# [Mildly rantish] Coming up with characters



## Wakboth (Dec 31, 2007)

Sometimes I envy the people who seem to have such an easy time coming up with fursonas and other characters of their own.

I think I'm all right as an amateur furry writer, and enjoy working with other people's settings and characters (as you see if you look at my stuff), I _suck_ at creating my own characters.

To break out of this mold, I've been thinking about making a viewpoint character of my own; sort of an avatar for stories of my own. And I can't get anywhere; heck, I can't even figure out what kind of an animal he'd be!

Obviously, I can't be the only one with difficulties like this. So, other FA writers, share your tales of woeful uncreativity, and (I hope!) how you defeated it!


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## TheGru (Dec 31, 2007)

You're gonna hate me then. I'm one of those who can come up with all sorts of characters on the fly. What I do know that helps me though are pen ad paper RPGs. If it weren't for all those years I'd probably never develop the skill. I do have a template for character profiles if you're interested, I don't know if it'll help you though.


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Dec 31, 2007)

I suggest trying to visualize a character from experience or from environment, and let him/her evolve through plots and sequences.


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## Kindar (Dec 31, 2007)

My technic to coming up with characters is to not try all that hard. I'll start building teh story sometime not even knowing the charater's specie, and then, somewhere in the middle of it he will tell me what it is, then all I have to do is got back and add the details to what's already writen (If I've started writing tby then) the same will apply t personality traits. I discovered my main character in a story had one hell of a Temper three quarter of the way through a story.

I think that trying to know everything there is to know about the character you're writing defeats the purpose. writing is about discovery so why not go on that ride with as much wide eye amazememtn as the reader will


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## Summercat (Dec 31, 2007)

Generally, if one doesn't just pop into existance in my head, I start with a concept.

Such as, "He's a melee fighter". 

As soon as I decide that, I decide on level of irony. It's either max or none. Melee fighter without irony could be any predator. A melee fighter with irony could be something odd. Like a sheep. 

Basically, if you have to - start out with the background. WHere in your setting do you want your POV character to be from? And then the plot, what do you want your POV character to do?

Basically, you have to set limits for yourself, some guidelines.


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## Le_DÃ©mon_Sans_Visage (Dec 31, 2007)

You could always play around with a random character generator until it throws out something that intrigues you.


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## TakeWalker (Dec 31, 2007)

Oh boy, I really have something to say about this, but I'm too busy thinking at the moment. c.c Coming up with characters has never been a problem for me, and I'm trying to figure out _why_.


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## Xipoid (Dec 31, 2007)

I'm just generally biased towards a particular genus, which makes most of my characters canines. As well, the gamut of their personalities seems to fall into one of three categories. So I hate most of the characters I come up with, thus I have no problem killing them off.


I should work on that.


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Dec 31, 2007)

You should try to put him in environments and think how he or she would react.


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## Poetigress (Dec 31, 2007)

TakeWalker said:
			
		

> Coming up with characters has never been a problem for me, and I'm trying to figure out _why_.



I'll be interested to see how you analyze that, as it's never been a problem for me, either.  I admit I've always just shrugged it off as one of my strengths (as opposed to stuff like, say, plot and worldbuilding :?), and because it's so intuitive for me, I've never bothered to break down exactly how or why I make the decisions I do.


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## TakeWalker (Dec 31, 2007)

I think that, when needing a character and not having a preconception of that character, I just start throwing things down from a list of characteristics I keep on mental hand. That's the only thing I can think of. For vignettes and stuff where I'm exploring a concept, the character isn't quite as necessary; I can get by with a general "this is a character" feeling. It probably all depends on how deep you're attempting to go; the longer the story, the deeper the characters need to be at minimum (which is not to say that very short fiction needn't have deep characters; you've just got less to potentially work with).

All I know is, to construct a character for, say, a lengthy epic, or a novel, you've got to ask yourself all sorts of questions. One of my favorites is "As a child, what did my character want to be when he/she grew up?" Doesn't work for all settings/time periods, of course, but you get my idea. To have a good enough concept of your own character in your mind, to the point where you can have them answer questions on their own, and do things beyond your control, requires you coming up with an entire history for everything they've done. To get this takes experience, practice, and observation (because nothing is more real than the people you actually know/observe).

And yet, that hardly scratches the surface of the question, I think. I can't even begin to describe what I like about characters I like. Guaranteed, you won't get a consensus on that anyway if you ask more than one person. I suppose, as a rule of thumb, the more realistic/deep your character is, the more it's possible someone will connect with them, and that connection, while unpredictable, is what will endear the character to the reader. And hopefully, that's your goal.


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## Keaalu (Jan 3, 2008)

Characters seem to create themselves, for me - I start with a name and they tell me who they are. I throw a situation at them, and they react to it. I never ask them questions, never really think about their past unless they're a more major player,  never consider their favourite colour or food or whatever, they just... if the story needs it, they let me know soon enough. 

That, or I start with a "gap" in my text and ask someone to fill it, and the "bit part" decides to become a main player, and we go from there. Half my characters (Sei, Yaaren, Mirii... etc) all started out as "bit parts" then took on a life of their own. I find that if I "force" a character by planning them out too deeply, then they come across as more rigid, and then they "break" a scene somewhere by being too stilted. 

...That was really unhelpful, wasn't it? Sorry. :


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## Wakboth (Jan 4, 2008)

Thanks for the suggestions, people; none of it seems to help, but it's still interesting to see how others come up with things.


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## Madame (Jan 6, 2008)

'Nother one here who has an easy time with character creation. I guess what helps me most is listening to music. I'd say 8/10 times, my characters were at least partially inspired by a song. I listen to a lot of genres, so that helps to diversify the cast, but the ones who have given me the most ideas are Simon & Garfunkel and Billy Joel. Try putting your music-player on shuffle and envisioning scenes set to the music you're listening to. I find that characters start scampering across my mindscape, using the music to express their personalities.


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## ShÃ nwÃ ng (Jan 7, 2008)

I try to base the characters I create off of people I know with some gratis taken.


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## Kemmy (Jan 7, 2008)

I'm not quite sure how I really come up with the characters, there are many ways I'll go for character development. I'll do something similar to how Madame listens to music and builds a character off of the song, or I'll take some characteristic from someone I know and build off of that (eg. Adam and Lacey); very rarely I'll have a history for a character before I have them in mind, and there's only one character that I've had that done for (Sean).

It's all up to the artist and what they are most comfortable, I'm sure you'll find your niche in character development


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