Character Things

Introduction

So a lot of you might be wondering why I'm creating this thing. Well, allow me to tell you that I've been needing an organized place for all of my character related things.

But I do want to clarify some things. I will not tolerate anybody who steals my characters. I do make them for fun, yes, but I still put in time creating them and making them better and improving them. If you have any questions, all you gotta do is either comment here or go ahead and DM me.

I do not care if you ask anything about my characters. Just don't steal them. Honestly, names and things are fine. Because they're names and there's probably thousands of characters with the name Rose or Jacob (as an example).

Onto the good things

•How long does it take me to create a character?•

I create characters all the time. Some of them are rushed, some more dynamic than others. Some are less useful. But the ones I can put hours into designing and building up a true feeling that they're real, can take some time. Of course I get the simple layout for them. Their name, age, personality, appearance, all of that. That's only the simple things.

If I'm creating a character that is only going to be used once more twice, and I know it will be, it's bound to be more of a static character that doesn't really change. Like a statue, it's stiff and doesn't feel real. However, characters from my book Once in a Blue Moon or The Monster Inside, all of them have been in my mind for a while.

Anyways, characters like Dan from OIABM is more like the statue, whereas Ally is more dynamic and changes throughout the story drastically.

For books though, any character like Dan who I know isn't going to really affect anything will stay a statue. But then there's some characters that I have who are starting like statues and and slowly developing.

But the main way to create a full character is to use them frequently and get to developing them more. Always be sure to develop a character more if you really want to use them in a decent way instead of having a character with a lot of holes in them.

Creating a good character could take months. Maybe years if you want to go deep into it. But I personally take a couple of months. And I do this by using them in short stories, group role plays, one on one role plays, and just adding more to them as I go.

•How do I create a character?•

There are many ways you could create a character. You can generate them, but then, base them off of something, anything. But the way I do it is more of a combination of all of those things.

Let's use Addiline Summer for example from The Monster Inside. Addy is very well smart and intelligent, and kinda a hard ass. She sarcastic and protective as well, but she also has her friendly side to her.

That's not even half of her personality, just some jotted down notes from over the months that I had written down. Anyways, I life to find a name first. You can base them off of the meaning of their name, maybe the sound. The name Rose sounds as if somebody would be more soft and kind. The name  Riley however can be either. You can have them like Rose, or you can make them mean. I personally go off of the sound of their name and the way I think would suit the character best.

Appearance. Now, be sure not to have a repetitive look on all of your characters. Don't make all of them look attractive and have that rich-kid look. Make some look more intimidating and maybe some others welcoming. But that doesn't mean that they're appearance has to exactly match their personality. My character Ramiel, who is an angel, looks soft but is a complete asshole most of the time.

Also, their age can play a big part in the way your character is. If you have a mid-thirties character and say a ten-year-old, they're not going to be the same. But don't think that they won't have the same personality traits. Most of my characters share some sort of trait, whether it's appearance or personality.

Anyways, overall, I just create my character based off of the sound of their name. Addiline to me sounded like a name for a badass and a softer hearted person, so I took the two and created her. Lydia sounded more of a preppy name, which is why Lydia isn't so violent I guess as Addiline is. They are two completely different characters, and should be treated like different characters.

If you have the same character over and over by not changing the way of things, all of your characters are gonna feel identical. Nobody wants to read about identical characters who are supposed to be different, like in the real world.

•How do I create characters without them feeling all the same?•

This can be difficult for some people. I personally struggled with it. It almost seemed like routine just to write down the generic thing. I would recommend getting some help. There are probably videos on YouTube that you could go and watch for character design and creating one. And they'll probably do a better job than me explaining anything.

I would also recommend using some real life facts for the species (unless it's a mythical creature or a created species). Dogs and cat breeds all each have different purposes and traits and those sort of things. They all have different variations of fur types, fur colors, purposes, all those great things.
Just do some research.