Writing

Questions tagged [characters]

Ask Question

Real questions about imaginary people.

768 questions
Newest
Active
Bountied
Unanswered
Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
0
votes
0answers
25 views

Animal pets in sci-fi universe

I have already finished my short novel (25k words) 2 or 3 days ago and it finally ended up reflecting that the main character (MC) is a very lonely person and he only have VERY few friends. This is ...
1
vote
2answers
156 views

Does it makes sense that my main character is not going to solve the plot's main objective?

First of all, sorry, english is not my mother tongue My novel runs on a sci-fi universe and my main character (MC) has been infected by a virus that infects others that breathes the same air. ...
1
vote
2answers
271 views

How can I successfully change main character half-way through the story?

I write short stories in Chinese, and give a new page to my teacher to correct every few days. This is the story I'm thinking of writing: We have a male main character. His wife is devoted to him, ...
0
votes
6answers
323 views

How do you make a realistic character?

Ok, so I feel like my character is too perfect. I try to make her have flaws but it's not working so well. I reread my story so far and I found that most of them are all kinda typical and the same as ...
1
vote
3answers
134 views

Does including a lot of tropes in a single idea pay off well?

The other day, I was working on a Supernatural Fiction genre and I was stuck in a dilemma. I had two choices, whether I could focus on one trope, that is, just the vampires and their conspiracies or I ...
-1
votes
2answers
97 views

How to avoid libel when writing a fictional account of a real event

I was a researcher for many years and it is a habit that has its usefulness in writing but also some serious drawbacks. The usefulness is that it helps create believable plots and functional physics ...
11
votes
14answers
7k views

How can I get 2 characters to bond while standing alternate watches?

Setting is standard space opera. I am writing a story in which 2 characters are crewing a spaceship. The characters are: (1) the captain, a female in her early 20s, who has grown up on the ship and ...
1
vote
2answers
96 views

Can you switch point of view very often?

I'm trying out a style where I switch POV very often. It's written in third person, but everything described is things that are visible to the POV character, and you can hear their thoughts. Now, ...
3
votes
3answers
187 views

Can a useless protagonist be interesting?

So, I was thinking about one of my little worlds, when I stumbled into an interesting problem. At first, this is a run-of-the-mill isekai (trapped in another world) story. The protagonist, an average ...
3
votes
1answer
106 views

Fictional daughter of an historical figure

A secondary character in my historical fiction novel is a Russian concert pianist who married into a 19th century noble family. For various reasons I would very much like to make her the daughter of ...
1
vote
3answers
196 views

How to name MC after revealing body change?

The plot of the novel is the following: The villain has body-swapped with the MC and I want to keep this hidden and reveal it as a plot twist in the middle of the story. If MC real name is John and ...
-2
votes
4answers
179 views

What are the different types of characters in a fictional story?

I want to be able to correctly categorise and identify different characters in a story, predominantly fiction. I have read a lot about different types of characters--flat, round, static, dynamic, ...
2
votes
3answers
166 views

Will an unrealistic character be out of place among other realistic ones?

Most of the characters in my story are well thought out and have realistic motivations and backstories, as I think most people agree that believable characters are important in writing (if you’re ...
1
vote
0answers
37 views

Number of characters : how much is too much? [duplicate]

Will having more than 6 characters bring problems of poor character development, loss of storyline and unending side plots?
-3
votes
2answers
110 views

Naming characters: Physical v. Personality [closed]

Suppose my fictional character is a plastic penguin which happens to be very pompous. What do you believe is a better way to name a character? 1.A name which describes them physically Ex. Plastic ...
8
votes
3answers
3k views

How to identify a (personal) Canon Sue?

Sometimes (as an intelligent species, and therefore creative, speculative about reality and so on...) we want to experience some situations which aren't possible at all. Then as a writer you can ...
6
votes
2answers
260 views

Should you write character description points in bulk or spread them out?

