making a character - tips to get your story to stand out

:dizzy: 𝓐.𝓆𝓊𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓊𝓈 [h] 05/24/20

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making a character - tips to get your story to stand out-[C]⁺ 　　    ˚
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─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It’s obvious that characters play the main role in a story.

One thing that I’ve noticed when I’m writing or in other people’s writings is their character development.

Most of the time, I realise / notice that the reader and most of the time the writer, don’t really understand their character that well.

Otherwise in polls and other such, many writers ask for help on names.

Which is why, I’m coming to you with some advice that’s helped me make some pretty interesting characters.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

some things to know about your character;

When making a character, it’s a must for the writer to know (nearly) everything about their character, especially if it’s a protagonist. Here, we’ll take the example of a custom OC which I just made up in my head.

i. what would break your character?

A. talks about the past, she is afraid of what haunts her because of her previous mistakes

ii. what was / is the best thing in your character’s life?

A. her younger brother, he’s the main reason that she still gets out of bed in the morning

iii. what was / is the worst thing in your character’s life?

A. her job, even though she hates being the receptionist of a failing company with a creepy boss, she needs the money

iv. what does your character not want anyone to know?

A. that she knows she’s actually adopted as that she murdered her parents

v. how does your character feel about getting close to people?

A. reluctant, she hates being around people because she’s such a pushover

vi. how many friends does your character want / have?

A. she has 2 friends, and that’s all she needs. Again, she doesn’t want to talk to anyone about her problems, therefore staying away from people helps

vii. what would your character give their life for?

A. her younger brother, who is the only remaining family she has

viii. what does your character pretend to care about?

A. everything. she gives everyone a fake smile, the only thing she really cares about is her brother

ix. what is your character afraid of?

A. the inevitable. anything she can’t take control of and stop, she fears it

x. where does your character fall in the politeness / rudeness scale?

A. politeness : 9/10 rudeness : 2/10

[xi. family or wealth / job / power?

A. definitely family

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

making a backstory

Although those questions were simple enough, we still learnt a lot about the character, making it easier to write a backstory.

When writing a backstory, one thing to focus on is:

why?

If your character is afraid of boats, why? They’re afraid of water, why? Because there are dangers under there, why do they know that?

For example, here’s a backstory for the previous character

Adopted at the age of 2, N/A has lived a life full of questions. When her adoptive parents adopted a little brother for her, N/A knew that she would always look after him. And that’s what happened. After a tragic and unexplained death, N/A lost her family as a teenager, moving into her own apartment with her brother.

When her childhood sweetheart es away, she realised that death is inevitable. She began to fear it, doing her best to hang onto life.

But that’s fairly difficult, with the guilt she carried around from causing her adoptive parent’s deaths.

After moving to a new town to start a fresh life, N/A bumps into [Name of male protagonist] during a job interview.

Sparks fly, yet N/A is still afraid of loving anyone, convinced that it would all end up in vain.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

naming / giving genders to characters

In a recent blog, I had answered the question with the same answer as this one.

lets assume that you’ve got the entire plot and everything in order and just need to make the characters, here are a couple tips;

you can look at their characteristics and determine which characters are male and which characters are female

you can name them the same way. If your character is known for being a miracle, Hope is one name that I find very common among writers.

now that you’ve separated your characters by gender, you’d think your done. What if you still have a couple left, but you can’t choose which they should be? It’s simple. Look at your story line. If you need more males, make them males, or vice versa.

If you’re anything like me and don’t plan ahead in your story at all, I find it easy to just keep those characters aside Incase I need them later.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

physical appearance

Now, this is all for the writer to choose. If you need any help with this, I’d redirect you to her that really helps in writing vocabulary and colours for hair and eyes.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Characters to NOT make

The Mary-Sue

The perfect main character.

Note that flaws are what makes a character interesting. A Mary-Sue always has an answer for everything and can often appear as dull at times.

They also often lack personality

I think what makes a good character is that you can often relate to them, because their struggle is real.

The Gay Best Friend

Listen, being gay isn’t a personality.

Need I say more? These characters are always with the female protagonists, and often always the party-hard ones.

The Popular Bully Girl

I’m not saying to not make any popular girls.