Hello my fellow writers,
As of late I started wondering how other writers go about creating characters. I figured my process was the same as everyone else’s which is starting from the ground up. Sure I might have one character in mind from a story that didn’t lift off the ground, but 9/10 times my characters was tailored for the story. From the name, to his backstory, and even from his motivations/personality.
But after sifting through some RT & Out of Character threads I realized some users use the same name for their characters while others simply use the same exact character just for a different story. Not everyone does this but it did catch my eye how prevalent this is in some ongoing roleplays as well when I skimmed through some stories from the same writers.
So I’m interested to hear how my fellow writers go about creating their characters.
Here’s what I personally do:
Vincent: Means "Conquerer" and I used it for a character that had his body conquered. Vincent was possessed by my real character (Deus, which also has a meaning but let’s ignore that for now) who I was playing. This was a vital plot point to the story since everyone thought he was a regular human but in reality had something more ancient lurking beneath the skin
Connor: Means "Son of wolf" which I used for a werewolf character
Then voila, I’m done. So, how do you go about creating your character(s)?
As of late I started wondering how other writers go about creating characters. I figured my process was the same as everyone else’s which is starting from the ground up. Sure I might have one character in mind from a story that didn’t lift off the ground, but 9/10 times my characters was tailored for the story. From the name, to his backstory, and even from his motivations/personality.
But after sifting through some RT & Out of Character threads I realized some users use the same name for their characters while others simply use the same exact character just for a different story. Not everyone does this but it did catch my eye how prevalent this is in some ongoing roleplays as well when I skimmed through some stories from the same writers.
So I’m interested to hear how my fellow writers go about creating their characters.
Here’s what I personally do:
- First, I start with the story I pitch to a potential partner and think of a character that’ll fit in this world which I won’t get bored of writing.
- Next, I then think of other fictional works that I can gain inspiration from and either mix & match concepts I like to create something new or create something all on my own from the start.
- Then, I sometimes create a character sheet and then inform my partner of who I intend to play as.
- Lastly, I then use the first few posts to get a feel of the character before I’ve finally created him in his entirety.
- With the cherry on top being his name dedicated as an Easter egg for the story because I’m a sucker for solving Easter eggs myself.
Vincent: Means "Conquerer" and I used it for a character that had his body conquered. Vincent was possessed by my real character (Deus, which also has a meaning but let’s ignore that for now) who I was playing. This was a vital plot point to the story since everyone thought he was a regular human but in reality had something more ancient lurking beneath the skin
Connor: Means "Son of wolf" which I used for a werewolf character
Then voila, I’m done. So, how do you go about creating your character(s)?