Writing Masculine Characters There's nothing quite so jarring as reading a male character who speaks and behaves more like a teenage girl. Whether the differences are biological or sociological in cause, there are definitely some common differences in the way males and females tend to speak and behave that (at least at this point in time - in the future, as societal norms change, who knows?) typically need to be accounted for. Please note that I am writing this as a general guide, and not as a guide (let alone a rulebook!) for all male or "masculine" characters everywhere, since there will always be justified exceptions - not every man or "masculine" persona finds slapstick hilarious, for example. (And no, if you are female and you feel that any of these apply to you, I am not implying you are male. Make your character's dialog more direct. Back to General CharacterizationGo to a random page!
Plotting, Conniving, and Manipulating Plotters, connivers, and manipulators are a popular character archetype, showing up as villains and heroes alike. The recent Doctors. Loki. Batman. Plotting & Conniving In Fictionland, long-term plots and plans are often portrayed like games of chess where at least one player is able to plot twenty moves ahead and thereby corner their opponent into a checkmate. In Realityland, long-term planning does not work this way. Not to say that your character can't work toward a long-term goal - but a series of mini-plots that all eventually add up to the final goal work rather better than a single long-term plot. Manipulation In Fictionland, a character can watch a person for five minutes and instantly know everything there is worth knowing about that person, up to and including which buttons they can push to make the character do exactly what they want. Their baseline personalities, which is essentially how a person behaves without strong external factors affecting their mood or judgment.
Basic Tips To Create Better Characters With Tragic & Traumatic Backstories First, ask yourself why you're giving your character a tragic or traumatic backstory. Are you giving your character this backstory to build up/explain what kind of person your character is now? Or are you doing it mainly to make readers or other characters feel sorry for your character, or to make your character seem more badass/tough for having survived the ordeal? Or are you doing it mainly to give your character a reason to run away from home and/or have nobody to be attached to so xe can go hang out with the cool characters with nothing to pull xir away? The first one is a legitimate reason to give your character a tragic/traumatic backstory. Even worse, trauma/tragedy often is used as little more than a device to give an intended love interest a reason to want to lavish care and affection on xir. Benjamin Linus from Lost is a good example of a tragic/traumatic backstory used to good effect. Ask yourself how much trauma/tragedy your character actually needs.
Write Better Ensemble Casts Another fine article contributed by J. Avoid homogeny, if possible. It's all too easy to create an entire group of characters who are almost just alike. Whether they're the same race/species or just have the same main interest, they often come out as cookie-cutter clones. Sometimes this is acceptable - characters from a racially homogenous society will likely be of the same race, and characters whose lives center around a club will be interested in whatever that club is about - but unless them being so similar is relevant to the plot or setting, leave it out. If your character is a team of superheroes, for example, there's no reason for every one of them to have great dress style - and if they live in a racially diverse area, there's no good reason for all of them to be white. Remember - you are allowed to intentionally create a minority character to make your cast more diverse. Avoid the "one of each" effect. Happy/grumpy/any mood is not a personality. Leave out The Tagalong.
Names for Villains: 5 Tips to Help You Choose a Name for the Baddie When creating villains, it's all too tempting to give them a name that embodies their evilness. It's important, however, to keep in mind the normal conventions of naming. Names tend to reveal something about location, year, ethnicity, or nationality-not whether a person is destined to be a tyrannical overlord. Always think about the villain's parents. That doesn't mean you need to saddle your villain with a name like Ted or Mary, but think about plausibility before naming your villain. Names for Villains Tip 1: Picking a neutral name Like I mentioned earlier, choosing a name based on traditional factors is the easiest way to achieve plausibility. But let's face it. Names for Villains Tip 2: Using evil-sounding names or names with dark meanings Do you want to slyly suggest to your readers your character is a sadistic bastard? If you want to reveal something about the character through their name, keep the villains' motive in mind. Names for Villains Tip 3: Playing with words and languages
Common, Yet Terrible Character Descriptors - And How To Fix Them When asked to describe their characters, many people tend to use the same over-generalized descriptors over and over. The result tends to be what I call a "Forer profile" - it's so vague that it can fit any number of characters - all of whom are wildly different - equally well. And when the same character description could fit a sneaky trickster as it could a determined soldier as it could a grad student opening a florist's shop, that's a problem. So, I'm going to outline how to give more and better information on your character to give people a better idea of what sort of person they're reading about. For the sake of simplicity, we'll go with "animals" for most of this particular section. Question is, what do you mean by "animals," and how does your character relate to them? Here are other examples of useful statements: "My character volunteers at the animal shelter."" Don't say your character loves flowers - say that your character raises a flower garden or plans to become a florist.