I've heard a lot of people saying they skip descriptions if they are written as one bulk list, but others say it's important that we let the reader know what the character looks like and include all ...
1
vote
0answers
49 views

Will too many characters be overwhelming? [duplicate]

So I have multiple stories running in the same universe, and I want a Arc that includes all the main people from each of the stories my worry is that this will become to confusing and may overload the ...
3
votes
5answers
229 views

How can I have a character introduce themselves as humble without making them seem arrogant?

Two people are dating, and one of them wants to tell the other they are humble, which they genuinely are. But I don't want it to seem like they're bragging or showing off about it. In normal ...
7
votes
1answer
98 views

Using third-person character interactions to create a relatable hook for a Character that is unrelatable?

So, I am writing a story based around a character that has the personality of a Computer. Emotionless, logical, does what he is told and if he can't or won't, will state it in the plainest way ...
-1
votes
4answers
168 views

Intentionally misspelling words in dialogue

I have a piece of dialogue which sounds great in my head, and the way the character says it is important, but it never looks right when I type it out. At first I tried this: “Looking and looking... ...
-1
votes
4answers
166 views

I have a name, and no plot [closed]

So I made a name for a character and his name is quite fancy so I have no idea what I should do with him. I named him, ready? Sir Nathaniel Charles III. Without asking for specific suggestions on "...
4
votes
4answers
270 views

How to hint at an antagonist's identity?

A significant antagonist in my trilogy is an omnicidal alien by the name of Loki, whose characterisation borrows from Griffith, Keizer Ghidorah, Randall Flagg, Saruman and Hastur. Throughout the ...
1
vote
1answer
126 views

I've just found that my character has similar characteristics to another with the same name

I have been developing a story for some months based upon a fictional character that i thought I had invented uniquely ... let's say a half zebra half elephant for example. I named it elezebra. I then ...
2
votes
2answers
203 views

How can you redeem an awful character, who hits close to home?

There is a problem with a redemption arc: Anon is an incredibly powerful god with powers of mysterious origin. In the story, he starts out as bad but is supposed to be redeemed later. There is a ...
20
votes
10answers
6k views

Does my protagonist need to be the most important character?

In my fantasy story that I'm slowly getting into, my MC Sirena is an apprentice witch. Her two fellow apprentices, Aster and Keeva, study alongside her under their High Priestess, and they all ...
1
vote
2answers
124 views

Letting a (secondary) antagonist leave mid story - Should it be avoided?

I have a powerful antagonist perform important functions within my story. At the midpoint, he just leaves. Several Plot developments depend on this character. I tried replacing him with other ...
2
votes
1answer
113 views

What if a dark protagonist doesn't want to change?

Dark protagonists. Heroes who are evil, pure flaws, or exhibiting only weakness or darkness, rather than strength or light. There is one basic assumption I would like to make about such characters: ...
12
votes
7answers
2k views

Giving a character trauma but not “diagnosing” her?

In my post-apocalyptic novel, my MC Eris is severely traumatized by the death of her family at her own hands. Because of this, she has extreme aversion to social interaction and even physical contact....
1
vote
1answer
126 views

How do I know if my cast is diverse enough or too diverse? [duplicate]

Basically, I am writing a story and I want to know if the characters are diverse enough or too diverse. If I just state the characters' races, sexualities, etc, it might seem forced but I didn't ...
1
vote
4answers
177 views

How do I introduce a large cast in an interesting way

I am currently writing a story about eleven college friends and a child. I don't want to just introduce them as "The Jock" or "The Delinquent," and I don't want to do a dry listing of "this is who ...
17
votes
4answers
2k views

Writing about real people - not giving offence

The Spy is a Netflix series about Israeli spy and hero Eli Cohen. In a recent interview, Eli's widow Nadia expresses great dissatisfaction with the series: a lot of changes were made, ostensibly to "...
22
votes
12answers
5k views

What makes a character irredeemable?

