forum I'd like some thoughts on my main character

Started January 22, 2018 by @MojoRobo

tune

I've been working on this universe for around four years now and the main character has always been her. I want some perspective on her as well as things I could add to her bio.

I can also provide more info for the story if needed

Yay!! I love these!! Okay, top down….

RED FLAG. BIG red flag. No prejudices? Not one? Suddenly your character isn't as human. Everyone has some sort of prejudices, even if they don't want to admit it. They're super important to making your character seem real.

Hmm, religion thing is a little weird; I would put SOMETHING, even if it's not that important to the story. When it comes to politics, I find it helpful to rate my characters on a scale of liberal-ness. It just adds an extra layer and helps you understand them better.

Oh. Oh dear. Her backstory is EMPTY. I mean, okay, she moved, but that doesn't tell me anything about her as a character. I don't know why she cares so much about reuniting humans and monsters, why she's so gullible, how she met her friends, etc. You should root as much as you can in your backstory! ESPECIALLY motivations and prejudices. These things definitely come from past experience. Nothing happens in a vacuum; everything has to come from somewhere.

Overall, the traits are just fine; just fill in the prejudices! She seems like a wonderful character, and if you can tie some of her traits into the backstory, she can have a support system!! Then I think you'll have a great MC in your story.

I hope that this helps you!!! :DDDD

@CinnamonRoll

I guess I kind of read background as a more of a short look into her life up until now instead of a section for her whole backstory. I have her actual full backstory written down on a google doc so maybe I could put that in.

I didn't pay much attention to her prejudices mostly because her whole role in the story is being someone to interact with many different kinds of people, so her having any really major prejudices would get in the way. And even if she did have some they would be so minor so as to not really matter. Though in that case I could always put down "none notable" as that would still show she has them, but that they're not a big defining part of her character.

I want to keep stuff like religion or politics relatively muted in my story because it's not a major theme, so I simply don't think about them. I'd rather show more of my characters through their interactions and how they react to things around them as opposed to stuff like their religion or stance on politics. It's too bad I can't write and add specific scenes as a free member.

On some other points, I don't think it's really necessary to give an explanation to her being gullible, as that's just a personality trait people have. Your other points are true, though, I should add more of an explanation to her motivations. I guess I just don't like the idea of revealing too much like how she and other characters meet because of how dedicated I am to making this universe into a real series.

@CinnamonRoll
Regardless of my previous comment, I've just finished editing Catherine's page and filling out the sections you suggested. I'm still iffy on putting prejudices down because of how it conflicts with Catherine's whole character, but I filled out religion, politics, and her backstory to the best of my ability.

(I accidentally typed a novel, sorry in advance.)

I don't think religion is necessary, however, I second the note on prejudices - especially now that I know she's meant to interact with a lot of people. Prejudices, unique worldviews, opposing personalities and differing opinions are all things that make character interactions so interesting. If she understands and accepts everyone she meets, she'll become boring very quickly. Besides, you're not giving the reader the opportunity to learn more about characters who interest them!

Consider this, the reader probably will have some prejudices of their own. While they're reading your story they will likely come across characters they don't agree with or don't understand. If your character also has moments like those, then you're not only giving your character an opportunity to grow, but the reader is invited to grow alongside them. When your character is learning and coming to understand something, your reader is also learning and understanding.

It's important to know your character's personality and backstory really well so that you convey them consistently. Her favorite food being ramen is pretty irrelevant in the long run. Being naive and gullible isn't just a personality trait that people have. Personality traits are developed and can change over time, they aren't "static". Everyone has their own reasons for behaving the way they do, and knowing those reasons will help you decide how she reacts to things. Not only that, but not everyone displays traits the same way. Not every introvert is an introvert in the same way. There are different ways to be kind, different ways to be rude, different ways to be stubborn, and different ways to be generous.

For example, let me approach a gullible personality in two different ways.

In the first example, the gullible character is unfamiliar with modern society. Maybe they're from a very isolated culture or maybe they're from an entirely different world. The point still stands, they don't know much about the modern world and they don't know what to expect from people in places like America.

Let's say a stranger rolls up to this character in the classic, creepy white van that we've all learned to avoid. This gullible character has never been taught not to approach white vans, they don't know the "joke" and they don't know much about the danger of unfamiliar people because they grew up in such a small, tight-knit environment. Nobody in their village would ever try to abduct someone, the village is so small that a missing person would be noticed immediately! So… When the stranger offers them some free candy, they see no reason not to accept.

However, because this character's gullible nature stems from a lack of understanding, it's easy for them to learn and grow the same way a child would. They might fall victim to the van once, but not twice.

The second character, on the other hand, is gullible in a different way. This one is plenty familiar with society and they know all about the white van joke. However, they've been lead to believe that they're helpless. This person's parents did everything for them and treated them like they can't do much of anything on their own, even think! As a result, they've learned to rely on other people, especially if they think the person is smart. All it takes is a few big words that they don't understand and they just assume "this person knows what they're talking about!"

So, although the second character knows not to approach the van, they're easy to manipulate because they've been raised to believe that they're incapable and can't act or think for themselves. This person is just as gullible as the first one, even though it's for a completely different reason.

Let's say a second stranger approaches these characters and asks for money. They say the money will be used to fund their newest invention; a machine that can catapult people into the sky as a form of transportation! He uses a lot of elaborate language and big, fancy words. The first character isn't buying it. They might be unfamiliar with this culture, but they're no idiot. A catapult will probably kill people and they know enough about gravity to understand that such a machine is a TERRIBLE idea.

The second character… They love it! They don't understand most of what this person is saying to them, but he's in a fancy suit, he uses smart words, and he has blueprints of the machine so he must know what he's talking about. They're completely on board and see no reason NOT to fund such a stroke of genius.

It takes a lot more to teach the second character because they need to develop skills such as independence and critical thinking. Teaching them isn't as easy as saying "You shouldn't accept candy from strangers".

TL;DR
Characters who don't already know and understand everything are more realistic and are also a great way to teach the reader more about your world and your characters.

The how's and why's (How does your character act kind? Why is she naive?) are far more important than the what's (What is her favorite food?)

Two people can be described as gullible, but they can be gullible in completely different ways for completely different reasons. You should consider this and flesh out your character's motivations, influences, and reasons for doing what they do and acting the way they do.

You also bring up very good points. I suppose I looked at prejudices more as the extreme version of them. However, I'm not trying to say that she instantly understands and accepts things or doesn't develop prejudices at all. I already have different scenarios like that thought up, such as Catherine have a reluctance or aversion to interacting with goblins because of anti-human sentiments being quite common among them. Another case is also an aversion to and fear of sirens due to one of her friend's experiences with them. She usually tries to keep the viewpoint of a few bad apples not reflecting on the whole race, but she's not immune to developing prejudices of this nature. Her growth as a character is going to rely a lot on coming to an understanding and growing past the ones she does develop, regardless of whether the animosity is from her, the other monster species in question, or both sides.
In terms of the gullibility, she falls more in the first category, both coming from living a relatively safe life and generally being a fish out of water throughout the series. I suppose I wrote the bio with the traits of Catherine at the start of the series, as she begins to grow more cautious and place her trust in others more carefully as her adventure goes on. She will still retain traits of it, but they're less pronounced and only exploitable by particularly clever or tricky people, such as the main antagonist as she learns more about the customs of monsterkind.

I would love to know more about the world and the where the story is going and how she plays a part in it