your characters' personality

[Blessed-one]

when you write, do you always have a particular personality in mind for your character? how good are you in sticking to it?

i find that sometimes i tend to write predictably, meaning my character's personality, usually the main character, shifts gradually to a certain personality that i know quite well of. So i have to write him/her completely opposite to this certain personality in order NOT to write so predictably...
still experiencing.. and am moving on to writing different gender..

does anyone have this kind of problem?

 

[katelyn]

I find that my characters will start out with one basic, perhaps a little stereotypical personality, and then as the story goes on, new aspects of their personality are revealed that I never realized. A book that I read (well, I haven't finished yet) that addresses this issue of personalizing characters rather than having cookie cutter characters is Getting Into Character by Brandilyn Collins. She uses methods from acting to describe how you can give your characters a personal touch and make them unique.

 

[Justice4JC]

Hmmm, interesting question. I don't have problems with writing out the personalities and sticking to them (I don't think, lol), but when I do write sometimes I have an idea of the personality that I'm giving the person, and write out a little biography. Other times I just sit down and begin to write, and -- like katelyn said -- sometimes it's a stereotypical personality. I pretty much develop them fairly well as time progresses though.

 

[mbdeyes]

I'm not a very experienced Character writer. I usually focus more on the plot, but I would think it would depend on where you wanted to take the character throughout the story....

But then, maybe that's because I major on plot......

 

[Blessed-one]

I find that my characters will start out with one basic, perhaps a little stereotypical personality, and then as the story goes on, new aspects of their personality are revealed that I never realized.

yes, that happens too, but in my case, all the new aspects revolve around a similar personality.. feels like that to me.
thanks katelyn, i'll go check out that book.

I pretty much develop them fairly well as time progresses though.

good for you Justice! i guess i just need more thorough practice..

But then, maybe that's because I major on plot......

making good plot isn't easy.

 

[mbdeyes]

Thinking about this stuff gets me all philisophical-like...

Does life and situation create one's character, or does ones character shape the world and situations around us?

Of course, to some degree, the answer has to be both. I think it's the same with good writing.

 

[One Son of Many]

I ususally start with a basic idea of how I would like my character(s) but they generally tend to TELL ME who they are! I've got a writer friend that told me two of their characters fell in love and my friend had no idea whatsoever that it would happen!......hehe.

 

[Blessed-one]

yep, that's part of the fun of it, One Son of Many.

Does life and situation create one's character, or does ones character shape the world and situations around us?

Of course, to some degree, the answer has to be both. I think it's the same with good writing.

both, i think as one gets older, one tends to influence the situations rather than the other way round.

 

[Silver Saint]

I find that it is fairly easy to write a character once you have a good idea what it's like to be them. I have to be especially careful when writing women, as there may be something that shouldn't be in the real female mind, or visa versa. But I usually start with a broad aspect of the person, which idea they prefer to align themselves to, such as anger, defeatism, humor, seriousness, and work around that central point. After a point, I can imagine myself talking to this person and acting on either side. You will quite literally have to create a person: past experiences, preferences, what they want in a mate, if they want to marry at all. And never be afraid to let a little of yourself bleed into them. As long as you can see your character as a separate person, it should be OK. One way that I am sure to get things accurate is to give these people a voice from myself that I do not usually express. I have a very even temper, yet I still get angry. Every time that I do, I have to keep that in check and voice it in a sophisticated way. My character may not care about holding his or her tongue so much, so this normally quiet voice can be the answer for the question or problem that this character is faced with. But I'm probably just talking too much. I hope you were able to take something from this incoherence.
Go with God.




I am aware,
Isacc

 

[Blessed-one]

After a point, I can imagine myself talking to this person and acting on either side.

nice advice! that should work..

One way that I am sure to get things accurate is to give these people a voice from myself that I do not usually express.

got to try that. thanks.

 

[One Son of Many]

One thing quite a few established authors do to learn about their characters is to fill out 'character sheets ' for each character. Some of the areas of your characters' personalities (background history also) that these sheets prompt you to fill in can get quite detailed......even down to their favorite color....hehe. By the time you're done, you should know most of what makes your character tick.

You can find several good character sheets on the internet. I think I have some sites saved in favorites for these sheets if anyone needs/wants to check them out. Lemme know if yer interested....

 

[mbdeyes]

I'm interested.

 

[Living4Him03]

Sometimes I know exactly what type of person my character will be, other times I'm not so sure til I finish writing! I think characters are often like people, complex! I think characters should be predictable to a certain extent . However, if you are worried about using the character or personality of someone you know for your story, make sure you change some of the traits, or if you don't want to do that let them know they will be used in the story (unless it's someone who would not like knowing that!). I think readers like to be able to predict what a character will do to a certain point, or at least try to! Good luck writing!

 

[One Son of Many]

OK, here are a few. I'm assuming they're still up and running. Some are pretty good, some are decent. Check 'em out and experiment! Post back and tell me what ya think.


http://www.eclectics.com/articles/character.html --this one pretty decent once printed out.

http://tritt.wirefire.com/tip8.html --less used but decent.

http://www.actioncutprint.com/chart.html --this one a little out of the ordinary

http://www.hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/character-workshop.html --this one a wee different. The rest of this site has quite a few good resources....even mapmaking workshop!

 

[mbdeyes]

Excellent............

 

[Blessed-one]

thanks Living4Him. People being so complex is probably why the world is so interesting...

cool, thanks for the sites, OSOM. I've followed a character sheet once, but it was so tedious.. though it does help to keep things in order. i hate writing a character and getting the wrong reaction somewhere down the track..

for the second site, i like the list of words at the bottom! and the 3rd site helps to dig deeper into the character's personality.

um.. i'll have to look at the 4th site later when i have more time.

 

[One Son of Many]

Glad you like them! my personal favorite is the hollylisle site. It's very extensive on info and has quite a few workshops to go through.

 

[Vulgivagus hagiographus]

Hmm, I've never had that much difficulty in characters. One thing I like to do (which many might disagree with) is give them crazy accents! Most people get pretty peeved if you spread dialect too thickly in your story. Some more simple ways to do this is through word choice or order. One specific character comes to mind. He never used contractions and whenever he was trying to think of something I would write it, "...ah..." then whatever he was going to say. His pet verbal pause, you could say. Verbal pauses are something that specific people use quite consistantly, so giving your characters different ones could be useful. Such as, have one character say "uh" all the time, but have another say, "er" or whatever. Speech patters also make the characters seem more or less intelligent, so it's a very effective tool in characterization.

 

[Blessed-one]

great suggestion! i should do that. Thanks, computer dunce.

Most people get pretty peeved if you spread dialect too thickly in your story.

lol, yes, probably because pronouncing the accent in the mind is tedious..

 

[mbdeyes]

Vat ees rong vit zis ahccent?!?