Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 7:46 am Posts: 1030 Location: The puppy, chocolate and firework factory
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I thought I'd earn my keep and put in a few articles I've gathered over time.
The Mary-Sue Litmus Test http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm - A quick and fun resource to check if your character is a mary-sue. Try to check your characters with this before finishing them! It'll provide very helpful insight.
The Detailed Character Sheet -- this one might take more work, but you get to know your characters so much better, they just flourish from such an extensive think through! This one, I wrote, so if I've missed anything out, catch me out on it!
----Basics----- Alias: Birth-name: Age: Race: Height: Weight: Job: -----Appearance--- Build: Stance: Skin: Hair: Head: Eyes: Hands and feet: Clothes: Other (eg tails, wings): -----Other---- Equipment: Magic: Talents and Abilities: Voice: Living Relations: Motivations: -----Personality--- Pro’s: Con’s: Likes: Dislikes: History:
Killing John Smith - A fantastic article written by a dear friend of mine
At one point or another, every author has been guilty of creating a John Smith or a Jane Doe. This section aims to reveal the enemies of character creation, so that you may shoot them the moment they enter your brain. Perhaps the greatest enemy of originality is the God Character or the Perfect Incarnation. This is the wicked tyrant that we will be discussing first.
If there is a God, it isn't You
The God Character is the person - Or alien or animal or what-have-you - that has no faults or at the most very few of them. He is the Hitler of creativity and the bane of many writers across the world. The Perfect Incarnation is handsome, charming, and talented to the point of absurdity. He never scores less than an A+ for fear that his over-bearing parents will excommunicate him for life. He is the jock, the honor student, the high school sweetheart, and the Broadway star all rolled into one, blindingly spotless package.
However, he can be beaten by following a set of rules.
Names are not always fountain pretty. Often times, they are horrendous and repulsive. Avoid giving your characters unrealistic "stage names" that make them sound like they're expected at a film shooting.
Aim instead to give them a name that is drably ordinary. If you must be exotic, then go with something that is merely uncommon. There are a lot of uncommon names out there that don't sound like the person was dropped off the back of a tour bus.
Nobody is so talented as to be able to do anything that is presented to them. This goes for academics, games, sports, and - Where the problem seems to appear the most - fighting. Even the best student makes the occasional not-so-good grade, and even the best fighter will slip up and hack off his own foot. To avoid creating a character that is skilled beyond belief, make a point to give them plenty of faults and weak areas. This can be a school subject that they struggle with, a habit of tripping over their own feet, a weapon that they find impossibly awkward to wield, or any other kind of unfortunate attribute.
Rarely will you walk down the street and encounter a person that is so attractive that you stare and gawk like a lovestruck fool. Avoid making your characters flawlessly handsome as if they were carved out of the finest marble. While there are surely pretty people out there, most folks are painfully average.
Many times in life, a person will feel the need to rewind events and prevent themselves from saying or doing something ill conceived. Nobody always knows the right thing to say or the right thing to do. Give your character some realism by having them make the occasional poor choice.
Basically, what this list boils down to is that nobody's perfect and that everybody fails somewhere and somehow - Even the over-glorified town hero. Remember that and avoiding a God Character shouldn't be a problem for you.
The problem that I see with most "evil" characters is that most evil characters are ridiculously evil. The evil character in the eyes of the majority lies at the deep-end of the black pool. He has no good qualities about him except for the fact that he's good at being evil. Even Jeffery Dahmer had friends and made his mother smile. He may have done some bad things in his life, but his entire existence didn't revolve solely around killing people. This is what folks need to realize when creating a character that could be considered immoral and perhaps even monstrous: That nobody can be defined on a black and white scale; everybody lies somewhere in the gray area.
People who do underhanded things like steal, cheat, lie, and kill aren't always the dullest star in the sky, just like people who do socially approved things like donating all of their money to charity aren't always the brightest, either. Shady people are often pretty clever, as they'd have to be in order to avoid getting their hands chopped off. But then a lot have just average intelligence, too, so this rule works both ways. While very dumb and exceptionally smart people exist, it's more believable to throw your character somewhere in the middle of the two extremes.
