forum My characters sound cliche.. How can I fix that?

Started January 25, 2018 by @DreamThieves

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For the story I'm currently working on, the four main characters seem… over done. I'm trying to make them as original and real as possible, but it's just not working. How can I add more dimension to these characters? Any advice?

What do you mean by over done? Do you mean overdeveloped? Because for me, I believe in no such thing. But, i'll give you some things to ask about your character to make them more real!

What are their motivations?
What would they die for?
If your character won the lottery, what would they spend the money on?
Who could your character not live without?
Who could your character care less about?
What is their personality like?
Your characters style?

idk that is all I can think off, I gotta go to sleep, but hope I helped!

Thanks for your help! By overdone I suppose I mean they sound like every other character that's ever been used in a story before. They're cliche, I suppose.

I UNDERSTAND!!!!!! That happens to me too, and I am also here for advice about it.

I struggle with this problem too, and what i normally do is try to give my characters flaws and insecurities. Hope I helped!

I'd be glad to help. I think to make your characters less cliche, you'd have to either give them a problem (like @Dianalovesfigs pointed out earlier) or give them an ulterior motivation, essentially meaning doing the right things for the wrong reasons. If you could elaborate more on what type of cliches your characters have, I'd be glad to give more advice!

Think of real life people. People that you love, and people that you don't like. Take their best, worst, and most unique traits, and use them to create a character. When based off of real life people, I feel like characters end up seeming more like real life people. Hope this helps!

Thanks guys! I'll take what you have into consideration and make my characters better! When they're done I'll put them here to critique.

Try putting two cliche background stories together

Could you elaborate? Wouldn't that just make them even more cliche?

You could go on TV Tropes, look up cliches, and rewrite your characters to make them NOT like that.

That sounds a lot simpler than what I was previously doing

What I like to do is find their flaws first. Off that you can build a believable personality. Also, don't make them die-hard loyal. I don't believe there's a single person alive that wouldn't run from an impossible situation. Lastly, what is an entirely random food? Or thing to do? Yeah, this is my tough, clever character, who's weirdly fond of apple sauce, and can rap really well. I feel it makes them seem much more authentic. That's all from me!

Hey, I'm new on here, but I'm creating my characters for future reference. Two of my main characters exhibit traits that are difficult to write without following some form of cliche. For example, my main antagonist is written to be narcissistic and a bit psychotic. I don't want him to suddenly be part of "Bad boy" cliche, because I don't want him to have a redemption arc or any form of forgivable backstory, in fact, everything about his character and the way he treats others is entirely on him and his twisted perception of the world. How do I make sure I write him to be the way I intended, without getting the fanfiction bad boy persona mixed in?

I feel like you would have to try to make him more complex than just narcissistic and psychotic?? Like, i don't know… Make him more confusing, maybe? I'm not sure, but if I think of something, I'll let you know!

My advice would be… Base them on people you know in real life. But not just people you know well. I mean the random,boring people. A lot of characters get overworked because writers tend to forget that boring is normal. In writing, we want to skip the boring part and go right to the interesting things, because that's what we think people want to read. But it gets to be too much. If you balance out your character with some run-of-the-mill, plainer sounding details, it will work better. Such as, instead of making your character a wonder person who is totally talented, make them suck at stuff. Make them uninterested in some things. Make them seem like someone you'd see on the street and not give a second thought, but who would be interesting to talk with once you got to know them. Just give them a handful of unusual aspects, that will be enough.
Also, perhaps try inverting the cliches you fear you're falling into. Not too exaggeratedly. Just enough that they're believable and interesting to read about. Like,an introvert that actually enjoys being around people, but simply feels more relaxed when they're alone. Or a villain who actually has very strong morals,and would actually help someone in need if they had the chance.
I hope this helps you and your character building.

All my characters have like 20 flaws because I can’t think of any good traits.
Now I feel guilty for killing them all in my Roleplay because none of them could survive :’)
They’re not even cliche but can someone give me a list of good or neutral traits? Would appreciate it!

Hmm, I'll try and give you some!

Ambitious, clumsy, confident, determined, Emotional, Formal, High-spirited, Impressionable, Mellow, Noncompetitive, Obedient, Predictable, Quiet, Reserved, Stubborn, tough, unsentimental, Wistful

@Celestial-B Thanks! I appreciate all the advice you guys are giving me! It's very helpful. Since I have free time for once, I will go through my characters and fix them! Thank you!