A Place for Character Advice
Feb 1, 2017 0:44:02 GMT -6
Post by Vincent on Feb 1, 2017 0:44:02 GMT -6
So, this is something a little different but I feel could be useful.
Some of us here enjoy writing our own stories beyond here and others are here for its own sake, both are great. That said a lot of the time when you are writing a story completely driven by yourself it is easy to show a certain type of character and their development until its natural conclusion/ breaking point/ heroic BSOD/ Manning up/ whatever. Usually this includes them spending time with a dedicated cast of characters that have expected influences on your character.
Here on the board that is not a thing. It is frankly speaking rare to have a dedicated companion/companions, that stay until a story's conclusion over multiple threads. Even rarer are subplots of romance or extremely deep connections. This can make playing certain character types difficult if you want them to grow into something else without a heavy reliance on NPCs.
So, what I want to do is open the floor for people to ask for advice from others on how to best approach a character type they may be having difficulty portraying under board rules. I will start with one type of my own.
The Highly Driven One: These characters have a quest and it comes first before most everything else. Any companions they have long term may come to feel like tools at some point or another but ultimately get an opportunity to see the more vulnerable and less driven side of the character in a book.
With a rotating cast of allies every thread this becomes hard to develop beyond the surface. If the character does not want to show vulnerability to close allies why would they ever open up to the one they just met? Call it staying true to character or just being a stubborn author it is a concern I have with certain characters.
On another note, let's talk about romance: Let's be real, not all of us, but a lot of us have thought about one of our characters finding love, but it never happens. While the previously mentioned character type is asking for advice on working with the type, this is just to open the gates of discussion.
What is the stigma? A lot of other places I have seen are all about it but here? Nah. I am guilty too though I admit. When someone pushed for it I immediately did not go for it just not seeing the clingy weird kid fitting with my character. Is it similar for others or how do you guys see it?
Some of us here enjoy writing our own stories beyond here and others are here for its own sake, both are great. That said a lot of the time when you are writing a story completely driven by yourself it is easy to show a certain type of character and their development until its natural conclusion/ breaking point/ heroic BSOD/ Manning up/ whatever. Usually this includes them spending time with a dedicated cast of characters that have expected influences on your character.
Here on the board that is not a thing. It is frankly speaking rare to have a dedicated companion/companions, that stay until a story's conclusion over multiple threads. Even rarer are subplots of romance or extremely deep connections. This can make playing certain character types difficult if you want them to grow into something else without a heavy reliance on NPCs.
So, what I want to do is open the floor for people to ask for advice from others on how to best approach a character type they may be having difficulty portraying under board rules. I will start with one type of my own.
The Highly Driven One: These characters have a quest and it comes first before most everything else. Any companions they have long term may come to feel like tools at some point or another but ultimately get an opportunity to see the more vulnerable and less driven side of the character in a book.
With a rotating cast of allies every thread this becomes hard to develop beyond the surface. If the character does not want to show vulnerability to close allies why would they ever open up to the one they just met? Call it staying true to character or just being a stubborn author it is a concern I have with certain characters.
On another note, let's talk about romance: Let's be real, not all of us, but a lot of us have thought about one of our characters finding love, but it never happens. While the previously mentioned character type is asking for advice on working with the type, this is just to open the gates of discussion.
What is the stigma? A lot of other places I have seen are all about it but here? Nah. I am guilty too though I admit. When someone pushed for it I immediately did not go for it just not seeing the clingy weird kid fitting with my character. Is it similar for others or how do you guys see it?