Goths wear all black, chains, and combat boots, yet can be some of the nicest people that you could meet. Just because someone wears a lot of black and bad ass accessories doesn't make them wicked, shady, or even mildly immoral. Most thieves and murderers look like your average Joe on the street in plain clothes and no-notice shoes -- You couldn't pick them out just by looking at them. While there are assholes that certainly get power trips from looking like a vampire or a biker, most people of questionable status go along with the crowd.
Contradictions run through the human race -- Or in this case, creatures -- like a plague. Honor students with clear records could be shoplifting from malls with their friends. That jackass who always gives you a hard way to go could work as a volunteer at an animal shelter. The man on television who shot up a mall could have been the picture of sanity. People can be capable of things that one might never expect, even the seemingly lowest bastard or the purest saint. Try to give your character realistic depth by avoiding black and white images.
Not everyone who steals does so because they're a lazy butthole who doesn't feel like working for their money. Some people can be weighted down with two jobs, be taking care of three kids, and still not be able to afford their lifestyle. Some people can be simply desperate. The same goes for people who have killed, cheated, lied, or done any other number of immoral deeds: The circumstances are not always drenched in apathetic disregard for others or a burning hatred for mankind.
In a nutshell, what this part rounds up to is that "evil" is a strong word with a narrow definition. In order to make a believable character, it's best to mix in both good and bad qualities, so instead of thinking of everyone as either black or white, try to place people on a scale of different shades of gray.
If you want to avoid an unbelievable fighter, then you should always keep the following things in the front of your brain.
All people experience a loss every now and then. Most folks lose quite a bit. This is true for anything, not just fighting. Instead of aiming to make your character always on top, try to occasionally yank the mat out from under their feet. In role-playing, vanity can become a problem when neither person wants their character to lose in a fight. If you think a battle has gone on long enough and the other person doesn't seem like they're going to volunteer defeat, be the bigger man and take a dive. At least you'll have something to fight about later. Regardless of whether a character wins or loses a battle, they're going to get at least a little scuffed up if not littered with nicks and bruises. Even if you're only mentioning how much effort it takes to perform an action, it's good to put the mortality of your character on display. Nobody does a triple back-flip while holding a heavy sword "effortlessly", not even those people on TV who have spent their entire lives performing gymnastics. Even professionals have to spend some considerable energy to do what they do, and the work takes its toll in the form of pain, sweat, and exhaustion. Try to avoid giving fighting characters unbelievable amounts of stamina and skill. Make a point to have your character receive the occasional injury, and to show that the fight is taking some realistic effort on their part.
No man alive can expertly or even moderately make use of any weapon he's handed. Weapon skills have more to do with than simple experience at handling that weapon, and are affected by personal talents, body build, age, and stamina. It takes a long time to learn how to even decently use a weapon, never mind master it if ever. Never imply that your character can use "any" weapon, and instead focus on a particular kind or family of weapons. The skill level given to your character for a particular weapon should reflect the character's age, body build, stamina, personal talents, handling experience, and whether or not he's had instruction.
Most people in an army or warrior's union of any kind are at the lowest rung on the ladder, otherwise there would be no one to lead. There is no shame in being a simple soldier - You don't have to be a renowned Captain or a whore-laden General to be a good fighter. In order to make your character more believable, try giving them a low, humble status in exchange for flashy stars and stripes.
