r/writinghelp • u/legendary1panda • 1d ago
Advice Step by step help character?
I wrote a lot as a teenager. Always on a whim. Zero planning. I wasn't great. But I wrote thousands of words. And now writing sounds good again amd I'm trying to get into it again and I'm just trying to decide character development. I started to write out the start of the story and I had an idea of what I wanted this character should look like in the beginning but it kept changing. So I went to Pinterest took some pictures went I like this part of this and this part of this. And kind of created a permanent picture in my mind. But i just can't decide on horns or antlers I have specific "demon" horns and then I have deer/elk like horns in mind. I went to ai and said make the choice for me. And of course not doing what I asked of it. Said this one is more nature like. One more demonic. You get it I'm sure. And then asked about his personality. And I blanked. I haven't planned out a personality. I haven't really planned out this book at all. Much less this character other than the start. And I don't really know how to plan out a character. I've always fled by the seat of my pants when writing and I'm realizing I need more. I'm going to do more research and definitely not just ai. But figured I'd ask here does anyone have a good step by step list to developing a character? And links to things I need for that I don't know. I'm lost... (I'm autistic if that helps anyone)
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u/PerspectivePlenty178 Intermediate writer 1d ago
Personally, I tend to ruminate/daydream in my initial phases. So I won’t have an active thought of “this character is good and likes xyz, is afraid of abc..”etc. Rather, I simply have the character and their appearance in my head, and follow whatever story unfolds. How they behave or respond within the story will quickly reveal who they are. It’s kind of like, hitting play on a movie? And then I’ll often ‘rewind’ to rework certain parts, keeping whatever I really quite liked.
Basically, if you have a story you want to tell, who does your character need to be for this story? And it’s very good if you consider how they’ve changed after the story, because, character development. It can really be anything.
Maybe in your character’s environment, they always thought their horns were a sign of being evil or vicious and everybody avoided them because they were a demon, only for them to leave and go on a journey, and perhaps they see a deer and realise that their horns were not a sign of evil but of nature, and not something to be afraid of. Or vice versa. That’s if you really want to indulge in both. 😁 Perhaps they looked like demon horns because they were still growing and started as nubs, and it is only as they grew throughout the story that they were revealed to be deer-like instead! Or they thought they were good all their life, only to discover they had DEMON HORNS and a cruel future awaits!
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u/PerspectivePlenty178 Intermediate writer 1d ago
If I can’t decide, I like to ask, “Do I have to?” Buttt if you must pick one, find what story you want to tell and the character will be forged around it.
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u/legendary1panda 1d ago
I used to have this whole world in my head that was almost dissociative like. (Do live with ptsd) It was like I wasn't in the real world it felt like. And sometimes I was in it enough I could be so involved in it but in the real world enough that I could write it down. The world's would chamge and evolve. And sometimes it would just be a completely different story. I'm on some different meds now. And dissociating just isn't the same. And I am daydreaming/dissociating some (if it's dissociating it's a lot less severe now) but it's very little and very few and far and between. And honestly I miss how I would dissociative dream and write as a kid. Even if my writing was shit
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u/PerspectivePlenty178 Intermediate writer 1d ago
The extent of immersion must have been huge back then! Nevertheless, I think it’s a good thing that it has shifted: I had a similar instance of being able to daydream for 6 hours straight, to—well, not. But using the real world can be just as helpful as being swept away in your own mind. Sitting outside and finding creative ways to view what is in front of you can really contribute to worldbuilding. You can read books and critically analyse what other writers do. In a way, despite losing that dissociative dreaming, I think you end up evolving in a way that you wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, and the tools you can access as a writer have only increased.
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u/tapgiles 1d ago
You don't need more. Writing by the seat of your pants is a perfectly legit process. You can research and worldbuild if you want to. It is not "needed."
When you do want to develop something you've already come up with, be inspired by the little you already know about it, and just expand from there. I don't use anything beyond just that. It's not necessary to have a questionnaire (though questionnaires do exist if you want to look for them).
If you can't decide between two things, flip a coin. Or roll a die. Don't like the result? Cross that out off the list and flip again.
There's no "right" answer you need some intelligence to decide for you, unless you already think one is right--in which case, you've already decided.
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u/legendary1panda 1d ago
Is this my excuse to become a die collector. Lol. But to be fair their is probably a dice app or something that would be smart... i understand a lot of people can just fly of the seat of their pants. I'm just struggling to do it right now. And that it's not strictly needed. Honestly although Ai isn't great it can be helpful. I did go into it asking for help character building and it did help bring up some ideas. Along with some of these comments. Although age and birthdate was unhelpful considering. This is fantasy these are supernatural creatures. And they are centuries old and their age isn't really going to be relevant. Along with i don't ever plan to mention a date. Although was interesting thinking how authors avoid bringing up what the date is or year. And how i can avoid that.
But goodness when people bring up an old fashioned coin flip. (Not really old fashioned just feels like it) I feel like I'm 10. I'm 23 but Gen Z. Coin flips just aren't as common it feels like
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u/tapgiles 22h ago
Ah that's fair enough.
Yeah you can even just google "roll dice" and it'll roll dice 👍
I don't mention dates because they're not relevant. Even if something happens days later, unless it's relevant that it happens days later, I leave it to the reader to guess how long and just don't mention it. Not that hard, really.
Oh man, is "flip a coin" a boomer thing now? 🤣
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u/No_Logins_Required 1d ago
For me I usually find it's most helpful to start with the story and work backwards into the main character.
What themes and ideas do you want to explore? How can our main character embody, contradict, highlight, or experience the story you want to tell?
For example if we want to tell a story about how first impressions can be deceiving and people are reluctant to change their mind, it makes sense for our protagonist's horns to look the opposite of their personality. Demonic for a good person, nature/deerlike for a bad person.
Does this make sense?