Questions tagged [characters]
Questions that involve people in a work of fiction, including character development, motivations, design, points of view, and representation.
821
questions
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This is on my book for grade 11 so i hope you can all help me out [closed]
How much does a character say about something if there are lengthy lines devoted to one point or if there are lengthy lines devoted to one point, or if there are plenty of shorter lines devoted to it, ...
0
votes
1answer
83 views
Writing an emotionless character? [closed]
I need help writing a character that doesn't like other people and rarely shows emotion due to high amounts of emotional trauma?
He would let a person die if they were no longer of any use to him.
14
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1answer
4k views
Doubt on the trope “power trio”: what are their psychological basis?
I will gather some non-standard characters in this question. Suppose then the Powerpuff Girls, Team Sonic, Totally Spies, Kanker Sisters (Ed, Edd n Eddy), and so on.[1]
Every time we can identify some ...
9
votes
6answers
2k views
Naming Side characters
So, basically, how do you name side characters? I get that you should give the main characters meaningful names, but finding suitable names for all of my characters is distracting and time-consuming. ...
0
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2answers
104 views
To facepalm or not to facepalm
How would you describe a facepalm in a more formal sense?
For example, he rubbed his head with his hand. Or, he rubbed his temples.
Basically, my character here is really annoyed at the stupidity of ...
3
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5answers
130 views
How to show a character with multiple personalitites?
To preface this, I have seen the question multiple personalities characters speech in text and I feel that my question is different enough, to warrant a separate question.
In my book, a character has ...
2
votes
3answers
140 views
How do I create a mysterious character? What personality traits and ways does he need to be mysterious? What attitudes must he have to be so?
How do I create a mysterious character? What personality traits and ways does he need to be mysterious? What attitudes must he have to be so?
1
vote
2answers
100 views
Characters with apostrophe names
I have created a world, and one of the cultures has mainly apostrophe names - Vax'Ildan, Vex'Ahlia, Soih'Ym...
How would this work grammatically - possessive and nicknames, in writing?
(To forestall ...
6
votes
4answers
142 views
How to care about the characters more than the world?
I have a very well-built up world with politics, religions etc, that I've built up over the course of my writing. But I have recently realised that I care more about the world than the character.
I ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
My characters parents are dead, what now? [closed]
In my book, my main character has unfortunately lost her parents. But before the plot, I have nothing. I don't want to do an orphanage, foster homes, or give her a family at all. The idea of her ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
How can I introduce a new POV late in my book?
In the book I am writing, the first seven chapters are from the POV of one character. In chapter 8, I am planning to add a second POV character. I will probably also add a third POV character in ...
5
votes
3answers
130 views
Writing Historically accurate diversity vs. Telling someone else's story
I am writing a story that takes place in a period of heavy political tension. It is a fictional world, but based off reality, especially American history. One of my main characters is a POC who joins ...
1
vote
2answers
98 views
Is this character too similar to a real person?
I’m writing this fictional story and based a character off this guy I saw in a documentary. He isn’t well known at all (other than being in the documentary). I did not use his name. His appearance is ...
3
votes
2answers
116 views
Older Characters
I'm ten years old and writing a book series. I have trouble writing about older characters, and that's especially the older kids that are already dating. I don't know any people that could help me ...
2
votes
4answers
146 views
How do I write characters that aren't just a copy of myself?
I am finding it difficult to create fictional characters with personalities that are not a copy of myself. I'm having trouble trying to understand what others a character would do in certain ...
1
vote
2answers
64 views
Are there any good alternatives to “a fire inside” of someone?
I'm trying to express the idea of a character undergoing a realisation, thus feeling an idea along the lines of a "fire being ignited inside of him".
However, I was wondering, are there any better ...
1
vote
6answers
188 views
How do I write a computer-savvy/hacker character?
I have a character in my story for whom being computer savvy is supposed to be a major personality trait. The character works with computers for a living (even if their side job they do as part of the ...