Straight A Wonderboy No Lose Jock Boring Nerd Drop Dead Gorgeous Anything Untainted Saint Sinister Murderer Brainless Lackey No Good Street Thug Godlike Warrior Short Loser Tall Winner Beautiful Mistress Dumb Bully Flaming Queen Dark Mysterious Stranger Perfect Lover Trailer Trash Uppity Yuppy Stoic Chief Useless Addict Irrational Lunatic Rugged Cowboy Patriotic Soldier Smooth Gangster
Perhaps the word here is not really "original" but "believable". It's hard to make a completely original character without ending up with a two-headed monster from planet Uranium, and even that's been thought of. The common misconception behind the creation of so many John Smith's is that Believable is Boring and that Unbelievable is Exciting. But the unfounded truth is that you can create believable characters while still keeping them original and interesting. After all, it's not whether you're an alien-hybrid or can speak twenty different languages that makes you complex - It's all the little details that build up over the course of your life. These are the things that spark interest and provide originality. Let's take a look at a list of tips to get that IV of creativity into your veins.
If you're going to be creating a character for a time period other than the one taking place right now, research is your crisis counselor. Go to a library, check out some books, or for those of you who are allergic to leather, get on Wikipedia.org - It's usually quite accurate. The only way to make a good period character is to have a good amount of knowledge about the period they're from. Your character was not dropped off by a stork. He has parents, and therefore he also has grandparents, as well as aunts and uncles and cousins and maybe even an ex-wife and two kids that hate him. While you don't have to role-play your character's family, you should at least acknowledge that he has blood ties somewhere.
Balance is your safety net. Sure, there are lots of people out there that seem to lack this trait, but it's a cheap solution to keep your china from falling off the shelves. When you think that your character may be looking too good, sling some mud at his sparkling white shirt. Just keep in mind that balance control also works vice versa.
Height can be a tricky topic for fantasy, due to all of the various species that are given humanoid qualities. My advice would be to go along with the standards of the fictional world that you're writing in, or if you're not sure, then just use the closet human equivalent. The average height for humans varies depending on ethnicity, gender, age, and diet. For stats on these factors, use Google.
Occupations are various for all time periods and for all social classes, as well as necessary unless your character is a kid, a bum, or disabled. Money has to come from somewhere, food has to be bought, and rent has to be paid. Clearly define a job for your character, preferably something that you yourself have done or at least understand. If you'd like your character to have a career that you don't know how to accurately write, then do some research. You don't have to be an expert, but it's better to at least get the basics right.
If your character is going to be a drifter, he still needs a way to sustain himself. This means a method of getting money and food, and shelter when the weather is unfavorable. Drifters without vehicles will usually stay with people when they get the chance, even if they don't know them very well. And since they don't stay in one place very long, it's good for them to be open to a lot of different ways to make money - A man can't just steal everything he wants without eventually getting caught. This kind of life can require a lot of charity.
The world is diverse - That's just the way it is. Any believable environment is full of people that all have their own opinions and ways of doing things. Just because your favored character disagrees with one of your spur-of-the-moment creations, don't make the cameo out to be a complete loser only so that your shining star can look good. Be fair with your pen.
A Night Light for the Lost
Now for the last scene. In this part, I will be providing you with useful references that can help you along the path to creating better characters. These are all websites that you can easily find online.
Orangoo Spell Checker - Because the first step to recovery is cleaning up your act. Firefox - A good web browser with a good spell checker for the convenience-dependent citizen. Beats Internet Explorer any day of the week. Wikipedia - Perhaps the most useful resource on the Internet, Wikipedia is an extensive encyclopedia edited by people all around the world. It hosts a myriad of knowledge, spanning just about every topic that one could think of. Medieval Occupations - A broad list describing occupations from the medieval age.
This list is to be updated with more references as I feel like it. At the moment, I'm leaving it unfinished.
A Few Last Words
If you have any comments or critique for this tutorial, please leave them in a reply to this thread. Thanks for reading and good luck in killing John Smith.
However if that was too much of a wall of text there's always the stereo type list?
PART ONE - THE LIST OF CHARACTER TRAITS
This is a list I wrote based on my experiences on this forum in reading and role-playing with different characters. It is a series of yes or no questions. The more times you know your character would have to answer 'Yes', the more I have seen the device or trait in other characters. These tend to be over-used, cliche and stereotypical. Is this bad? Well, not always, but if you are interested in creativity and making interesting characters, particularly characters you want people to be able to relate to, then this list may be helpful.
