It’s sort of weird how characters and authors interact. For some people its like their characters are this other voice in their head, while for others they are only displayed through paper. But when it gets to the point where the characters write the story, the author is no longer making the characters, they are discovering who they are.
In the novel I’m writing I basically took my personality traits and said ‘This character will have this one. And this character will have this trait’ and let them make decisions based off that being their main personality trait. But even when I did that, I found that I knew what characters would do in a situation, but I never knew why they did it. Then as I added more characters, more plot changes, more setting changes, everything sort of fell into place. I started to realize ‘OH, this character does this because ______, _______, and ______’.
I’m only writing about this today because I’ve been feeling nervous a lot lately, and I just keep thinking ‘I have NO clue how Yuri can put up with this ALL THE TIME’. (Yuri being the main character in Sky’s Content.) Because she likes/loves Shikamaru she always gets those butterflies, she always get flushed and she ALWAYS overreacts. Like I know I take Yuri to the extreme on the nervousness, but still.
The only real positive thing I can think of that can come from this nervousness (aside from what’s actually causing the nervousness, the reason is a good one) is that I now have so many more ways to describe Yuri’s nervousness it’s fantastic!
But then you get those characters that are just not like you at all and you wonder how they even came into existence. Like one of the main females in my novel is very family oriented; her entire character is based off the loyalty she feels for her family. Like don’t get me wrong, I am close to my family, but she takes it to the extreme. It’s the ONLY way I can describe her because it influences everything she does.
And then there are the characters you just love to hate and hate to love. There is one male character in my novel that is so warped and twisted, but he is absolutely my favourite character without a doubt. I just felt an instant connection with him when I made him. We probably wouldn’t be friends or anything, in fact I’m pretty sure he would hate me if he knew me. But he just pulls me into him, and that’s why I hate to love him -_-
In the end though, characters are not just characters. They’re not just people you write about in pages, and that’s it. They influence not only the authors, but the people who read the book. Whether its a good influence or a bad one, they make a difference.
Question for the Comments: What is your favourite character from something that you’ve read/written?
By: Jessica @ http://www.quizilla.com/user/rosecutdead/
ReplyDeleteI have to say, my favorite character has to be Scarlett from my Zero Kiryu story. Her personality is very different from mine, she sort of has a side kick, and is pretty girly and gets in trouble a lot. She is more confident then me and because of creating her and writing about her, I’ve become more confident in speaking out and not being the shy one in my group of friends. I don’t know if I could be friends with Scarlett though, I don’t think I could be her little side kick/best friend like Anzu.
My other favorite isn’t from a story I’ve written, but a story you have written. I just love Keirui Resshin, from your Kakashi story. Maybe because I just might… just a tad, I am like her with the romantic bit, the alcohol bit… yeah that bit isn’t me. I really look forward to reading how Keirui comes along when it finishes.
By: Angela @ http://sayarynth.com
ReplyDeleteI loveeeeeeee your writing posts. Becuase you’re so right.
Hmm, my characters.. When I was younger, I used to make all my main characters blonde with blues eyes, that whole cliche. Then I moved into making them look like me and act like me and basically be me. Then I got into this gothic theme and that’s when I developed my alter-ego, Sayarynth (I really should continue that story at some point…). Sayarynth, even though she isn’t really attached to a story right now, will always be one of my characters. She is a huge part of my AP summer assignment, her name is my site, and she’s my inner me. However, I quickly got over the ego-centric character and developed new personalities.
I have to say, writing from another personality’s point of view is tough. It usually takes a lot out of me because I shed my skin and completely and totally fill my mind with that character. It’s like becoming them for a portion of time. Tough but it pays off.
My favorite character.. Gotta be Genevieve from Nightingale. She is just the most abrupt, in-your-face, sarcastic person. I love it. She’s tough, she’s ignorant, she’s hard to get along with, and she’s the main character of my story. She changes through the story though. Her attitude is hilarious though. I like writing from her mind because I get to be funn but in a very rude, harsh way. She likes to point out people’s flaws.
By the way, I think I might do Twitter for the sake of my site. It’d be nice to keep in contact with you too.