme in papi and marifa(who wasnt in the show but i still count her!!)

i also may say that her colors is limited too, so this works with all characters, yeah. ALSO i noticed that everyone has something on their head(mask/hat), so i guess that's important too, even if maybe not necessary. to quickly show how I did it, i'll just leave my oc here:

so, basically, theres limited colors, a theme, i also added this neck thingy to match circus better... and i did it kinda close to ptp author's artstyle bc i wanted to.

PERSONALITY/STORY: short af

so umm theres not alot to say about how to be with a personality but there's always like maybe 2-3 traits in character, like they are very simple, nothing too complicated. ofc you can do it as you want, but if you wanna make your oc as close to canon as possible i recommend not overdoing their personality & story. just think of like... how are they acting near canon characters maybe?? what would they do in different situations?? where they came from, why are they in the circus?? and something basic like that.

sooo thats all i can say!!! sorry if this guide was useless, i just wanted to do this bc i uhh wanna share things i noticed??? and all goodbye and wish you luck with ocs

[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!

[se7ens-oc-heaven]

Fun tip from your local oc hoarder: if you have old ocs or concepts that never went anywhere, didn't quite grab you, just didn't quite work - re-insert them into the world as the npcs. The background character. The side cast.

And here's why, in a nutshell - it'll help your world feel more cohesive, to you and to anyone seeing it.

Yeah, sure, you can hastily slap together a bland shopkeep during a shopping scene, or slip in generic fan designs at a concert. But if you have someone Established, specific, someone who doesn't Have to reoccur, buuuuut... maybe the main characters always go into the store during so-and-so's friday shifts, or maybe you have concert scenes frequently enough that you'd start picking out the same fans who always attend for their favorite band... Adds to how natural it all feels, you know?

Does it have to be an old oc? Can't it be someone made to fit, I hear you ask? Well, sure! And obviously if you only have one or two ocs that aren't active, you'll have to anyways. But it's a two birds with one stone exercise - because now you've streamlined your process for having an established npc. You already have an idea of how that old oc looks, or talks, or acts. You may already know what setting they'd likely frequent, or even miscellany like what music they like or hobbies they have. Your generic npc doesn't have to have speaking lines or relevance - but if they needed to or you wanted them to, now they can. They'll have substance that keeps things from feeling too flat.

And idk, obviously some people don't pay much attention to things like that - but I've found that it makes a huge difference to me even when I hadn't realized it. It adds some extra depth to the world in small ways, that you may or may not ever use, but that way it's already built in. No scrambling or extra work to project traits onto some faceless character who talks to your protag about musicians for one scene.

This is also helpful for subverting "kill your darlings" a bit, for those who struggle a lot with that concept in their writing and worldbuilding - because for me, my problem tends to be that it's not that the darling is Entirely Pointless, it's just that they aren't a good fit. Killing a really good idea and banishing it to the drafts forever can suck. But learning how to Recycle the darling helps keep it in relevance, but by plugging it in to a better purpose than the original draft. That makes it easier to cut ideas out of my writing - because I can rest easy knowing I have it in reserve for its time to shine elsewhere.

I'd imagine this won't work for everyone, but I've found as I work on my hero story that it's added a lot of joy. Characters who fell to the sidelines or into obscurity simply because they weren't cut out for hero business now have time to shine in other small ways.

I have a girl who realistically will end up just being a background jogger. But she's also on a track team, and likes handmaking pottery in her spare time. I have a guy with weather powers, but he's focused pursuing being a talented violinist, with minimal active involvement in the hero business beyond happening to have heroes who are fans of his work.

Heck, one of my favorite characters is a duo of guys sharing a body that are just waiters at the local diner. One of them can reverse gravity or even practically rewind time with the snap of his finger if he so chose. These are powers that he studies endlessly for so he can hone and refine them better. But all he cares about is protecting his family and friends, so all you typically see him use his powers for is preventing glasses from being broken or saving his crush from tripping.

It makes me happy to see my kids just going about their day, filling a role in the background. Will they be more relevant? It's possible! But even if they aren't, there will always be glimpses - of the redhead jogging down the street, of someone in the middle of listening to a track from a classical violinist, of a waiter effortlessly stopping plates from being dropped in the middle of taking an order - all in the backdrop of whatever panel or scene or what have you that comes up.

It helps it all feel more like a world everyone belongs in, rather than a staged play. You know? And it's a very fulfilling feeling for me, both as author and as reader.

So yeah. Don't be afraid to recycle those old ocs. Tweak or streamline them if you need, but if you hold them even a little dear to your heart and can get them to click, I promise you won't regret it.