1. Does your character have any psychological defect or abnormality?
2. Is your character's family entirely, or mostly deceased?
3. Is your character a private military contractor, mercenary, assassin, or such occupation that includes murder in its description?
4. Is your character able to operate, carry and otherwise show proficient skill in the use of more than one weapon type?
5. Is your character inhabited by a demon, ghost or other supernatural phenomena?
6. Can your character alter its form in order that it might spend a period of time in a heightened state. ie: Does it have a 'super' form?
7. Is your character able to repel or otherwise survive with no noticeable effects all attacks directed at it?
8. Is your character unoccupied, that is with no discernable job?
9. Is your character homeless, or otherwise with no permanent residence?
10. Has your character's family been abusive or otherwise unsupportive to an abnormal level?
11. Is your character wise beyond its years, or otherwise shows knowledge on most subjects discussed?
12. Is your character capable of any degree of murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, or any violent crime without feeling any negative emotion?
13. Is your character undisturbed when witnessing acts of murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault or any violent crime?
14. Does your character's magical power, if any, have the capability to alter the landscape on a large scale, or affect a multitude of objects, structures or persons within a certain radius on a large scale?
15. Is your character unaffected by shocking scenes, surprises, extraordinary or unbelievable events?
16. Has your character any form of amnesia, short or long term memory loss or any associated memory problems?
17. Has your character any form of memory problem that prevents memory of its parents or family members?
18. Has your character's conception or birth been influenced by a god or other supernatural power?
19. Is your character cursed by a god, supernatural phenomena or similar?
20. Is your character an orphan, or has otherwised been raised by an alternate guardian than its parents or immediate family members?
21. Has your character ever been enslaved, born into slavery or otherwise spent some part of its life a slave?
22. Does your character always say the right thing at the right moment, or is otherwise incapable of making mistakes?
PART TWO - SPECIFIC STEREOTYPES
This is a short list I am making of the various stereotypical, cliche or overused character types I see in different eras. It is site specific, but can be applied to general settings and genres. I am only doing it for settings that suffer from cliche alot. Most people seem to understand how the modern Age works, thankfully.
MEDIAEVAL
1. Is your character an assassin?
2. Is your character a thief?
3. Is your character under 25 years of age?
4. Is your character a traveller or wanderer?
5. Is your character wearing anachronistic clothing? (ie: Trousers, jeans, trenchcoats, T-shirts, etc.)
6. Does your character speak anachronistically? (ie: uses idioms, phrases or expressions clearly derived from 18th, 19th, 20th or 21st century slang or colloquialism. Eg: "You're screwed", an expression from the early 1700s.)
7. Is your character atheistic, or otherwise 'not religious'?
8. Is your character afraid, distrusting, angry or filled with hate in regards to Nobility or Royalty?
9. Is your character's clothing inconsistent with the usual dress for the region or weather? (ie: Going bare-pawed through an Arctic blizzard.)
10. Is your character's clothing inconsistent with social norms in regards to armouring? (ie: Wearing full plate armour whilst going to buy a loaf of bread.)
AGE OF STEAM
1. Is your character an inventor?
2. Is your character a mechanic?
3. Is your character otherwise involved in the running of machinery?
4. Does your character dress with goggles?
5. Is your character atheistic, or otherwise 'not religious'?
6. Is your character dressed inconsistently with the standards of the 19th century, particularly in Victorian style, whilst in public? (ie: Missing coat, hat, shoes, trousers or any variant thereof. Industrial workers, sailors and other such labourers are excused.)
7. Does your character have any steam-powered hand-held implements, or similar?
8. If so, do these implements have a mysterious ability to dissipate heat, contain a small fire safely, not generate any smoke or constant steam, or have the mysterious ability to run endlessly without refilling with water or coal?
9. Does your character work with any steam-powered machinery that is capable of running infinitely, contains a lit furnace which does not generate smoke or boiler that does not generate constant steam, or is not suitably heated by its operation? (ie: Anything not consistent with steam engines.)
