Posted by Abigail G in Fox Tart’s Six Steps To Writing Characters You’ll Love To Write
Hey cool cats and dogs. Fox Tarts here, or Abigail, or that person who made the bingo cards. Whatever you know my by. Do you want to write fun and interesting characters? Do you want other writers to be interested in your characters? I know I do. Please like my characters, I need the validation. ANYWAYS. What makes a character interesting? What makes them enjoyable to write and read about? Personally, I believe it comes down to how interested you are in your own characters. The more passion you have for a character, the more you want to write them and the more you want to see them interact with others.

Now, it’s easy to say that. Oh, yeah, passion! Sure, I can be passionate about my characters. But uh, as a thought experiment. . . what if I didn’t have as much passion for my characters as I’d like? Or, what if I have a character, and I really like them, but struggle writing them consistently?

WELL NO MORE WORRIES FRIEND. At least, I hope so. HERE ARE MY SIX STEPS TO IGNITING YOUR PASSION FOR YOUR CHARACTERS. Honest. YOU, yes you, the one reading this, you right now have amazing characters. They are your unique creations and that makes them beautiful and wonderful. I want to read about your character and see the stories you’re writing for them. Roleplay is so special and fun. It’s cooperative writing! So I hope these six steps will help you enjoy writing your characters more.

The SIX Steps to writing characters you love

STEP ONE:
Backstory. Okay, hear me out. In order to write your best character now, you gotta know how they got to where they are. If you don’t have a backstory for your character then it’s time to make one. Where were they born? Who were their parents? What was their childhood like. Their teen years? Early adulthood? What sort of problems did they face? How did they solve them? Treat your backstory as a little self-contained story, one with high points and low. Think to yourself “what parts of my character’s backstory is still relevant to them now?” That’s how you get PLOT HOOKS, BABY

StEP TWO:
What is your character’s greatest insecurity? What are their fears? Hopes? Desires? Where do they want to be in one year? Five years? What problems do they face now? How can they be their own worst enemy? Understanding these concepts and how they relate to your character will give you ideas and inspiration while writing them. Keep these in the back of your mind as you go through the main sim on your ship or when starting side sims. Interesting characters are characters that reflect our struggles and accomplishments. A character that struggles with anxiety is more interesting than the always confident and calm character. Just as a character who acts confident and calm but internally is scared is more interesting as well.

In short, this step is about adding depth or layers to your character that you can sprinkle into your posts. Things that make your character more real. More alive. MORE FUN TO WRITE.

STeP THREE:
Make some memories. Sorry. Write some memories for your character. Good ones. Bad ones. Sad memories, happy memories. Treat them like mini-stories of their own. These memories will add more life to your character and make them act more like a person. Or, incorporate what they’re doing in your posts to their past. Are they working with someone similar to a person they knew in highschool? Does the current mission remind them of an unpleasant event? Little things you didn’t have room for in the backstory but that will add to your character overall. Write more! WRITE LOTS.

STEp FOUR:
Show interest in other characters. Did your writing partner drop a line about something in their post? Like an old pet. Or about an interesting job? Engage with that! Did your character find that interesting? Do they want to know more? Or do they hate whatever thing that person likes? When your character is interested in the people and goings on around them, then they feel more like living people. (Plus, showing interest in other people’s characters will make them happy and want to write more and then you’ll write more. It’s a great cycle)

STEP fIVE:
What are your character’s hobbies? What do they do for fun? To relax? What do they hate? Their childhood comfort food? What song genres are they interested in? Characters with preferences and their own sense of style or fun are, well, fun characters! What holodeck programs do they like? Have they made any programs of their own? Describe their quarters. Figure out their favorite card game. DETAILS, BABY. GIMMIE THEM.

STEP SiX:
Wow. You have made it through my tired-post-college-semester-mad-woman ramblings. It’s been quite the journey. So let’s keep this last step simple. The sixth and final step to writing characters you will love to write is: don’t force it.

Uh, okay. What?

What I mean is. If you’re not connecting with a character. If you’ve done all the steps but still aren’t happy with them, then it’s okay to take a step back and ask yourself why. Sometimes you’ll make a character and feel really inspired at the start, but then lose that inspiration. Perhaps you made a character just to make a character. When you’re not feeling a certain character anymore, or have lost interest writing them. That’s okay. Character inspiration comes and goes. Ask yourself “does writing this character make me happy?” And if the answer is no, then it’s okay to set that character aside. Maybe one day in the future you’ll find that inspiration again.

But don’t force yourself to write when the act of writing is tedious or difficult. When writing becomes a chore, your heart and passion won’t be in your words. So take a break. Shelve that character. Focus on the characters you do love to write. Roleplay and writing should be fun and you should be able to enjoy yourself.

So those are my six steps. I hope this post made sense. I hope it made you laugh or worry about my sanity. Anyways, happy holidays. I survived the most difficult semester of college in my life. Take care.

Fox Tarts~

This is great Abigail! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

Nathan