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Hello there Kapeefers! I’ve got an… issue with my main character.
He’s naive. And incredibly stubborn, very hardheaded, and just… kind of boring. I don’t even know why. He’s got pretty fleshed out motivations, hopes/dreams/wants/needs etc, but I just can’t get interested in him to actually sit down and write. I’ve been plotting and writing scenes for my novel, carving out the elf-human interrelations and chronicling history, but I just can’t start writing him. So I’m going to give you guys the details of his backstory, and hope that some of you lovely people can break this boredom streak of mine.
Kirin:
Kirin was born in Westrim, his mother being a Native to the country and his father an illegal immigrant from Southrim. His father died shortly after, during an accident at the mill he worked at. He lived for until he was seven years old with his mother, moving around on the coast quite a bit, trying to find work. Then he and his mother contracted THE PLAGUE(I haven’t decided on a name for it yet.) and she died. Due to his Southrim heritage(Southrim native are immune to the plague, just like natives of other countries are immune to sicknesses outsiders aren’t.), he survived, living on the streets for one year, until and man and his young daughter took him in. He lived with them for two years, until he was ten years old. Meanwhile, the man had fallen into debt. When the tax collectors came around to collect it, they wanted to take his daughter to sell as a slave in order to pay back his debt. Panicking, the man instead gave Kirin to them. He was sold to Quiblin, the Head Servant of the king of Westrim, and was taken to the castle to serve. When he was seventeen, however, he managed to buy his freedom. Kirin then chose to stay in the castle and become an apprentice to the Healer Anders, and train in the meantime with Captain of the Guard Raidenn. (Because legal issues, as not having a last name, prevented in letting him join the guard himself.) He is now eighteen, and hopes to someday join the army and become a Fiendmetal Fighter–a group of “special-ops” warriors that are of higher status than even generals in the king’s army. But to do so, he must earn a name for himself by completing some mighty deed.
This is where the story starts. Honestly, I love Kirin’s backstory, but I just can’t make him seem interesting. Do you think his story is interesting? Do you like it? Literally anything right now would be helpful.
@jenwriter @ariel-ashira @skredder @daeus @dragon-snapper @catwing @dekreel @aislinn-mollisong @jesse-rae @hope-ann @anyone-else-i-missed
~Sarah
INTJ. Writer. Artist. Dreamer. Dragon.
*vader vibes*
@sarah-anson The backstory is pretty interesting. As far as Kirin himself: what are his favorite things to do? Does he have a little quirk? Does he have any side talents or hobbies? What is his favorite color? Does he like animals?
If you want to, try writing a short story with him in a completely different scenario. That might help you understand him in different ways and learn more interesting things about him. I did that with a medieval character of mine. I put her in the modern world to see how she would fair should a friend of hers be in danger and I learned that she would have been a flutist.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Interesting idea, @skredder. I’ll try it out. Kirin is a great guy, but I really don’t want him to have “Hero Syndrome” (As in he does everything right just because it’s right.). And I also don’t want him to be an anti-hero, because it doesn’t fit. So he needs to have enough moral strength to do the right things sometimes, but he also needs to be human enough to make mistakes… *sighs* I really can’t wait till this novel is done. I want to see my babies in print. 🙂
~Sarah
INTJ. Writer. Artist. Dreamer. Dragon.
*vader vibes*
@sarah-anson Oh yeah, absolutely! He’s been through a lot, being abandoned and betrayed on more than one occasion. I can see him making decisions that benefit himself best because he needs to protect himself from others. Just what I got from his background.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
@skredder Totally! Plus, I think it makes characters much more interesting when they don’t always do what’s right, or are even adverse to doing what’s right until the very end of the book. It makes me root for them more, and want them to change.
Btw, How do you put in the little line between your comment and your username? I can’t seem to figure it out. 😉
~Sarah
INTJ. Writer. Artist. Dreamer. Dragon.
*vader vibes*
@skredder Oh, you set that up on your profile page. It’s the signature setting.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
@sarah-anson Look at the above comment. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to tag myself. Oi.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Ah, okay. Thanks! @skredder
*vader vibes*
@sarah-anson I struggle with this, too. In my limited experience of struggling to understand the MC of my novel premise, I would say something that’s important would be to get to the heart of this character, to feel their brokenness in the pit of your stomach and be able to relate to that. The main impression I got from your description was that it was kind of indifferent in listing Kirin’s history and even his current desire. Maybe you could try to flesh out that desire more, and let his backstory and history drive him emotionally, not just rationally, to let him make the choices he does.
Again, I barely know anything about character development, so you might not want to listen to me 😉 I love how detailed you made Kirin’s backstory though, so it looks like you’ve got a pretty solid foundation.
It's g-h, 2-4-6-8 twice, three 9's
literatureforthelight.wordpress.com@sarah-anson One thing that helps me when I am having a difficult time picturing and understanding one of my characters is to write out a bunch of questions about them. Like, what makes them cry? What makes them laugh? How do they react to different situations? How do they change from the beginning of the book to the end, and what makes them change? What are their weak points, and their strong points? I outline their personality in detail. Things like that.
Hope this helps a little.
And great job on his history!!!
"In a mask, was he?"
@ariella-newheart Thanks! I’ll try it out.
*vader vibes*
@sarah-Anson I agree with @skredder @gh24682468999 @ariel-Ashira . Interview your character, write him in a different scene, flesh out your character.
But in edition something you could do for fun (though it will probably help) is to make a collage for him. I had to figure out somethings when I made my collages. Also got me excited about my book. 😋IMMA KAPEEFER! Til we're old and gray!
@sarah-anson I know what it’s like to have a MC that just. Won’t. Be. Compelling!!! *tears out hair* The MC of my story that is currently on hold was like that. She had a backstory I loved, she was quirky, realistic, and had a story goal. But what I found was holding her back from being interesting (or even likeable) was that she was kind of in her own bubble. She was naturally a quiet person, and intentionally avoided interacting with some of the other characters (I don’t blame her for that, they aren’t the best of company), but what she really needed were people to “bounce” her personality off of. She needed people to talk to and open up around (even if it’s against her will mwahaha), people who bring out things in her personality even she wasn’t familiar with, people who bring out the best and the worst in her, and maybe even make her question herself sometimes.
She was also in a bubble when it came to the plot. She had one little goal, and wasn’t as involved in the plot as everyone else was. Very little was at stake for her. When I made her have to take real risks and get out of her comfort zone, she became more interesting, and more likeable, too, in my opinion.
This is just what helped me, so maybe it will be a bit helpful to you. *shrugs* I also really like Kirin’s backstory!
Blog: https://weridasusual.home.blog/
@gh24682468999 @daughteroftheking @catwing
Thanks! I’ll definitely be taking your guy’s advice. Kirin is… weird. He’s my MC, but he’s hard for me to write because I usually write anti-hero MCs and he’s not really an anti-hero. He’s entertaining sometimes, but I’m just not quite as attached to him as my other characters. *sighs* At least I have a fun villain to play around with. *smirks*
And who knows? Perhaps one day he’ll suddenly become so interesting I won’t be able to stop writing him. XD
*vader vibes*
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