Improve Your Character Writing Look through the eyes of the opposition. By now, you’re probably used to seeing the world through the eyes of your protagonist. Now, try seeing the world and your protagonist through the eyes of characters who disagree with or even outright hate your protagonist. Get in-character as these characters for awhile and grok the world from their POV for awhile. Can you, in the shoes and mindsets of these characters, justify the things you were having these characters do in-story? If not, chances are good that these characters’ actions won’t come off as believable to the audience, either. You might also create two new characters, both of whom are neither wholly good nor bad. Like something you like.Dislike something you like.Like something you dislike.Dislike something you dislike. And set up each character so that each one: Don’t just make their likes and dislikes frivolous, either - make them important and meaningful. Step out of your comfort zone. Make the stakes and risks real.
How Not to Create a Villain by Anne Marble Villains aren't as important to the romance novel as the hero and heroine, but in many stories, they are crucial. The villain's actions can drive the hero and heroine to succeed against all odds, force them to make difficult decisions, even drive them apart for a while. Even if you aren't writing romantic suspense novels, your story might still need a villain. Why should you work so hard on your villains? There are some common mistakes many romance writers make when creating villains. Villains Who Take Over the Novel. Another thing that can detract from the main story line is the infamous "villain sex scene." Obvious Villains. If you're having trouble with this, read the novels of Agatha Christie and other famous mystery writers to learn how to fool the readers while playing fairly. Clichéd Villains. Romantic suspense also has its share of tried and true villains -- the serial killer, the drug dealer, the stalker, the psychotic ex-husband. Unnecessary Villains. Anne M.
Mary Sue Test Background A Mary Sue is an unrealistic type of literary character commonly created by inexperienced authors. Although they vary, a typical Mary Sue has an unreasonable number of cool or special traits, especially ones the author wishes he or she had, and they tend to accomplish things too easily, solve problems too neatly, and become the center of attention whether they deserve it or not. This test aims to help authors evaluate whether their characters are in danger of becoming Mary Sues by drawing attention to potentially problematic traits. When taking this test, be honest, but keep it in perspective and remember context. The test has seven sections: This test comes from this thread in the Writer's Block subforum on TV Tropes. Section 1: Author Avatars There's nothing wrong with using yourself as the basis for a character. Generally, items in this section score one point each. Scoring -28-0: Your character may be an antihero. 1-10: Your character is understated. Return to top
Write Better Chosen Ones In every other fantasy story, there is a Chosen One. Xe can alone defeat the Big Bad and save the universe. Unfortunately, Chosen Ones are incredibly easy to completely bork up. Ask yourself whether you really need a Chosen One If you can restructure your story so that it does not involve a Chosen One, you probably should. Make the future uncertain If you've decided you need a Chosen One, make sure that the outcome is uncertain - ie, that there is a chance that the hero could completely fail in xir quest. Do not use your character's Chosen status as a substitute for actual motivation Some chosen ones - particularly evil chosen ones and dark messiahs - have no real reason for doing anything other than they've been chosen to do it. Do not use your character's Chosen status as a substitute for actual skill or practice Don't have your character successfully bumble through everything because Destiny says your character must succeed. Don't make your character the ultimate solver of all problems
Seven Common Character Types Seven Common Character Types by Terry W. Ervin II Fiction writers employ a variety of characters while weaving their tales. Confidante- someone in whom the central character confides, thus revealing the main character’s personality, thoughts, and intentions. Example: In a story, Melvin Sanders is a detective on the trail of a serial killer. In this example Chops is a confidante. Dynamic Character - a character which changes during the course of a story or novel. Example: Ebenezer Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol by Dickens, was very stingy with his money. In this example Ebenezer Scrooge is a dynamic character. Flat Character - a character who reveals only one, maybe two, personality traits in a story or novel, and the trait(s) do not change. Example: In a story about a friendly teacher named Sandra Smith, Louis Drud is a janitor in her building. In this example Louis Drud is a flat character. Foil - a character that is used to enhance another character through contrast. Copyright © Terry W.
So You Wanna Write/Play A Powerful/Talented Character That Probably Won't Be Perceived As A Mary Sue? Many, many, many times I've seen people complain that they can't write or play powerful characters without these characters being labelled as Mary Sues. I really have only one thing to say to this: it's probably either because your characters are Mary Sues, or because you're presenting your character the wrong way. Sure it's not the former? Okay, then let's get on to how you can present your character so people probably won't grab the torches and pitchforks. This article is largely intended for fan characters, though most of it applies to other character types as well. Start by describing what makes your character tick, not what makes xir special. When you begin your character profile/pitch, leave out your character's appearances, superpowers, and canon connections as long as you possibly can. If you have a well-developed character, you should be able to describe xir without mentioning xir powers, abilities, or canon connections quite easily. Remove irrelevant specialness.