How to create an believable Original Character?

~Writes it down the mental note~ I'll keep that in mind for my future characters.

But the thing is, my OC's not an all-out jerkass Broken Bird, as in the Dark and Troubled Past cranked Up To Eleven (that would be for one canon character in said work). Yes, she's an orphan, but since the story happened after an invasion, that's to be expected; even the canon characters lost one or both parents in the actual show. Character wise, she's more of the passive-aggressive type and prefers the cold treatment....a bit of a Kuudere, if I may.

edited 10th Sep '10 6:37:50 PM by ladycoffee

WARNING: This troper is a severe monomaniac. Caution is advised.

Ok Time to answer some questions Cool Tales as I said before is a HUGE Mega Crossover fanfic I'm trying to not let everything get out of hands in terms of characters but It involves the Multiverse of both Marvel & DC as well as some other franchises such as lots of titles from Weekly Shonen Jump and I don't know If I should use Haruhi Suzumiya despite it being one of my favorite novels/anime as well she's basically an God so I'm kinda confused about that. Alright and I now see that "Lelani" is becoming an "Mary Sue"so I will change up the character to being more of an recurring character but will have some type of involvement with the story line...

So what do you think?

I think you should invest in periods, commas and semicolons.

A True Lady's Quest - A Jojo is You!

Oh well thanks for the sarcastic comment buddy. There's no need to worry about my typing sometimes I type a bit fast and tend to forget to include all the punctuation marks from time to time so plus leave me alone about my typing it just fine...

Now please get back to the topic at hand nuff said.

>_< You can't be a writer and not care about punctuation and spelling. That's like being a chef who doesn't care about cast-iron cookware or the smell of lemon zest. Or a fashion designer who can't sew.

I'm not trying to be a bitch, here; I'm trying to be honest.

A True Lady's Quest - A Jojo is You!

Tell that to the majority of fanfics...

If people learned from their mistakes, there wouldn't be this thing called bad habits.

One trick I like is simply making an OC a Drop-In Character who isn't the main focus of the story and is simply there to fill in blank spots.

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Try not to add your emotions in said characters. Exploding with emotions while writing is like tossing buckets and buckets of paint to a wall and see what happens. Try to think cool and use you emotions to serve you. Most of the good writing goes alone with wits and the way to see something from a create point of view. The idea of adding good and bad traits is something neat, but sometimes you add those traits as the story needs them (obviously it must not be something of an ass pull, try to be creative like, your character must steal something but due to honesty, he cant). My last character was a kind girl with a Knight in Sour Armor complex. She was kidnapped when she was a kid but later got rescued. That marked her and made her bitter. She's now atheist (tho the world in she lives God does exists). When she discovers that God does exists she started hated him. Nevertheless, she fights for what she believes is right. That's just an example. You should make a character that is bad for some and good for some others BUT make it so in a way everyone understands why he/she is like that. Don't try to make a perfect hero, try to add some major fails in his hero's career. Try to make it like reality.

Then you can easily get a Sympathetic Sue. Creating a believable character is not just about ticking off a bunch of boxes, it's an art. I think the whole issue of believable original characters is overblown anyway, most people that can't write one can't because they're just not very good at characterization in general.

But if you want some of my opinions on making good characters, here goes, but keep in mind that there are no guarantees in art:

• Distance yourself from your character. Your character must be your tool, not your bestest friend or your ideal lover or whatever. If it would really make you lose sleep if you wrote your character suddenly being struck by lightning out of the blue and dying you are becoming too emotionally invested in your character.

• Don't make your character break the rules of the setting. However the setting is supposed to work, your character must abide by it. This includes any Magic A is Magic A rules.

• Don't make everyone automatically like or hate your character; think about the other characters and their motivations and personalities, and go from there. No character is special enough that other people's personalities should be put on hold for them.

• The world should not stop for your character. There's an entire world of people out there, who have their own lives, hopes, and dreams. Make sure that your character doesn't have to be involved in every single thing that happens in the universe.

• Go easy on the metaphors. Your character has green eyes, not sparkling gems of perfectly cut emerald mounted in limpid orbs.

• Before writing a sex scene, ask yourself if this story really needs a sex scene. Obviously if you're writing PWP, this is a nonissue, but you don't have to establish every romantic relationship with graphic sex.

• Depressed or upset characters tend to withdraw rather than pour their tortured hearts out at the slightest opportunity. A character who is depressed will likely go out of his/her way to avoid talking about it, especially a male character.

• Not only should characters not be perfect, but a good character doing bad things should have realistic consequences. What the Hell, Hero? should be invoked much more often than it is.

edited 23rd Oct '10 9:47:21 PM by WoolieWool

Out of Context Theater: Mike K "'Bloody Pussies' cracked me up"

\*tries to resist Hulk-ing out over the punctuation*

I'd say the best way to make a good character, for original fiction or fanfiction, is to just think of them as people. Give them flaws, make them human. It seems like I'm spouting words here, but trust me, if you can humanize your characters, you've gone a step in the right direction.

I've got new mythological machinery, and very handsome supernatural scenery. Goodfae: a mafia web serial

What people are saying about detachment and distance are really good, as is giving your character flaws. REAL flaws, the kind that get them into trouble and cause them heartache.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Eh, I think there's a fine line between being fond of your characters and just plain ol' self insert or wish fulfillment. Then again, I could be wrong...

I've got new mythological machinery, and very handsome supernatural scenery. Goodfae: a mafia web serial

^The line is actually very, very gross. A self-insert is, well, you made in into the story. Wish fulfillment is that plus Goku+Death Note+Morgan Freeman powers and domination over the story / plot. A character that you are fond of is, well, just an individual, defined character, that you as an author care about. The gap there is comprised of all the adjectives, powers, numbers and perspectives that can be thrown in. Which, considering elements like O.C. Stand-in characters used as AuthorTracts and One-Scene Wonder Creator Cameo, is a lot.

Also don't know if it has been posted here, but relevant.

EDIT: misread or as and.

edited 23rd Oct '10 11:04:05 PM by SilentReverence

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?

Let me put it simply what I think right now.

Your character will have a role, determined by the kind of situations you want to write about. You want a protagonist who overcomes great obstacles, your role is The Hero. Others will be the Funny Sidekick, or the Lovable Jerk, things like that.

At this point, you still have nothing in the way of character.

What you've got is a role. What many people don't realize that a lot of people could be filling the same role. A lot of people fill the role with their own selves automatically, but that's not a character.

What gives a character substance, or personality? Life experience. There's no way around it. TV Tropes may help you with the literary role, but nothing short of being able to tell how someone acts and thinks through your own experience will enable you to write a believable character.

Characters are OK to be two dimensional actually. Some stories are all about that.

And some stories can be managed by just writing yourself and using your imagination too, though not the more advanced ones.

But, if you want to write a good story, that's what you need to do: go! get to know as many people as possible, and get into as many situations yourself as possible! and then when you are full of your own experiences and stories that you just want to tell is when you can actually sit down and think about whether you should use a literary agent to tell these rather than doing an autobiography.

This of course, only if you are aiming for an Original Character with big O.C. There's nothing wrong with writing archetypes actually.