[sanityshorror]

Is there any writing tips you can give me to create OCs??

My advice comes from the perspective of an author who creates characters to tell stories, as well as a multimedia creator - so this advice is more general creating advice (rather than advice for just making OCs - which there's nothing wrong with to simply create OCs!), so this may not be exactly what you are looking for/may not fully apply, though I hope this helps! Advice below cut↓

Are you creating because you want fame and popularity, or for no reason other than your passion for it? If it's for fame and popularity and not purely from passion - don't. Fame and popularity must be 0% priority, it must come from the heart. Create the characters you want, create the stories you want to - not what you think others want and will like. You are your own target audience.

What is the character's purpose to exist? What is their story to tell and the reason to tell it? What is the backstory? Who are they, as a truly 3D being - like any real person is ?(you know this has happened when suddenly, your characters have developed 'minds of their own' and you no longer feel you can control them - you will know what I mean when you experience what this truly feels like.) How does their name and appearance reflect them, as a person? How would their time period and culture have shaped them? You will find more questions like this and you should be asking yourself every single question you can think of regarding your character - including the reason why your answer is what it is. The answer should be in character and make sense for said character.

Do extensive research on all topics and experience which you will portray in your creations. Also, if the characters are from the past, do extensive research on their time period.

I give this following advice in #5 as an extreme horror creator, and I'm including this as I assume that you ask me because this is the genre you want to go into creating: A) you need to be 18+ to do this, plain and simple. This is not a genre appropriate for minors to be creating for, there are various reasons for this. B) your work needs to have a message, however, getting graphic and brutal (though you should not be creating extreme horror unless you are able to execute this properly), in your face and over the top with it - that's completely okay. Making people uncomfortable and disturbed and upset is the goal of extreme horror - not entertainment or to comfort. C) give an explanation for an antagonists reasons, though never an excuse nor ability to redeem. D) cross 'red lines' E) understand you will be controversial, get lots of backlash, many people will simply not have the comprehension to understand your creations. You need to be prepared for this and you need to just ignore it. Opinions only matter from people who are into the same genre. F) you need to practice a lot before posting. G) You need to consume and understand the points of other extreme horror media.

If you do not have direct, exact lived experience with things you portray in you character and work, you need to do extensive research, listen to many people who do have that experience, and talk to people personally about their experience. You need to be aware of if it is a subject you should not ask one about and only ask (still keep the questions vague) if they offer first to share. Furthermore, do not touch any subjects unless you are confident that you can portray and handle them with the necessary maturity, awareness, capacity, and knowledge.

Commit. You must have the passion to truly commit. This must be something you are willing to dedicate years and years to. Understand you are a beginner and have so much to learn. Be receptive and take constructive criticism from those more experienced than you. And don't give up. Failing and making mistakes is essential to improvement. It's how you learn what not to do in the future. Those with lots of experience who point these things out are trying to help - not insult.

Don't ask bigger creators for promotion of your work. Don't try to push your characters on theirs.

If you do gain a following, be humbled and never, ever let it go to your head. I've seen this happen to so many people and it's always their downfall.

Push yourself out of your comfort zones. It's how you grow as a creator.

Uh..... "you only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a life time, yo!" Basically. Never let a chance at achieving your dream pass you by due to self doubt or anxiety. Especially a truly big chance. These are truly rare, most people will never gain any following - hence why you shouldn't care about fame to begin with. BUT.. ."Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?" okay I'll stop with Lose Yourself but those lyrics are true.

I hope this helps you (and others)! Best of luck!! /Gen /pos

[narcpocalypse]

HEY GUYS!! In reference to this post, I made a document with interview questions! Thank you so much for being inspired by my idea. It means the world to me. I hope you find this helpful :33

[zothora]

Hello

I would like some advice for my MHA oc

Her quirk is ' borrow' she can temporarily take and use another's quirk

She can only hold a Max of 3 at at time and will eventually time out and get returned on it own

How she gets another person quirk isnthat she need to touch someone with all 5 fingers

The part I need help with is what do you think would happen if she grabs shiggy? Or her and shiggy mange to grab each other at the same. Time?

[jumping-junimos]

i've never made an OC before and i really want to but idk where to even start T^T does anyone have any tips???

[ghostlylemonz]

my top tip for really developing the design of your ocs? Make picrews of them.

Picrews are just silly little dress up games made by real people, all with their own unique art styles, which means the options that you have for each one will be different. This is gonna help you pick out those key features for your character that make them recognizable, and it’s just fun to do. Here’s some of my personal faves:

I do this with almost all of my ocs, and I know their designs and key features like the back of my hand. Have fun designing!!!!