Writer's Café

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Did I forget to update on Monday?

No, of course not!! I was just busy.

Okay, that's a lie. I completely forgot I have this book published.
Anyways, moving forward from that...

What is this second chapter about?
The thing that you think most about after deciding your plot and story. Characters!

We all know characters are the key point of any story or book. Without characters, it's like reading a boring monologue. Characters bring life to a book.

Now, I won't be talking about how people make their characters, by using those questionnaires and all. Been there, done that, didn't work. For me. I'm solely talking about myself.
Whatever you will read henceforth is completely my process and my thoughts about different characters.

There are 16 personality types according to Myer Briggs personality test but there are a hundred different ways a person can behave like. Why am I mentioning these 16 types though? Just so you can start the base of your characters through them.

Do I do it? Yes, I do. I like pairing different personality types and seeing what kind of outcome they produce. You should try that sometime if you are too lazy (like me) to fill up the questionnaire.

How do you decide the personality of your character?

Depends on your story and how compatible the characters are. I'll explain it better through examples of my own book, After Hours. It's a Kim Seokjin fanfiction.

So, when I started, I already had a character that exists in real life. It made my writing process much easier as compared to creating a brand new character. But I did make changes according to my plot to his personality, a little bit. However, for the major part, I stuck to how I view Seokjin.

Considering his personality and how he was going to be portrayed through my book, I made my female lead, Sehee, quite similar to his own character. Like Seokjin, Sehee too, was confident about herself, always thought about pleasing others and was very empathetic throughout the story. She wasn't the naive, all trusting girl though. She had her own ways to ensure she stayed safe, having gone through a rough childhood.

Another point that they had in similar was keeping secrets. They kept secrets about their lives and that's what made them fall apart. Of course, there was the loan shark but still, if Sehee had talked to Seokjin and vice versa, they could have worked together instead of taking decisions on their own. You could say, it was their character flaw but in the end they worked through it.

These little things connect the characters and bring out their chemistry. Many interactions, working through their problems, thinking about someone's personality rather than the outer features, including these elements bring out the chemistry as well as help the readers connect to the story.

This was about the characters being similar, you can also do this with opposite personalities. Suppose an extrovert and an introvert. The introvert becomes a loud and talkative with the person who they feel comfortable with and vice versa.

Another point is, your characters don't have to be perfect. They can make mistakes, they can have a potbelly or a chubby face, small eyes (like me), big eyes (like my mum), they can be short or tall, curvy or flat. There's absolutely nothing wrong with any type of physical appearances your character takes. You can write them however you want them to be but be sure to make it relatable.

The most important thing is, if character is putting down themselves because of their physical appearance, make sure to give a logical reason behind it. Yes, I know it's just a book, but doesn't mean 'Y/N' has to look like Gigi Hadid and be sad over some bloating. Bloating is natural and happens with a lot of people.

How to rectify this? Say, 'I have to keep up with the societal expectations and the person in the mirror keeps looking fat to me because of it.' This, I can say is logical because people do feel this type of pressure and it's really very harmful to adjust yourself according to the toxic standards society makes.

Your main character doesn't have to be a recluse all the time. They can be social butterflies too, someone who curses a lot, likes alcohol (I know it's bad for health), smoking, vapping, you know? All that stuff we associate with the bitchy bad character. The point is, you don't have to make your character a model human being. That beats the purpose of sending a message through their journey of self exploration and development.

Unless, you just want to create a Romantic story where the characters get down to do the dirty in the 5th chapter.

(Again, no mocking to those who have done this. I myself have done it in my Min Yoongi FF but with good reason.)

The next important types of characters are Supporting characters. Imagine you have no friends in the story of your life. No one to talk to, no sharing dirty jokes, doing all the dumb, embarrassing stuff and just plain enjoying. It would all be so bland, right? Boring.

Supporting characters, be it friends, second leads, a rival, a villain, these characters are like the light bulbs that brighten up the whole setting. They add depth to your book but beware, it's not about the supporting characters, it's about the leads.

Supporting characters are supposed to be their in the story, either diverting the main lead to a right path or a wrong one, your choice completely. So, you gotta work on their character sketch meticulously too. It's not like you just throw in a name for a chapter or two and you are done. An equal but small contribution from all the supporting characters is going to make your story all the more enjoyable.

I can't think of anything more to write and I've already written and deleted a lot of stuff from the first draft. So, if there are any points you wanna discuss more, comment here
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Time for joke of the chapter ;)

Why do cows have hooves instead of feet?

Because they LACtoes 🤣