Okay, what now?

The same thing hits me every time I try to character build. I so rarely know what I want to do with the characters. And when I find one thing, I just end up with a big case of "okay, now what?" To wit:

"This character is a Genki Girl". Okay how genki are we talking? Is she still smart and somewhat mature, just really active and excitable? To what extent is she any of those?

"This character, in a futuristic setting, is a mail carrier." Okay, then how does that setting affect the concept of "mail"? What're his duties?

"This character is a keyboard player." Okay, then in what function? Band? Church? Freelance? Piano bar? Should I even have a keyboard player since I'm one myself?

"This character is a waitress." Okay, what kind of restaurant? Is she good or bad at her job? Her world is highly sexually oriented, so how does that affect her attire and handling of food?

"This character is a hotelier." Wait, why did I put that one in there? What does a hotelier even do?

---

Even if I just set everyone else aside and pick one character — let's say the Genki Girl — I just have question after question. And if I answer one, then that just raises 47 bajillion more. I so often feel like I'm battling the Hydra, and I don't have my nephew nearby to suggest cauterizing the neck stumps.

A hotelier is the manager or owner of a hotel or inn.

The thing about character building is that you can only build so much character - and answer so many of those questions - before you have to put them in a setting or with other characters and see how they grow. This is a terrible metaphor, but it's like building and decorating a house: you build the framework - the architectural planning is done and checked off so that there are no issues with the basics not holding up ("there is no foundation to this corner of your macho man, sir, as you are attempting to sink that pylon into a ground type of five year old boy, and thus I cannot approve the plans"), the wiring and plumbing is done, plasterboard goes up, the roof is tiled

...and then life happens and suddenly the people who've moved in are bashing out one of your walls or painting the place vivid orange (when you'd planned on brown) and that pylon in the back needs to be reinforced because time has weathered it.

You can't know how genki your Genki Girl is going to be until she's moving in and meeting the neighbours and reacting to their housewarming gifts (writing happens: she's in the setting and interacting with other characters). You might start out having answered that she's still mature, but as she settles into her home you might find that she's not.

Unless it's a plot point, questions like what kind of keyboard aren't overly relevant - they may not even need to be answered - and as long as the keyboard player doesn't do and think everything else exactly like you you should be fine. If you worry, choose a different kind of keyboard.

With a character like the waitress the major questions to answer are the ones about the setting - what kind of eatery would be the best place to start - because that would give you a better feel for the place she's in and how she'll feel about it. From there you can get a feeling for how the sexually oriented world (like our modern Western world) effects her attire, food handling and how good she is at her job. But, like with the Genki Girl, you don't need to make more than a basic plan at first: the details will fill in later as you write, especially as this gives room for unexpected surprises and logical realisations (causality, etc) that you didn't realise you needed to think about at first.

With the mail carrier... Yeah. That sort of question is much more setting than character, and really the sort of thing which you have to just slog through step by step - with each head you chop off, each decision made or logical conclusion taken, you'll find that one of the seemingly unrelated others also probably falls off, because it no longer fits.

It may seem like you're facing the Hydra, but you're not and the mountain of questions becomes easier with every one you answer. Answer one question - whichever you feel is most important (and if you can choose, do something like flip a coin or pull one out a hat; you'll probably be unhappy with the result and thus realise which one you really find important) - and then don't try to answer the others: instead ask yourself what the logicial consequences of it are.

It's more like trying to detangle something: cut one thread and tug, sure there'll be a few knots and a fair bit you can't get out, but you'll be surprised by how much falls away. Unlike in my reply, which might as well be a doorstop (sorry!).

To use another bad metaphor: you can pick your type of seed and where in the garden you plant it, even how much you water it, but you can't grow for it - it has to do that.

(Also, may I just express my Classicist nerdy enthusiasm at your choice of metaphor?) I hope this helps. If not, try a flame thrower for the cauterizing.

edited 15th Mar '14 9:15:51 PM by ThetaTumbleweed

...You mean "classicist nerdy enthusiasm", right?

Which leaves me just as stuck and fighting the hydra again.

Okay, this world is futuristic. What kind of futuristic? What kind of tech is there? Are they in space? (No.) What can I do with this tech? What transportation modes exist? Is there a dominant color scheme?

This character works at a store in a mall. What is it like? Do they have a good or bad boss? Is their store busy or slow? What's the rest of the mall like?

@nrjxll, oh blast. Yes, that's what I meant. My keyboard's falling apart on me and I didn't spot it. My bad. I'll fix it.

@Twentington, the key is to let those questions answer themselves as you write.

edited 15th Mar '14 9:17:16 PM by ThetaTumbleweed

But they never seem to address themselves. I'm always like "okay, well, if I choose X, then they might possibly do Y or Z, but if I choose A, then they might possibly do B or C. Or D. Or E. Or ø. Or ∏. Or &. How do I know which one is 'right' for this?!"

