Real questions about imaginary people.
26
votes
18answers
2k views
How to name the characters of your story?
I find it hard to name my characters. Every normal name sounds funny if applied to a product of my fantasy. If I take a common name, I may get the image of someone I know into my head. And that may ...
17
votes
5answers
2k views
How to describe the point-of-view character without using mirrors
In fiction, the main character is often the first person we meet in the story. Given that the story is written from his/her point of view, how would you describe what they look like? The classical ...
16
votes
4answers
255 views
Resources about different people types?
I'm native German, but trying to write in English for various reasons. One of the big points in a story is to keep the characters very distinct from each other, and that requires some knowledge about ...
15
votes
3answers
758 views
How do you make a character quintessential, but not cliched or cartoony?
I think it's hard to make a character standout and embody their traits without becoming cliched or cartoons. How do you do this? What are some tips to enlivening a character and making them memorable?
...
14
votes
3answers
414 views
Is there a quick way to know I have created a Mary Sue?
For those who don't know what a Mary Sue is: see here.
The problem is, there are far too many ways a character can be a Mary Sue, as seen here. Many websites that offer tests to see if your ...
13
votes
9answers
936 views
Source ideas for monsters in a fantasy novel?
Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go to get some ideas on different types of monsters that can be created for a fantasy novel? I'm not talking about different variations of zombies or ...
11
votes
3answers
497 views
How/When to create deliberately boring characters?
Among a million other ambitions under the general heading of "Writing," I have this fantasy where I write a major series, several books long with a giant cast.
But I started thinking. In giant series ...
11
votes
4answers
1k views
How should I introduce my characters?
I'm pretty good at creating compelling characters with decent personalities and motivations. I like the comradery vibe, so they're generally already part of a posse of some sort at the beginning of my ...
10
votes
9answers
310 views
Sympathetic portrayal of devout, rule-abiding characters
I'm having trouble portraying religious, devout characters as protagonists or viewpoint characters. When I try, I get the sense that the reader - not sharing the characters' beliefs - will have ...
10
votes
6answers
415 views
Sympathetic portrayal of an evil protagonist with good motivations
I'm contemplating writing about a character with good motivations whose actions would be considered evil.
In short the story would be about a necromancer killing an entire nation so that he can bring ...
9
votes
9answers
380 views
Resources for character development
I'm weak at building characters.
What resources are there to create rich characters? I'm thinking beyond name generators: Quirks, biography, diseases like allergies, hobbies and jobs, wealth, omens, ...
8
votes
5answers
278 views
My cool character is doing nothing for the plot. How do I deal with him?
So I have this great character( not the main protagonist), who is funny and intelligent. Each scene I write for him is a delight.
But the problem is, he is doing nothing for the plot. I have tried to ...
8
votes
4answers
222 views
What to do when characters disagree with the plot?
I'm writing a romance novel and have hit a brick wall. The problem is every way I think the future lovebirds could meet and become friends is totally cliché. After thinking about it, I've realized ...
8
votes
6answers
327 views
The polymath's dilemma…?
The main character of a YA story I am working on is fast becoming a polymath, i.e. someone with a broad base of skills and interests across unrelated areas of endeavor. I really like how this ...
8
votes
5answers
506 views
Is this character generator useful?
After some feedback from this site and a training course, I developed a little tool to help with character generation. It's called "20 Questions" and works just like that: It picks 20 questions (or ...
8
votes
2answers
176 views
Is it typical to add variation to the words used for a character's name to keep it spicy?
A friend has asked me to read through a chapter of his story and give my opinion.
Lets say he has two main characters Mr John de Havilland and Mrs Sally de Havilland.
I've noticed that the author ...
8
votes
4answers
893 views
How often do writers develop characters before plot, and why?
As someone who writes a little as a hobby, this is something that I haven't really thought about until just recently, but...
Is it common for a writer to develop characters before actually coming up ...
8
votes
3answers
93 views
How to tell or retell basic character and setting information in a series?
I am writing a short children's novel and I want to expand this into a series made of several short novels. I intend to write the whole series at once so that the internal universe is consistent and ...
7
votes
5answers
486 views
“multiple personalities” for character development in writing?
How can I train myself to think in "multiple personalities" so I can use these personalities for character development in writing?
7
votes
3answers
204 views
Balancing loads of equally-important characters
If you have a dozen good guys, but four of them are the protagonists and the other six are more in the background, it's not that hard to skew the pagetime of each character towards those that are more ...
7
votes
2answers
474 views
Finding the 'voice' of a character
This is a very general question that I want to throw out there just to get some insight into different approaches used. I have my own, but am intrigued to know what others might try.
I'm wondering ...
7
votes
6answers
295 views
Killing off a character: deciding if, when and how
Killing off a character is a serious issue. Secondary characters or even extras can pass away without too much negative response from the readers but main characters are a whole different matter.
It ...
6
votes
8answers
429 views
Tools for generating characters' names
I found this name generator:
http://www.fakenamegenerator.com
And I'm wondering if maybe there are others? Has anybody found this kind of tool useful? What about tools for fantasy names? Should I ...
5
votes
6answers
647 views
The opposite sex in first person?
I have been writing about not just one, but two females; sisters. I've toyed with different methods/persons in this, but it seems I've come to an obvious roadblock. I wouldn't call it "writer's block" ...
5
votes
7answers
597 views
Is it OK to refer to some characters by first name and to others by last name?