9
votes
4answers
4k views
How do you prevent a character from being a creator's pet?
I have a character that I really like. They were originally intended to be the main villain for a particular story arc and then get killed off for good at the end, but I felt they were really ...
2
votes
2answers
132 views
I want to write about a suicide, how should I do it?
I want to have a book (or multiple) have a suicide in it, and I want to write the suicide. I don't know how exactly to go about that.
I know that very descriptive details or very graphic images/video/...
1
vote
2answers
50 views
Similar Character [duplicate]
So, I had a dream about this demon character named Sin (I physically saw his name in my dream) that goes to church. I wanted to make this into a story, but I feel like it's too similar to Rin Okumura ...
0
votes
1answer
140 views
I want to write a book, but I don't know if it's “too sexist”
I'm writing a story, and it's like this so far: A boy watches his family get slaughtered before him, he has to become a slave to survive, and then somehow ends up in the position to save a kingdom.
...
0
votes
3answers
1k views
I want to write a male character, but I am lost
I'm writing a new story. The main character is male. I know how to write from the viewpoint of a male (I am one), but I'm lost on writing him.
Here's the story so far: His family was killed, he ended ...
3
votes
2answers
126 views
How to write a character who is falling in love, but doesn't know?
So I have been trying to write a character that is oblivious to romantic advances because they mistake them for normal, platonic reactions. I know how they act in my mind, but I can't convey it enough ...
-1
votes
1answer
98 views
Do I kill my main character? [closed]
One of the main themes of my book is death and sacrifice. There's a lot of necromancy, ghosts, etc. The main character has already been brought back to life once before without her consent, which was ...
2
votes
2answers
97 views
Is it illegal to use a real person as a character in your story? [duplicate]
I'm writing a story where my character meets some of the world's greatest philosophers in a dream. He meets Franz Kafka, Dostoevsky, and Friedrich Nietzsche in dreams. Kafka only speaks in quotes from ...
1
vote
3answers
114 views
Writing mumbled speech
I've got a character that mumbles, and I'd like good advice on how to write his dialogue. He isn't a POV character, and I won't give him too much dialogue that would make the reading tedious, but it's ...
2
votes
2answers
79 views
Referring to groups and unnamed individuals from groups in a screenplay
The following extract is from a screenplay I'm writing. I could really use some advice on how to format it, particularly around referring to groups of people and an unnamed person from a group.
Bob ...
0
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0answers
78 views
Character Flaws: Treason
The 9th circle, aka, the deepest and worst part of Hell, in Dante's inferno is dedicated to traitors (from the least severe to the worst):
Treason against one's kin.
Treason against one's home (as in ...
-2
votes
2answers
117 views
What makes a complete monster fun?
My metaverse is really short on villains. That's a problem as there are many characters whose heroism is defined by the enemy they fight.
A noble savage can't work in a setting where civilization and ...
0
votes
2answers
57 views
Number of characters in ensemble for a musical
In writing a musical I have 3 primary and 7 minor characters - some of whom can be also used in the ensemble. There are four scenes in the two act play in which an ensemble consisting of, at most at ...
0
votes
2answers
77 views
How to make a childish character that isn't annoying to the reader?
I couldn't decide what type of dragon I wanted to write, so I decided to do a Rise of Skywalker and now my dragon is all the dragons. This isn't actually hard to achieve. The key idea is a character ...
1
vote
1answer
59 views
How to make my roleplay responses more lengthy/detailed?
How can I make my roleplay responses more lengthy and detailed?
For the recent months I've been roleplaying with several friends. our replies are normally two or three sentences. While I've shown ...
0
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3answers
157 views
Building a character out of a political caricature?
So, I wanted to spice up the MC in one of my stories by... making him into a stereotypical SJW. The catch is supposed to be why and when he's acting that way. I won't go into any detail because this ...
3
votes
1answer
59 views
The seller or the trader [closed]
I'm having difficulty choosing the seller or the trader when describing a character.