Let's look at two characters who are generally considered to be iredeemable: The Diamond Authority (from Steven Universe): The extremely childish leaders of the race of spacefaring lesbian magical ...
1
vote
2answers
163 views

How to convey the anatomy of a humanoid race? [closed]

I am writing a extra-terrestrial high fantasy novel. The story is completely set in an alien world. No visits from Earth and no visits to Earth. My characters are humanoids, who look like elves, ...
5
votes
1answer
180 views

Basing my protagonist on myself

(I asked another question about this novella here.) In a novella I'm writing, I explore the lives of a young Hispanic woman, Ramona, and her brother, Rafael, in an Orwellian-esque future America ...
2
votes
2answers
448 views

How to ensure that neurotic or annoying characters don't get tiring in the long run [duplicate]

A is a special snowflake, though for all the wrong reasons. You see, he was born with a special ability that allowed him to see premonitions of his and his loved ones' future in the form of still ...
10
votes
4answers
1k views

How to write characters doing illogical things in a believable way?

As much as I would like it, both in Worldbuilding and Writing, not every action is logical or "right". There are two types of this: Imperfect information: The character(s) lack vital information, ...
0
votes
4answers
211 views

How to deal appropriately with an inappropriate sexual relationship

Part of the character arc for my main character from Can I conceal an antihero's insanity - and should I? is that she is a sociopath, prepared to do things that normal people would not. Part of ...
0
votes
5answers
171 views

What techniques authors use to keep track of their cast?

There is a problem as stories progress (especially in never-ending web novels) where the cast of characters keep growing. Some webnovels I follow are in the hundreds! Is there a technique for authors ...
25
votes
5answers
7k views

How can I hint that my character isn't real?

How can I make a side character's tangibility open to interpretations so the audience is unsure if she's even real? My short story is about identity. My main character is being pressured by a friend ...
2
votes
3answers
162 views

Doubt about the concept of “true (or complex) character”

Following the answer of @Cyn and my comment (on Doubt about a particular point of view on how to do character creation ): I would like to know more about how to "know" more about a true alived ...
5
votes
2answers
178 views

Doubt about a particular point of view on how to do character creation

Of course developing a character is quite an intimate process. But still, like a story, you can in fact have some tools that give you some sort of axiomatic path on "how-to". There is a TV writer ...
15
votes
13answers
3k views

How can I portray a character with no fear of death, without them sounding utterly bored?

Imagine a fantasy hero with a 'time reset' ability like the protagonists of Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow: they can 'rewind time' up to a few hours, resetting their own physical state and the rest ...
9
votes
4answers
244 views

Is it alright to add scenes that don’t move the plot forwards much but develop relationships/character?

For example, let’s say the main plot is that the characters are on a quest to go find something. Can an author spend three scenes in a row detailing what happens on their journey there, even if the ...
13
votes
11answers
4k views

How to differentiate between two people with the same name in a story?

I am writing a story in which at some point two characters with the same name interact each other. I can't use their last name to differentiate because it's necessary for them to have no last name. ...
2
votes
2answers
124 views

Do people usually like the side characters more than the MC? [closed]

I feel there is a common audience trend in favoring the side characters more than the MC. And I believe "literary science" backs that up, in regards to character focus. That even though the MC's ...
1
vote
3answers
168 views

Anthropomorphic animals in romantic relationships with other species

Basically I’m wondering whether it’s totally weird or if people wouldn’t give much thought to it. I’ll use Zootopia as an example. If the main characters (a fox and a rabbit) were in a relationship, ...
3
votes
1answer
150 views

Is it alright to write the characters name when they are thinking?

I am sorry. Its a bit longer than necessary. So as not to put one entire page here, I cut a piece of the paragraph. Ian had difficulty expressing himself, so Lavi squat down in front of him, holding ...
13
votes
9answers
2k views

What should come first—characters or plot?

I'm starting a new fantasy story, and although I had a loose idea of plot, I began sculpting my characters before writing anything. Creating images of them in my head, developing their personalities, ...
4
votes
4answers
258 views

Lost my ‘magic’ concerning characters

I love creating characters, and for me it’s been the joy of writing for however long I’ve been doing it. I have maybe three or four unfinished projects which house characters whom I love, and they’re ...

1 2 3 4 5 … 16