forum Filling in character spaces- help and info??? plz

Started April 15, 2020 by @DR4INED*T0uch

tune

how do I make my character more likeable? do I NEED to have lots of info?……

Or if you just wanna chat about OCs lol

Honestly, I think my weakest part of writing is character creation and development but…
I struggle likeable part… for example: I wrote a character that I absolutely loved, but my sister kinda hated him. Everybody will have their own opinions on a character. I might leave this up to somebody else to talk about…
For your second question: No! You definitely don't NEED a lot of info. But, it's not a bad thing to have. If the character is your main character, or the main villian, I would want to know them better than any other (less important) character. At minimum, know the basics.
I suck at giving advice though, sorry lol

Honestly, I think my weakest part of writing is character creation and development but…
I struggle likeable part… for example: I wrote a character that I absolutely loved, but my sister kinda hated him. Everybody will have their own opinions on a character. I might leave this up to somebody else to talk about…
For your second question: No! You definitely don't NEED a lot of info. But, it's not a bad thing to have. If the character is your main character, or the main villian, I would want to know them better than any other (less important) character. At minimum, know the basics.
I suck at giving advice though, sorry lol

It's fine! Your advice is better than mine lol
I'm writing a book with like 6 diff main POVs, Angul's is one of them.
Thanks for the info on this!!

Okay, so no, you technically don't need a lot of POINTLESS info (stuff you would never realistically bring up in your story), but it is much better to overplan your characters than to underplan them. Just try to focus on one section of your character at a time (ie. backstory OR personality) and really spend a long time developing just the one section. Once you move onto a different section, make sure that what you write doesn't contradict or repeat your previous sections too much, and really just make sure you are using the sections correctly (understand the difference of a "Job" versus an "Occupation", what "Conditions" are versus "Backstory", etc.).
I would say a good rule of thumb is to have at least four to five sentences for each section in the "Nature" tab, while short, one sentence or less descriptions in the "Looks" tab will be sufficient. "Backstory" should be your longest section, as it is typically giving context to your entire character; write out their origin story, where they were born, what their parents did, their childhood circumstances, and any formative events prior to the beginning of your plot, and give a brief description of what their situation is at the beginning of your story. Don't delve into your universe's history here; save that for it's own page. The "Social" tab can be a toss up, but two to three sentences will probably be enough for each of those sections, with maybe a little more though put into the "politics" box than the others (side note: I really don't see why they didn't just put that box in the "Nature" tab).
That's just how I go about it, though. I have seen people write entire essays in each box, and have seen short, succinct descriptions that work just as well. If you are struggling, though, I would suggest following those guidelines. I hope I could help! :)

I do recommend having lots of info. Of course you don't NEED to do so but writing more about them will help you and the reader understand the character more. This goes along with making a character more likable. The better written characters will usually be more liked than flat and vague characters. I recommend giving your characters flaws and expanding on them. Flaws don't necessarily make your character unlikable. There are many well written villains that are very likable because they have deep and flawed personalities. Idk I hope that helped.

Okay, so no, you technically don't need a lot of POINTLESS info (stuff you would never realistically bring up in your story), but it is much better to overplan your characters than to underplan them. Just try to focus on one section of your character at a time (ie. backstory OR personality) and really spend a long time developing just the one section. Once you move onto a different section, make sure that what you write doesn't contradict or repeat your previous sections too much, and really just make sure you are using the sections correctly (understand the difference of a "Job" versus an "Occupation", what "Conditions" are versus "Backstory", etc.).
I would say a good rule of thumb is to have at least four to five sentences for each section in the "Nature" tab, while short, one sentence or less descriptions in the "Looks" tab will be sufficient. "Backstory" should be your longest section, as it is typically giving context to your entire character; write out their origin story, where they were born, what their parents did, their childhood circumstances, and any formative events prior to the beginning of your plot, and give a brief description of what their situation is at the beginning of your story. Don't delve into your universe's history here; save that for it's own page. The "Social" tab can be a toss up, but two to three sentences will probably be enough for each of those sections, with maybe a little more though put into the "politics" box than the others (side note: I really don't see why they didn't just put that box in the "Nature" tab).
That's just how I go about it, though. I have seen people write entire essays in each box, and have seen short, succinct descriptions that work just as well. If you are struggling, though, I would suggest following those guidelines. I hope I could help! :)

Sweet! Thanks for the help! I'll keep that in mind!!!

I do recommend having lots of info. Of course you don't NEED to do so but writing more about them will help you and the reader understand the character more. This goes along with making a character more likable. The better written characters will usually be more liked than flat and vague characters. I recommend giving your characters flaws and expanding on them. Flaws don't necessarily make your character unlikable. There are many well written villains that are very likable because they have deep and flawed personalities. Idk I hope that helped.