10. Does your character speak anachronistically? (ie: uses idioms, phrases or expressions clearly derived from the 20th or 21st century slang or colloquialisms.)
PART THREE - PHYSICAL TRAITS
Below is a list of physical attributes, be they dress, species, age, etc., that are, on this forum, cliche, overused or stereotypical.
1. Is your character a wolf, or any derivative thereof?
2. ((N/A to here))
3. Is your character between 16 and 18, inclusive?
4. Is your character unnaturally old?
5. Is your character wearing trousers regardless of time period, age, occasion or rank?
6. Does your character have any unexplained or unusual proficiency with a weapon or weapons with no prior mentioned formal training?
7. Does your character fail to ever feel tired, physically exhausted, out of breath or lacking in energy?
8. Does your character fail to exist within the limits of the laws of physics determining the conservation of energy and momentum?
9. Is your character able to scale buildings or other obstacles with acrobatic efficiency, with no prior mentioned formal training?
10. Is your character incapable of dancing? (I actually have never seen any Feilan character dance in an RP, mine included.)
PART FOUR - THE USUAL LOADOUT
This section details the equipment that is used over, and over, and over, in any Age.
1. Does your character own a katana?
2. Does your character own a trenchcoat?
3. Does your character (Both sexes inclusive) wear revealing clothing as day-to-day wear?
4. Does your character wear abnormally colourful clothing as day-to-day wear? (ie: Not for special occasions, ceremonies or fancy-dress masquerades.)
If I find any more, I'll dig 'em out .... I have a nice little piece on the proper use and basics of guns lying about, but I thought that mostly inapplicable here .... ummm.
Eck! I'll post them as I find them!
_________________
Damn straight I'm good in bed! I could sleep for days! :3
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 6:33 pm Posts: 259 Location: Some far off land in my mind
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I'm basing this off of my Elven character in "The Dying Land"
1. Does your character have any psychological defect or abnormality? Nope
2. Is your character's family entirely, or mostly deceased? Nope
3. Is your character a private military contractor, mercenary, assassin, or such occupation that includes murder in its description? Nope
4. Is your character able to operate, carry and otherwise show proficient skill in the use of more than one weapon type? Nope (fairly decent in a bow and arrow and her staff is her focal point for her magic)
5. Is your character inhabited by a demon, ghost or other supernatural phenomena? Nope
6. Can your character alter its form in order that it might spend a period of time in a heightened state. ie: Does it have a 'super' form? Nope
7. Is your character able to repel or otherwise survive with no noticeable effects all attacks directed at it? Nope
8. Is your character unoccupied, that is with no discernable job? Nope-In town she works with the nursery entertaining children.
9. Is your character homeless, or otherwise with no permanent residence? Nope
10. Has your character's family been abusive or otherwise unsupportive to an abnormal level? Yes
11. Is your character wise beyond its years, or otherwise shows knowledge on most subjects discussed? Nope
12. Is your character capable of any degree of murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, or any violent crime without feeling any negative emotion? Nope
13. Is your character undisturbed when witnessing acts of murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault or any violent crime? Nope
14. Does your character's magical power, if any, have the capability to alter the landscape on a large scale, or affect a multitude of objects, structures or persons within a certain radius on a large scale? Nope-unless you count tidal waves when she's standing on a beach exerting all of her engery o.o;
15. Is your character unaffected by shocking scenes, surprises, extraordinary or unbelievable events? Nope
16. Has your character any form of amnesia, short or long term memory loss or any associated memory problems? Nope
17. Has your character any form of memory problem that prevents memory of its parents or family members? Nope
18. Has your character's conception or birth been influenced by a god or other supernatural power? Nope
19. Is your character cursed by a god, supernatural phenomena or similar? Nope
20. Is your character an orphan, or has otherwised been raised by an alternate guardian than its parents or immediate family members? Yes-she basically raised herself because her parents were caught up in politics.
