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I love creating characters, and I consider myself moderately good at it š
However, I’ve come across this new problem. I’ve had this one WIP – which I’ve picked up again – for years. I’ve improved it a lot and rebooted the characters in ways I am willing to dedicate my story to. But I feel as if it would benefit from new side characters as opportunities for sideplots, and it is such an old story, with such a set cast, that I don’t even know where to start.
It’s kind of like my main characters are in this special bubble of nostalgia, and anything else is just drifting in the void and doesn’t belong in the bubble.
Any advice? Or is this a phase I have to sit out?
(And if anyone has great dark academian or Victorian names, like with lots of syllables but not too fantasy, DO tell me? š)
@loopylin @keilah-h @esther-c @freedomwriter76 @euodia-vision @godlyfantasy12 @thearcaneaxiom @lightoverdarkness6 @lydibug @smileyāEverything is a mountainā
Oooh thats tricky, I have not really experienced this yet so I dont really know what to say, maybe work with your characters a bit and write short scenes with all of them together. For names though (Yay!) I have aĀ ton!
Boys: Augustus, Cassius, Baxter, Edison, Ephraim, Ernest, Fletcher, Livingstone, Palmerston, Thaddeus, Allesandro, Ignatius.
Girls: Adelia, Adolpha, Beryl, Clementine, Marjorie, Wilhelmina, Zadie, Evangeline, Endellion, Octavia, Cassiopeia.
Hope these help!
"Would you kindly...?"
Oof…girl I can definitely relate š I’ve struggled with this as well.
I really like @acancello ‘s advice, I think writing the side characters interact with the MCs will help a lot.
But as for creating them…? And making them so they’re supposed to be there…
Maybe if you’ve had any ideas of characters in the past but they didn’t fit in the particular story and so ya just kinda forgot about them, (speaking from experience XD) maybe try to remember and see if you can think of any.
You could add character(s) that maybe feels nostalgic to you from a different project…
If nothing else, say a prayer for guidance! God knows. Inspiration strikes in all kinds of ways š
As for names…
Alexandria, Bastion, Victor, Ophelia, Caspian, Cordelia, Magnus, Ambrose, Lucian, Evander.
Hopefully that helped! Honestly I feel about as qualified to give writing advice as my ten month old sister…but I wanna help sooo lol XD
#HugRikerSquad
Could you tell me a bit about the characters that are already made and maybe the general story?
āNothing says autumn like slurpinā apples.ā -my uncle
Actually the name Ernest gave me an idea! Thank you!! And yeah, writing them together should help in any case.
This is a good point… multiple good points š I would have to adjust any charrie in order to move them in, because I just have to stylize a charrie to that particular WIP, so they can’t belongĀ anywhereĀ else. But the thought would be worth it.
And thank you for the names!
(Say hello to your baby sister for me ā¤)
This is Into the Sebverse š
āEverything is a mountainā
This is something I’ve wondered myself for a while. Because any character I develop enough to be interesting, I suddenly want to follow as a lead character. For characters important to a story, I would once again go to the idea of mechanics. I’m not sure if you’ve seen that forum I started (I can link you if you want), but I go into a lot of detail on what I mean by this. However, it’s hard when it comes to minor characters. Sometimes you definitely want a lively cast of side characters that never get seen again after one scene, but it’s hard to just leave so many potential stories practically die that way. I think it’s good to do a mix of methods as well. I don’t think you want to do cardboard cutouts, but don’t get too invested either, unless you want to explore the character later. Of course, you can get invested, and suck it up, let them play their part, but drop them when the time comes, and that may give the most genuine cast. I think there’s many ways to do this, and I don’t think I have enough authority to speak on this specifically, but those are my unfiltered thoughts.
He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.
This is a good pointā¦ multiple good points š I would have to adjust any charrie in order to move them in, because I justĀ haveĀ to stylize a charrie to that particular WIP, so they canāt belongĀ anywhereĀ else. But the thought would be worth it.
Aww thanks! Lol yes š
Ohh yeah that is a hard decision…honestly I’m struggling with the same problem in my WIP rn, so I understand…but I’m not sure what to tell you š Maybe we’ll figure it out together š
And thank you for the names!