Got it!

idk if this will help but here's my advice:

It really not possible to have a character that everyone will like as everyone has different opinions, instead focus on making your characters relatable as that's the best way to get some people to like them. This works especially well when you have a group of main characters because you can give each of them different traits that will appease different readers. For example, there's character A who loves reading and character B who loves sports, if you write both of them then readers who love to read will love character A but maybe not character B, and readers who love sports will be vise versa. I feel like I really didn't need to go into that much detail lol but the point is write multiple characters that will be relatable to a specific group of readers instead of trying to make one character relatable to everyone. Also just remember that you are always writing for yourself and not to please others, if you like your character but others don't, go off keep your character :)

As for your second question, you don't need a lot of info but it can be much easier to write if you have more to build off of. This is just based off my style of writing, but for me I need to have lots of info to start writing. But you have your own style of writing so if it works best to just go for it then yeah… go for it. My advice though if your just starting to write is just to try out tons of styles until you figure out what you like best

I just realized I kinda wrote way to much for what could have been a simple answer but hope that helped! :)

idk if this will help but here's my advice:

It really not possible to have a character that everyone will like as everyone has different opinions, instead focus on making your characters relatable as that's the best way to get some people to like them. This works especially well when you have a group of main characters because you can give each of them different traits that will appease different readers. For example, there's character A who loves reading and character B who loves sports, if you write both of them then readers who love to read will love character A but maybe not character B, and readers who love sports will be vise versa. I feel like I really didn't need to go into that much detail lol but the point is write multiple characters that will be relatable to a specific group of readers instead of trying to make one character relatable to everyone. Also just remember that you are always writing for yourself and not to please others, if you like your character but others don't, go off keep your character :)

As for your second question, you don't need a lot of info but it can be much easier to write if you have more to build off of. This is just based off my style of writing, but for me I need to have lots of info to start writing. But you have your own style of writing so if it works best to just go for it then yeah… go for it. My advice though if your just starting to write is just to try out tons of styles until you figure out what you like best

I just realized I kinda wrote way to much for what could have been a simple answer but hope that helped! :)

The more the better! ^^ Thanks for the info!

Show don't say. You need to know your character inside and out, but your reader doesn't have to know every little detail. Just by you knowing your character super well, it will come out in your writing through the decisions they make and their reactions to things. Of course every now and then their past will come up but don't be like "ever since [character's] wife had passed away he/she was never the same" show it through something like them lighting a candle and putting it on a shrine for their wife or something (idk I can't come up with a good example but yknow what I mean)

I second or third or whatever number we're on the part about no one liking all of your characters; that's not important to think of when writing them. I know a lot of my characters are unlikable and make bad choices and mistakes, but that makes them more real. No character is beloved by everyone; just look at me and @Pickles-KangarooRatEmpress-AndAceSnail, my two favorite fictional characters are ones that she thinks are annoying. That's simply the nature of human opinions.

JYNNIE EVERYONE THINKS THEY'RE ANNOYING. THEY'RE A**HOLES

Yeah that's just sometimes how it is

I second or third or whatever number we're on the part about no one liking all of your characters; that's not important to think of when writing them. I know a lot of my characters are unlikable and make bad choices and mistakes, but that makes them more real. No character is beloved by everyone; just look at me and @Pickles-KangarooRatEmpress-AndAceSnail, my two favorite fictional characters are ones that she thinks are annoying. That's simply the nature of human opinions.

^^ I was reading some of the Incorrect Character Quotes, and I found your's pretty cool lol. All of the characters But thank you for the advice, I will try to add a bit more 'humanly mistakes' or traits to my characters. Much appreciated!!

Show don't say. You need to know your character inside and out, but your reader doesn't have to know every little detail. Just by you knowing your character super well, it will come out in your writing through the decisions they make and their reactions to things. Of course every now and then their past will come up but don't be like "ever since [character's] wife had passed away he/she was never the same" show it through something like them lighting a candle and putting it on a shrine for their wife or something (idk I can't come up with a good example but yknow what I mean)

For me, showing is a bit more difficult; but I will remember to not tell everything. ^^ thanks!

I second or third or whatever number we're on the part about no one liking all of your characters; that's not important to think of when writing them. I know a lot of my characters are unlikable and make bad choices and mistakes, but that makes them more real. No character is beloved by everyone; just look at me and @Pickles-KangarooRatEmpress-AndAceSnail, my two favorite fictional characters are ones that she thinks are annoying. That's simply the nature of human opinions.

^^ I was reading some of the Incorrect Character Quotes, and I found your's pretty cool lol. All of the characters But thank you for the advice, I will try to add a bit more 'humanly mistakes' or traits to my characters. Much appreciated!!

Woah, that's pretty high praise lmao. I definitely don't like all of mine even as their writer.