retrorekki

keyboardsmashwriters:

Anonymous asked you:

Hey, I have a little problem with my plot. My MC’s objective is, long story short, to bring a dictatorship down. That’s really the main plot, which he’ll only become aware a few chapters later in the story, but still the main plot. My biggest problem is, I have NO idea how to make it last a book. I do have some side-plots and I’m planning on making more, but I really don’t know how to make “bringing a dictatorship down” last a book AND be exciting…

Subplots are an extremely good way to beef up your book as long as those subplots have an impact on the story. Be careful with them. Filler stuff that does nothing for the characters or the plot will only throw a wrench at your pacing, or possibly even make it feel like the rising action in your story is inconsistent. You want to make sure your story feel like one whole, round, complete story, not different pieces of stories patched together (unless that’s what you’re going for, in which case rock it out).

As you work on those subplots, think about these two things that might help you extend your story:

Character Arcs. If your plot isn’t enough to make a full book, ask yourself if you’re developing your characters enough.

Sometimes, a plot might get all the spotlight, and the characters suffer for it in exchange. Instead of reflections of people, as characters largely should be, we might end up seeing actual characters – as in, people that are taking stage directions and rehearsing lines. Avoid this and make sure your characters develop and change over the course of the plot.

• Character subplots. These are a great way to give your characters a chance to change and for your readers to really see them as people. Mini-quests, an old friend reappearing, the character going out of their way to do something for someone, etc. These are good tools to build on the character arc. These subplots, however, might take focus away from the main plot in favor of the character instead, so be aware of this.
• Adding additional characters. Perhaps your cast simply isn’t enough. Perhaps your cast isn’t built to contrast. Adding more personalities and giving them a purpose to fulfill, while also taking the time to round them out, can add different dimensions to your story.
• Adding additional POVs. This is similar to the above, only the next step up. If one perspective isn’t filling the quota, adding additional perspectives to tell different parts of the same story might help. And if you’re bringing down a dictatorship, there’s a lot of potential in the characters to choose from.

A Challenging Plot. Bringing a dictatorship down should require a great deal of intricate planning, but are your characters figuring out your plot too easily? Are they earning victories or are victories basically given to them?

• Complicate things. Break some bones, do something to the characters’ personal lives that makes it more difficult for them to achieve victories. If character has to go from point A of the plot to point B, don’t draw them a straight line. Throw a problematic storm onto their hiding ground. Leave a dead body on their path. Something that makes things difficult.
• Conflict of interest. Use plot to question morality. Sometimes characters know the right thing to do, but the “right thing” isn’t black and white. Maybe a character has trouble making decisions because achieving the goal will hurt someone, or lots of someones, or cause other turmoil. Maybe the character wants to achieve the goal because of the aforementioned. Maybe reasoning is flawed. Maybe deeper interests tempt them.
• Plot twists. It seems like the main character will safely make a deal with another character, when—PLOT TWIST! If your plot is progressing “as expected”, do something unexpected. Rip out all the seams and throw something in that no one would expect, least of all the characters.

Remember that exciting characters can make a less exciting plot more interesting, depending on what you do with them. If your book just isn’t holding up, turn to your characters instead. Have you spent enough time building them up? Is your cast dynamic and contrasting? Does each of your central characters pull their weight in the story? Do they add something?

If not, ask them what else they can do. Ask them if they have any secrets or phobias that might affect the plot. Look at what they’re missing and see what you can do in the story to fill that up while furthering the plot.

Good luck!

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment:

An article, to accompany this prompt about character design. 

Why is it important that characters be distinctive?

Generally as an artist, you want your audience to sympathize with your characters, grow attached to them, and get to know them. Recognizing each character is step number one in that battle. If everyone looks the same, a piece such as a comic can get very dull very fast- readers won’t be emotionally invested if they can’t keep track of who’s who at all. (Even live action movies can make it hard to differentiate the character’s designs, which can be a recipe for apathetic viewers).  
When working in visual mediums, audiences will usually be remembering characters based on their faces, and learning names later. A distinctive face is a memorable face- and memorable is good. 

What makes a character distinctive looking?

