User blog:Magical Toddler/Unsolicited Advice on Characters!

Unsolicited Advice on Characters!

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Creating a Solid Character

I've talked about this before a very long time ago, but I feel like I could go into a bit more detail with it, especially knowing quite a bit more than I did back then. Here we go.

First, Don't Create an OC
'Now wait a moment, Tot!' I hear you insist as you slowly shrink and transform into a corn cob. 'OC means 'Original Character!' Isn't that what my characters are supposed to be?'

No. Absolutely not. The problem with creepypasta 'OCs' is that they, ironically, aren't original. When you open your computer, hop on Deviantart, and decide to create an OC, what's the first thing to pop into your head? I'd say it's examples of other creepypasta characters. Jeff the Killer, Smile dog, Slenderman, etc. Creepypasta OCs are basically Sonic OCs without the artistic appeal of recoloring. Almost inevitably, you want them to tie into whatever character you based them off of. You want to be all meta with them and have them like creepypasta. And this is where the downfall comes in.

You can rant and rave about how we're holier than thou all you'd like (this journal in particular is amazingly delicious because it shows how well the author can't even take criticism, but I digress), but in the end your OC will inevitably be deleted. We don't take spin-offs, we don't take shitty stories, and we definitely don't take shitty shipping fanfiction.

Create People, not Characters
William Sloan once said on the subject of characters "Tell me about me. I want to be more alive. Give me me."

The point being made here is that when you create a character, you want to create it as realistically 'human' as possible. Let me clarify: I mean you want someone that your reader can connect to. You want a character that reads as though they are an actual human being. And if characters matter that much to the reader, they should matter even more to you, the writer. When you create good, convincing characters, you'd be surprised at how easily everything else falls into place.

One good way of humanizing characters is to make a situation that breaks and then makes the character all over again. Conflict is key. However, that is not the only way. You could have them never change at all, but the world instead change around them; their consistency makes the story. Nonetheless, your characters are not defined by how they conform. They are defined by how they stick out. The part of the character that does not conform is what builds the conflict.

This is why OCs don't work. They conform. Nothing about them sticks out that we haven't already seen a million times.

Think of any basic character you'd like. Now think of the conflicts they could go through and ask yourself a few questions:
 * Does the character feel real?
 * Does the conflict the character goes through change them?
 * If not, does the world change around them?
 * Are there consequences to this conflict?
 * Can I build on this character in any way?

Character Ideas
You can draw ideas for characters from just about everything, given that you take the effort and time to try. You can read psychology textbooks, and put together ideas from there. You can look at real people and mix-and-match traits. You could even look at users on this site and get ideas from how they act on-site. What they read, how they comment, etc. You can even take yourself, exaggerate a trait or two, and create an idea from there. What matters is that you make your character feel real.

"Wait, Tot!" There you go, transforming into a corn cob again. I'm not helping you this time. "If we can't gain ideas from actual characters, then why can we get ideas from real people?!"

There's a difference. The character you might be inspired by in a popular creepypasta could be flat and one-dimensional. When you think of that character, you're going to make a lot of your major traits like that character's. Don't. The difference is that real people are hardly ever one-dimensional, and those that are don't tend to find themselves very well liked.

I'm going to copy a short paragraph from my creative writing textbook, since it sums up what you need to know character idea-wise.

Ask yourself another series of questions: Name? Age? Place of birth? Residence? Occupation? Appearance? Dress? Strengths? Weakness? Obsessions? Ambition? Work habits? Hobbies? Illness? Family? Parents? Kids? Siblings? Friends? Pets? Politics? Tics? Diet? Drugs? Favorite kinds of coffee, cigarettes, alcohol? Erotic history? Favorite books, movies, music? Desires? Fears? Most traumatic event? Most wonderful experience? The major struggle, past and present?

Fairly basic stuff, isn't it? Now, if you answered those questions, even with a completely straight face, you might find that you have an idea for a rather good character. Note: I said the idea. Just having these questions doesn't make a character for you. What matters now is how you put it to paper.