Let's say that this character has a Benevolent Boss. Okay, now if that's a comedy driven setting, where does the humor come from?

Depends on the job; if it's a service job, an easy source would be customers.

Herein lies a universal truth of art- you must be willing to partake in some trial and error to determine what's 'right'. And, yes, that does mean that you'll have to deal with at least one time where you'll have to throw some work away, sometimes a lot, when something doesn't work out.

edited 15th Mar '14 11:01:54 PM by CrystalGlacia

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

Just have the character do something, anything, without worrying about whether it is "right" or not - that in itself will tell you more about the character, just as it tells the audience about the character.

"This character, when confronted with A does Q". Huzzah, we've learned something.

There is no "Genki Girl" way or "Waitress" way or "Keyboardist" way of doing things.

Even if the thing the character does directly sabotages what (s)he is trying to achieve, we've learned something - that the character is his/her own worst fucking enemy. Now we've learned two things about the character.

If it doesn't work, go back later and edit - it's not like you're engraving it into stone.

This character, when confronted with A, does Q. But in the next scene, they're confronted with A and do X instead. And neither X nor Q feels more right or wrong to me. And neither seems to have any outside factors that would determine why they do X the second time instead.

You might want to think about what the thematic intent of your story is. Comedy? Pick the option that invokes Rule of Funny. Drama? Pick the one that's Serious Business.

And if all else fails, just pick one and write with it. If it doesn't work down the line, re-write, or start over.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

Why does the character do X the next time? If it's because Q didn't work or had a negative consequence, then fair enough. If it's because the person's inconsistent, then we've learned something.

Bear in mind that everything that happens in a story needs to be driving the plot forward. If it isn't, it's just a random collection of scenes, not a story.

Think to the structure of scenes and sequels (no, not the things whereby Hollyweird milks the crap out of a successful movie until people are sick of it).

Scene:

POINT OF VIEW CHARACTER: your character

GOAL: What your character wants - it could just be a pizza

CONFLICT (SCENE QUESTION): What's standing in the character's way

SETBACK (SCENE ANSWER): ("Situation A")

• ANSWER 1: YES. (Avoid this - too easy)
• ANSWER 2: YES . . . BUT.
• ANSWER 3: NO!
• ANSWER 4: NO! AND FURTHERMORE!

Sequel:

1) EMOTIONAL REACTION (to SCENE ANSWER): How does the character feel about Situation A?

2) REVIEW, LOGIC, & REASON: What (s)he's going to do and why

3) ANTICIPATION: What outcome is expected.

4) CHOICE (→ GOAL of next SCENE): Responds with X

the next scene then covers what happens when the character does X and has the same list of potential answers.

Yes, he gets his pizza; yes, he gets it but it's the wrong order/too cold; no, he doesn't get it; no, and he's been barred from the pizzeria for doing X in public...

edited 17th Mar '14 5:16:37 PM by Wolf1066

Usually it's because I like both X and Q equally as options, and can't make up my mind which of the two is better, since they both fit the character equally. And then options R, Å, Ï, ß, and @ all seem equally good in my mind. Even if two or more of those are completely contradictory. Or ridiculous ("She opens the pizza box and it's really A PORTAL TO ANOTHER DIMENSION FILLED WITH THE BEST PIZZA SHE'S EVER HAD!!!!"). Or both.

In short. I'm way, way, way, way indecisive.

You first need to work out what you want to have happen in the story and, excuse me for saying so, it sounds like you haven't any idea of what you want the story to be about or what happens in it.

Once you've worked that out, then your Genki Girl who just wants a pizza is going to have things to react to.

e.g. you've decided that it's an alien invasion and the people in the town have to survive.

Your character has a car that would help her evacuate the stricken city but she's walked down to the pizzeria to get a pizza.

While she's waiting for the pizza, the aliens attack and everyone has to run - no, no pizza and furthermore there's a bloody invasion happening.

So her new priority is get out of danger but she's on foot, separated from her car by a couple of blocks, she has to decide quickly whether to go home to get her car or leg it.

She chooses, but her way is blocked...

and so on.

But in order to get the characters doing things, you have to decide what the story is about and where its going.

Stories aren't "cool characters doin' shit", stories are "characters are caught up in the plot until such time as they decide 'fuck this for a game of soldiers' and start getting proactive towards getting themselves out of the shit".

edited 17th Mar '14 9:14:44 PM by Wolf1066

And this isn't a singular story I'm working on. It's a comic, so there'd be infinite chances at story arcs. Still, you're right, I have no idea what I want out of it.

One thing I'm finding hard is putting myself in the character's shoes. Most of the time they're doing stuff that I've never done in my life, so I can't even fathom what I would do in that situation, much less a character. And I don't do jack shit all day, so I can't "write what I know" because I don't know any damn thing.

edited 17th Mar '14 9:50:22 PM by Twentington

So your first port of call is: work out an initial story arc.