I'm writing the outline for my first novel, which has three main characters. I'm very happy with their names, however I recently noticed that I was naturally referring to the first two by first name, ...
5
votes
9answers
420 views
How do I round out a powerful character?
I've created a character named "Mathias Mindblade" who is trained by a wise wizard to lead a rebellion against the Darkness Empire and eventually to establish an Empire of Light.
Mathias has some ...
5
votes
5answers
406 views
Character Development - How much is too much?
I've read loads of books where the reaction and development of characters seems to extreme for the events that effect them in the story.
However not having any development makes the character boring, ...
5
votes
2answers
761 views
How do you develop a strong female character?
Are there specific characteristics that one should strive for when trying to develop a strong female character? Is it truly dependent on the genre of the book, or are there certain elements that carry ...
5
votes
3answers
102 views
How can I keep my characters' identities a mystery successfully?
There was a similar post about keeping a character nameless in order to contribute to his closed off personality. My concern is is keeping all my characters nameless, only describing their actions ...
5
votes
2answers
126 views
What exercises will help me write my co-author's character?
I'm working on a novel together with my co-author, K. K's come up with this great character - a sassy were-cat name Garlic. Unfortunately, I'm having a really tough time writing for Garlic - K has a ...
4
votes
5answers
416 views
How to refer to character of focus in a story
I find that when I write, I'm not always sure how to refer to the character of focus. You can only say "he/she" so many times before it feels choppy and repetitive. Constantly referring to character ...
4
votes
3answers
638 views
How to create varying, yet realistic, speech patterns
Different characters speak differently. If someone reads me a letter written by an immediate relative, I can tell right away who wrote it. I believe --and correct me if I'm wrong-- that giving each ...
4
votes
9answers
330 views
Problems with character development?
I'm 1/4 through my first novel, with a pretty solid 12 page outline of the whole thing. After years of reading books about story structure, I think I have a good grasp on how to make a plot work.
My ...
4
votes
3answers
289 views
Tips for adding more personality to characters?
Often I read a new book only to find that the characters are flat, boring, and lacking in personality. Sometimes I even find that in my own characters, and when that happens I usually just remove it. ...
4
votes
5answers
383 views
Writing character cards?
I read somewhere that authors sometimes use cards to write down information about the characters in their stories. I assume these were small cards so what was written them had to be concise. What sort ...
3
votes
6answers
344 views
Can a likeable character be unsympathetic?
I believe an unlikable character can be sympathetic, although that's tricky. But can you go the other way? Can your character be likable but at the same time unsympathetic? I've been trying and ...
3
votes
6answers
1k views
Example of a fictional story without any characters (the story being 1000+ words)
Guessing that there is no such example, but if there is, I'm very interested in knowing about it.
Just as a short example, just to make it clear it's possible; the example is not intended to be a ...
3
votes
3answers
356 views
First Person Voice - Same as speaking?
When writing in first person, if the POV character talks with a certain dialect or type of diction (eg. "I ain't got all day! Hurry it up, will ya?") should they narrate with the same accent, or can ...
3
votes
4answers
202 views
Multiple POVs in a single scene
This question came up in another forum, so I thought I'd share it here. Should there be only one POV per scene? Is it OK to go with multiple POVs?
An example is a scene with two characters facing ...
3
votes
2answers
133 views
Character with extreme manners
My objective is victorian style tea-drinking "upper class" lady characters. (it's more of a writing challenge)
Does anyone have any useful resources or tips for creating such a character? ...
3
votes
2answers
109 views
Is it ok to be autobiographical with a main character?
This question really comes down to a personal issue I've had present in my fiction. I'm still very new as far as being a writer is concerned. So a few (if not all) of my main characters seem to be ...
3
votes
1answer
168 views
Literary criticism term for character espousing author's ideas?
Is there a term in literary criticism for a character who espouses the points of view of the author? Especially, but not necessarily, if that character has no other role in the work. (This is ...
2
votes
3answers
235 views
Organization for epic fantasy writing [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Organizing your Universe?
I have some issues on the organization of my fantasy story.
For instance there are many factions that come into play during the story and I ...
2
votes
6answers
247 views
Is it acceptable for a book to not have a dominant lead character?
I saw this question posted in another forum, and it didn't have any responses, so naturally I decided to bring it over here. :)
I realized, 80% of the way through my first draft, that I don't have ...
2
votes
1answer
190 views
When to use the character's name and when to use she/he?
This is the first short story where I'm using actual names for the characters. Here is a sample:
"Sorry for the question," Jun said. "But why don' you have friends?"
Ling glanced at him, then ...
2
votes
4answers
231 views
Does my story structure for an ensemble zombie story sound effective?
I'm working on a novel about the psychological struggle of 7 characters. It's got an ensemble cast, where every character has the same importance. I've got a structure for this that sounds good to me, ...
2
votes
1answer
186 views
Will 9/11 fiction get a writer into trouble with the US Government?
I want to write about the very interesting topic of 'what really happened' on 9/11. How close can I possibly get to real characters and facts without getting sued?
Facts I might include in my work:
...
1
vote
2answers
49 views
Characters time spending: Are there any good limits for time spending on characters of secondary list?
Are there any good limits or rules of proportion between time (or pages) spending on characters of primary list and secondary list?
I mean, that if character of secondary list appears only at the ...
-2
votes
1answer
97 views
Ideas for nicknames of characters in a story
I'm translating a short story into English.
1). The protagonist is a woman in her mid-forties. There was a time when she used to copy out verses from poems and paste them on her wall. The people in ...