You’re sooo welcome! <3
(Say hello to your baby sister for me ā¤)
(Awww I will! I believe she just woke up, I can hear her cooing in our living room ā¤)
#HugRikerSquad
Thanks for reminding me of the mechanics topic, I was going to comment but never got around to it…
Yeah – actually, that has definitely been on my mind lately, because I often find myself switching to a better main character who was originally meant to be only supporting. It’s a strange process, but it works for me, because it’s relatively consistent. I make a whole batch of characters and let them sizzle, and one character will slowly become the most relevant to the plot.
The problem is, sometimes I have to rework a lot of the world to fit the new hero. But very often, it leads to a much more interesting story, at least in my opinion.
Like I said, a strange process, but it works š
I think in this case, since the main cast is already essentially theĀ definitionĀ of the story (because it’s been in my head for so long), I want to go for strongly developed minor characters. The risk of becoming too attached is pretty low.
āEverything is a mountainā
Ofc! And thank you!
Aww, she sounds precious ššā¤ Oh my goodness, I love babies (our family and church have had so many but I NEVER get to hold them enough š)
āEverything is a mountainā
Yeah, if an iterative process like that works for you, then that’s an excellent way of doing it. It would help with refinement, allowing you to perfect the writing, as long as it isn’t too much revision that no progress is made.
If you want to make a strong cast, and your not worried of over attachment, then I would say it works great to do mechanics. If a template would still help, simply ask what is their desire, what’s in the way of that desire, and how do they deal with it. Obviously as we talked about, these assumptions the template makes can be broken, some characters could be care free for example, and you can make different dynamics with that, but this is one of the few basic template questions I think hold value in this subject, as long as they aren’t used as cutout questions as is the main issue with templates.
He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.
Actually that helps me think through my problem better – I have templates available for when I need them, internal conflict and all, Iām just blocked when it comes to the what ifĀ questions. As in, I donāt know what to explore. But it could be that I need to take a break and come back to it later with a fresh mind. Thank you š
āEverything is a mountainā
Yeah, that’s the thing with mechanics, you can force it, so sometimes you need to take a break and come back to it. This doesn’t only apply to things like worldbuilding, but really everything. Math problems I struggle with for example seem to suddenly fit together rather simply if I take a week off from it.
He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.
@whalekeeper Oy. . . quite the interesting predicament. š*sends your favorite writing snacks for motivations* The only suggestion I can think of is to maybe look at where your characters aren’t challenged – where does your main cast already agree on, and can you add a side character who doesn’t? Or maybe you already have characters from a range of places but not one specific place, so you could throw in a side character there?
Alternatively, you could use them to complement certain characters. Who agrees with the black sheep? Who speaks this random dialect of which you only had one native speaker?
Ooh, and since it sounds like you’ve already drafted this at least once, maybe look at the dialogue and see if they reference characters that never make it onto the page? Maybe one character comes from a town and he makes a sweeping statement about the townspeople in act one, but then in act two somebody else from that town shows up. Cousins are always a possibility, or random strangers that made an impression on your main cast. . .
Essentially, I think using your existing cast as a launching pad rather than trying to come up with some entirely distinct characters would probably be the easiest, although I’m genuinely just speculating here. š But you’ve got this!
wonder | beauty | truth | love
I canāt say I can totally relate, but I think I understand what youāre talking about.
Maybe one idea is to create characters that are similar to a charrie in your main cast in one way. Just something small. Maybe only noticeable to you. I donāt know your story well enough to make a real example, but maybe a new side character could have something in common with a main character. Like even a favorite food. Or, you could give them a point of connection in their backstories. I canāt come up with an example right now, so I donāt know if that makes sense or not. XD I guess Iām just reiterating what Karissa suggested.
I canāt think up anything else at the moment, so I hope that helped you a little!
Write what should not be forgotten. ā Isabel Allende
And then, thereās always another way to go about this. Just start creating a character. When I do that, I either start building off of an idea in my head, a character from a tv show, movie, or book, or I look for reference pics.
Then I just start forming them in my head, or on a doc. Sometimes, I start making their moodboards before I have them fully fleshed out.
Once you do that, you could just start writing them. Either write them into your story, or write them separately just for practice. I thought I knew Amidala really well, until I wrote her more. She actually changed a lot. Sometimes you just have to write them to love them. Itās like trying new foods. You can know every ingredient that goes into the dish, or you could see how bad or a good a certain food looks, but until you try it, you wonāt really know whether it tastes bad or not. You can know every little thing about your characters, but sometimes you just have to write them to really get to know who they are.
Write what should not be forgotten. ā Isabel Allende
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