Like: "the first thing that's going to happen is a new person comes to town" or "it starts with them finding a portal to another realm inside a pizza box" or whatever.

You'll need to know what the plot arc does to them and how it's resolved in the end - however many strips of n panels that takes.

Then the characters are going to react to what it's doing to them and ultimately work towards taking an active role in its resolution.

Then "what they do in situation A" becomes simple - try something, see if it works. If the scene answer is B, C or D, then they're going to have something else to respond to.

As to how they are going to respond, just choose something that responds to the situation.

e.g. if it's an alien invasion and a character runs, fine. If a character stays rooted to the spot with fear, fine. If the character charges the aliens and dies in a blaze of glory, fine. If the character, is completely oblivious and you can explain why, fine. If the character rips off his/her clothes and fucks his/her SO in front of the invading hordes, WTF???

edited 17th Mar '14 10:03:02 PM by Wolf1066

As I said, though, I have no idea how anyone reacts to anything. Male character really likes female lead #1 and wants to win her over. Okay? Now what? I've never tried that.

A friend's suggestion: "If you can't get out and do shit, then watch more movies to at least get some ideas." Well, I did, and the ones he recommended to me, I either didn't like and gave up on, or I liked, but they sparked absolutely no creativity in me at all.

edited 17th Mar '14 10:00:57 PM by Twentington

Here you have the advantage of knowing what Female Lead likes (unlike in real life when the likes of our desired ones are unknown). This means you can have the Male Lead try various things that you know is not going to work before he hits on (or discovers) the thing she does like.

So, you've decided she likes porcelain miniatures, he tries flowers, invitations to movies, dinner, etc to no avail. One day he sees her youtube channel and notices that she has figurines in the background, penny drops, he buys her a porcelain figurine and she's utterly rapt at his thoughtfulness.

That sort of thing.

It doesn't matter what it is she likes, just pick something - it could be something surprising that no one would guess by looking at her (better if it is). Then decide what sort of things he's likely to try that don't work.

It might pay to look at webcomics that have short arcs and random one-offs, see how they structure a short arc. I was reading "Sandra and WOO" and some of the arcs run only to a few strips interspersed with Calvin-and-Hobbes-esque single panel jokes/commentaries. There's a few over-reaching arcs as well that get revisited or interact with other arcs.

The advice of watching movies or reading books is not a lot of help when writing a webcomic.

edited 17th Mar '14 10:38:05 PM by Wolf1066

Last minute "I don't want to die a virgin" realization? Even that has potential, and I'm not talking about the Fanservice.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

I personally have no problems with fanservice.

One thing I've hit on is that a lot of the cartoons I like balance the mundane with the weird. So some really weird shit can be happening, but even when the protagonists are facing giant coffee beans or ear-worms gone sentient, or flooding a town with replications of unwanted toys, or trying to help a friend deduce which one is the real her and which ones are clones, there's still an element of reality under it somewhere. The serious moments and the silly ones never seem to feel out of place with each other. And how do they pull that off? That's my big question.

edited 18th Mar '14 8:41:21 PM by Twentington

Practise. Practise. Practise.

Have you worked out what your characters do when shit isn't happening to them?

Are they in school together? Do they work together? What brings them regularly into contact so they can interact?

This then gives you your openings for events in your story. Lead Male is interested in Lead Female, so there needs to be something that brings them regularly in contact in a way that he can talk with her enough to try asking her out.

Is she interested in him? What stops her from going out with him? What would cause her to consider going out with him?

You, as the author, can decide these things for yourself and decide how many attempts and failures he has before he succeeds in getting her on a date - if he succeeds.

You can decide how that date goes.

You could make that a long arc that you intersperse through other arcs or that gets interrupted by other arcs - can't ask her out today, a swarm of sentient bees just invaded the office.

The arcs, as well as having their own cycles of scene-sequel-scene-sequel ad nauseum can also serve as the "Furthermores" or "buts" for other arcs.

He was going to ask her out but sub-arc 16 happened.

He hoped to see her that day but the car wouldn't start and furthermore arc 23 exploded in his face.

So those arcs get resolved and he can have a go at inviting her out or guessing what she likes or whatever it takes to get her on a date - until such time as another arc gets in the way.

I think the problem is that I can do this. I'm just hella lazy and take the path of least resistance by throwing up my head and saying "I dunno what they're gonna do." Because it requires little to nothing on my part.

And it's not that I don't want to either. There's tons of stuff that I absolutely love to do — draw, play Scrabble against myself, read, watch cartoons, compose music — but I just shrug and say "Nah, I'll do nothing but stare at my computer monitor blankly for hours, it's easier than doing anything".

You've been told this before- that's an issue on your end. Internet strangers can only help you so much.

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."