He is selling things at a flea market and I personally prefer the seller, the sound of it.
As English is not my ...
3
votes
3answers
158 views
How do you show an introverted, socially awkward character is kind?
I have a character for whom three of their most prominent traits are meant to be their kindness/high degree of empathy, social awkwardness/obliviousness to social cues, and overall introversion. I am ...
5
votes
4answers
199 views
How do I Build Stories Around Characters?
I have a lot of characters I’ve spent time creating and developing, but I cannot, for the life of me, develop an overarching plot. Anyone got any techniques or tips on this? I know the question is ...
2
votes
2answers
168 views
How to write a female character that is not just a genderflipped male character?
Recently I submitted a comic book story to a publisher, and they criticized that the main character is basically just a shonen protagonist (for example, Son Goku from Dragon Ball, Ash from Pokemon, ...
3
votes
1answer
119 views
How to correctly set up plot promises?
The premises are the following:
1) First person POV (but advice for third person works too)
2) Protagonist-driven plot
3) Some backstory that hasn't been explored yet (and which ties into the MC ...
2
votes
2answers
113 views
I am trying to write a Shakespearean-style play, but my “ideas” are always something I remember from Hamlet?
How does one come up with original ideas? Hamlet was amazing, but every time I think of a plot point or character, it just is not nearly as good as Hamlet or is a direct copy of the play.
Is there ...
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2answers
121 views
A particular case of character creation: the “Inner Conflict” in Luke Skywalker
I don't no if this is a off-topic question but the main doubt, in my opinion, is solid on the character development tag.
So, maybe the concept of Conflict, which I'm comfortable with, will sound ...
1
vote
1answer
108 views
How can I steer myself away from using pronouns too often as I write in 3rd person?
I noticed that I use "she", "he", and "they"- and a lot of sentences also begin with the aforementioned pronouns. How can I steer away from doing this so often as I write in 3rd person fiction? HERE ...
0
votes
3answers
97 views
How to write about characters interacting with family?
In regards specifically if you don't have any positive relationships with relatives yourself to draw from. I'm assuming writing only about characters who have negative familial experiences would ...
0
votes
1answer
45 views
How do I write a character's name in a short film script?
When introducing a character in a short film script, does a full name have to be used, or is their last name not needed?
0
votes
1answer
65 views
I need my character to be honest [closed]
What I am writing is a love story. The problem is: I am trying to make my female character tell the truth to her love interest--the truth about herself.
What’s stopping her from telling him is that ...
0
votes
1answer
64 views
Making 2 characters fall on love [duplicate]
So I’ve been working on this story for almost 3 years now but I always start over because my ideas change over time . This time tho , the protagonists changed a lot from the original idea . So here’s ...
1
vote
1answer
106 views
What Drives a Broken man? [closed]
There is this story that I was working on, for an extended period of time. I have scrapped many ideas and drafts but I just could not seem to let go. The idea of this story, in my mind, is simply too ...
3
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4answers
246 views
How to portray a character slipping into insanity over time?
The deuteragonist of my trilogy, The Ragnarǫk Sequence is heavily implied to be Jeanne d'Arc (whose characterisation takes many cues from Artoria Pendragon) and serves as the protagonist's moral ...
13
votes
6answers
3k views
How do I balance immature levity and flaws and character growth?
I am working on a series where one of the intended primary draws is character drama and growth. I have an ensemble cast of five characters who more or less share the role of main character equally, ...
-2
votes
1answer
88 views
How to describe a doctor who is short? [closed]
How to describe a character who is a doctor but short in height without saying he's short?
The character is a doctor who's under 5 feet, and I want the reader to know this without mentioning he is ...
2
votes
5answers
157 views
How to write about a character adversely different to you
So, I am very naturally a nice person. I respect everyone unless they have well and truly wronged me. I go out of my way to help those who need it. Stuff like that. I am naturally a helpful and nice ...
