reileen | #42 - Insert witty line here.

The thing about coming up with original characters for original worlds is that I have a really hard time building up who they might be in my head. At least if I came up with original characters in a pre-conceived world, I would have that pre-conceived world to help dictate even a little of who the character would be. But when someone as talentless as me in the way of creating original characters doesn't have a world to fall back on, it creates a little bit of an artistic dilemma.

Lately I've been mulling over various aspects of an original story currently called Scar, whose main namesake is a 20-something-year-old redheaded woman whose birth name is Scarletta Rhyder. (If you call her that, and you're not her companion Hunter, her grandmother, or a family member she still likes, she'll rip your head off.) Now, I think I could get to like Scar enough to have her tell a story. Her ghostly, smirking apparition in my head promises an intriguing journey. But I have absolutely no idea what kind of story she could tell. I see sarcasm and a carefree attitude to life, I think, but that's about it. She also runs uncomfortably close to another original character in my head who happens to be redheaded and sarcastic as well, although this character's worldview is decidedly darker than Scar's (and for good reason). I probably just need to spend a little time getting to know her, but it's almost like I'm afraid of what I'm going to find out. The opening line to Scar recently came up in my head as: "If there was one thing Scar hated the most in life, it was..." And then nothing. I have to fill in the blank, like a Mad Lib. If I can just figure out how to best complete that sentence, I'd have a good part of Scar's character nailed down.

***

From the Tiny Toons NES game, we have the most appropriate inappropriate caption evar!

ETA: Also, I am quite possibly the world's laziest overachiever. I should get a ~~Darwin Award~~ Guinness World Record for that.

-Reileen
you know you wouldn't want it any other way

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I don't know if this'll work for you, but I find just letting the characters percolate in the back of my head works well for me (provided I'm not in a hurry, that is). For what I'm working on right now, I started off with just names and faces from sketches I did--now most of them have quite well-rounded personalities. They're still growing, of course, but it's not bad for someone who did almost no conscious character-building.

RPing helps, too, if you can manage it, because other people will throw you completely unplanned lines, and so it forces you to really get a grip on your characters. (We could possibly do something via AIM if you want?)

Finally, I've found that working off some other character and letting things go from there works quite well. A few of my original stuff's characters are based off former RP characters; they started off very similarly, but now they're nothing alike, for the most part (one of them is still exactly the same, so I've decided to call it a cameo and let it go).

(Personally, I find the character part not bad--it's the worldbuilding that kills me. There's so much to think of...!)

I don't know if this'll work for you, but I find just letting the characters percolate in the back of my head works well for me (provided I'm not in a hurry, that is). For what I'm working on right now, I started off with just names and faces from sketches I did--now most of them have quite well-rounded personalities. They're still growing, of course, but it's not bad for someone who did almost no conscious character-building.

Yeah, Scar's character started out as a name and a character design that I liked from my ANI220 class. I guess I could just let her simmer in the back of my mind (except I get the feeling she's sort of been nagging me to write something - anything about her). I mean, the Gods know that most of my characters now have had their personalities stewing over a period of over seven years. XD

RPing helps, too, if you can manage it, because other people will throw you completely unplanned lines, and so it forces you to really get a grip on your characters. (We could possibly do something via AIM if you want?)

Hmm, yeah, that could work. I was also thinking of writing something from Scar's POV in first-person, since Scar seems to be a third-person story.

(Personally, I find the character part not bad--it's the worldbuilding that kills me. There's so much to think of...!)

omgwerd. I am having the hardest time trying to worldbuild for Scar's story. I love doing it when I'm writing fanfiction, but I can't do it for the life of me when I'm writing original fiction...!

I mean, the Gods know that most of my characters now have had their personalities stewing over a period of over seven years. XD

Wow, and I thought letting characters simmer away for several months was a long time. *laughs*

First-person is also really good to get voices down. The sort of language you'd use writing from the viewpoint of an eighth-grader is significantly different than what you'd use for, oh, say, Scar. :P

As for the worldbuilding, same here. @_@ I'm going to have to sit down and seriously work at it soon, because while letting my characters stew has produced wonderful results, doing the same with my world has given me...er, the bare bones. If that. Ugh.

Wow, and I thought letting characters simmer away for several months was a long time. *laughs*

I should clarify that when I say this, I'm referring to the characters I bastardized from their original source enough that they could essentially be considered my original characters. But it's still different from creating an entirely original character, because even though they originally didn't have a lot to them in canon, they at least had something I could build off of. 8D But at least I can shift two of them into an original story with very few changes whatsoever, so yay for that, and yeah, those two in particular have been simmering for a very, very, very long time.

As for the worldbuilding, same here. @_@ I'm going to have to sit down and seriously work at it soon, because while letting my characters stew has produced wonderful results, doing the same with my world has given me...er, the bare bones. If that. Ugh.

Looks like you and I will have to be bouncing ideas off each other for a while. :P I remembered that I had an idea for a fantasy world that I came up with a few years ago that I might be able to use for Scar, but other than that, yeah, I'm in the same position as you. Hopefully we can talk later, yeah? This is the first time I've ever had an original idea bother me so much. XD

Oh, right, I think I know who you're talking about right now. Yeah, they definitely seem like you should be able to transfer them with a minimum of trouble.

And ideabouncing would be wonderful. ♥ I've never had an idea bother me this much, either. I've been obsessing over it on and off since--wow, since the end of September.

She also runs uncomfortably close to another original character in my head who happens to be redheaded and sarcastic as well, although this character's worldview is decidedly darker

I think you're hanging around me too much...

I was thinking that one, myself. But I think "hanging around Lilith too much" is a more likely reason. >_>

Cheese!
Tokyo Express!
When gel pens look like they're full but refuse to actually let the writer access their ink!
The stench of formaldehyde, neh, she'd probably like that...snapdragons!
Mini-staplers!
Shag carpeting!
Spilling iced coffee on the red cloak!
Heartburn!

Any use?

#42 - Insert witty line here.

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