21. Has your character ever been enslaved, born into slavery or otherwise spent some part of its life a slave? Nope
22. Does your character always say the right thing at the right moment, or is otherwise incapable of making mistakes? Nope
PART TWO - SPECIFIC STEREOTYPES
MEDIAEVAL
1. Is your character an assassin? No
2. Is your character a thief? No
3. Is your character under 25 years of age? She's 114 but looks 20
4. Is your character a traveller or wanderer? Not usually
5. Is your character wearing anachronistic clothing? (ie: Trousers, jeans, trenchcoats, T-shirts, etc.) Nope
6. Does your character speak anachronistically? (ie: uses idioms, phrases or expressions clearly derived from 18th, 19th, 20th or 21st century slang or colloquialism. Eg: "You're screwed", an expression from the early 1700s.) (Yes and no considering she's between medieval and steam era)
7. Is your character atheistic, or otherwise 'not religious'? Nope
8. Is your character afraid, distrusting, angry or filled with hate in regards to Nobility or Royalty? Nope
9. Is your character's clothing inconsistent with the usual dress for the region or weather? (ie: Going bare-pawed through an Arctic blizzard.) Nope
10. Is your character's clothing inconsistent with social norms in regards to armouring? (ie: Wearing full plate armour whilst going to buy a loaf of bread.) Nope
AGE OF STEAM
1. Is your character an inventor? No
2. Is your character a mechanic? No
3. Is your character otherwise involved in the running of machinery? No
4. Does your character dress with goggles? No
5. Is your character atheistic, or otherwise 'not religious'? No
6. Is your character dressed inconsistently with the standards of the 19th century, particularly in Victorian style, whilst in public? (ie: Missing coat, hat, shoes, trousers or any variant thereof. Industrial workers, sailors and other such labourers are excused.) No
7. Does your character have any steam-powered hand-held implements, or similar? No
8. If so, do these implements have a mysterious ability to dissipate heat, contain a small fire safely, not generate any smoke or constant steam, or have the mysterious ability to run endlessly without refilling with water or coal? No
9. Does your character work with any steam-powered machinery that is capable of running infinitely, contains a lit furnace which does not generate smoke or boiler that does not generate constant steam, or is not suitably heated by its operation? (ie: Anything not consistent with steam engines.) No
10. Does your character speak anachronistically? (ie: uses idioms, phrases or expressions clearly derived from the 20th or 21st century slang or colloquialisms.) No.
PART THREE - PHYSICAL TRAITS
Below is a list of physical attributes, be they dress, species, age, etc., that are, on this forum, cliche, overused or stereotypical.
1. Is your character a wolf, or any derivative thereof? No
2. ((N/A to here))
3. Is your character between 16 and 18, inclusive? No
4. Is your character unnaturally old? Yes
5. Is your character wearing trousers regardless of time period, age, occasion or rank? No
6. Does your character have any unexplained or unusual proficiency with a weapon or weapons with no prior mentioned formal training? No
7. Does your character fail to ever feel tired, physically exhausted, out of breath or lacking in energy? No
8. Does your character fail to exist within the limits of the laws of physics determining the conservation of energy and momentum? No
9. Is your character able to scale buildings or other obstacles with acrobatic efficiency, with no prior mentioned formal training? No.
10. Is your character incapable of dancing? (I actually have never seen any Feilan character dance in an RP, mine included.) No-read the dancing scene with water ;)
PART FOUR - THE USUAL LOADOUT
This section details the equipment that is used over, and over, and over, in any Age.
1. Does your character own a katana? No
2. Does your character own a trenchcoat? No
3. Does your character (Both sexes inclusive) wear revealing clothing as day-to-day wear? No
4. Does your character wear abnormally colourful clothing as day-to-day wear? (ie: Not for special occasions, ceremonies or fancy-dress masquerades.)No
Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:59 pm Posts: 263 Location: A place where chickens get to cross the road without having their motives questioned.
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This was vastly helpful, for me! Thankyou very much!
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