When I say distinctive, I mean that if I, within the context of talking about a work, said ‘sideburns guy’, everyone would know exactly who I meant without elaboration. ‘Distinctive looking’ means that their character design does not (or would only intentionally) overlap with the other characters. Within the group they stand out, and if you made a ‘cast on bleachers’ picture, followers of your work could label them all off without too much trouble (if you’ve read or watched Fullmetal Alchemist, take a look at the picture up top, and see who you can name. FMA is a great example of a large, varied, and recognizable cast). 

What keeps characters from looking distinctive? 

Usually, when someone learns to draw, say, a nose, they learn to draw it one way, and that becomes ‘how to draw a nose’. Additionally, artists often end up drawing characters that look to some degree like themselves. It’s not usually out of vanity- it’s just that your own face is familiar, and easily available whenever a reference is needed, as long as there is a mirror/photobooth/side of a kettle on hand. Sometimes, this can result in all their drawings resembling themselves, which doesn’t make for a very distinctive cast. The best way to remedy this is to study different people’s looks, by looking at varied images, drawing from models, and to practice drawing the different looks. Make yourself some ‘features banks’ that you have down, to draw from when creating new characters. If you notice that two characters are a little similar, make a side-by-side comparison chart, highlighting their differences (and adding some, if you need to). 

Purposeful Resemblances:

There are times when you are going to want certain characters to resemble each other. For example, you might want a family to have similar facial structure, or maybe you want a new character to remind someone of a person that they used to know. This is much, much easier if the rest of the cast is varied. Two people with the same eyes are noticeable in real life and in works with varied casts. It will be ignored if one or two eye shapes are the norm throughout the cast. If the resemblance is clearly deliberate, it will be picked up on by the audience. 
It’s also possible that you have Important Artistic Motives behind why your cast lacks variation- again, as long as it’s very intentional, you’re fine.  

Challenges In Distinctive Features

You may want to pick your battles with varied features, based on your media. For example, if you are writing a comic, having leads that are 5’0” and 6’4”, respectively, could pose a problem- they won’t fit in frames together. Therefore, certain similarities are definitely allowable if practicality demands it. Likewise, if you have to draw a character repeatedly, intricate tattoos or very complicated patterns will result in you weeping rivers of tears after four pages. Decide what is best for how you’ll be working.

A few ways in which characters are typically differentiated:

• Hair style or color: While people will naturally categorize things by color, color of hair often isn’t quite enough to differentiate people if they have similar faces (especially if a viewer can’t see the full spectrum). Additionally, there are only a few basic hair colors that humans have without the aid of dye. And if you work grayscale… you have black, white, and tone. Style can help, but you should still have different faces for your characters. Basically, hair has a lot of options for variants- so use that for all it’s worth, but mix up other traits too. 
• Eye color: Again, color only gets you so far. Eye shape on the other hand will alter the whole look of the face, and can be seen from a greater distance. 
• Accessories: If something is worn perpetually, it can be a big help- glasses, for example. Piercings can set someone apart a bit. As a general rule, though: Don’t rely on it if it comes off.  
• Clothing: If someone has a permacoat, or always wears a hat, it can really mark them out, particularly if you work in color. If they will only wear one outfit, go ahead and make those really distinctive. If the clothes will ever change, run the Shaved And Uniformed test. 
• Body Type: Why is body type not used more? My guess is the artists haven’t seen enough naked people. Go check out different body types. There are more shapes out there than you might think. ‘Muscly’ does not mean only one look. ‘Curvy’ does not mean only one look. Have some height variation, have some weight variation. Having differing body types will help you so much. 
• Facial Structure: I’m talking eye shapes, noses, mouths, the shape of the head and face. There are fourteen kinds of nose, there’s no excuse for everyone in your cast to wear exactly the same one unless it’s An Important Stylistic Decision.
• Expression: Facial expressions can be a big part of character! Try putting a sappily cheerful grin on a habitually grim character- the effect is unsettling, isn’t it? In addition to the ‘resting’ face structure, your characters probably have a few default facial expressions- one is more prone to scowl, one is more prone to smile. People’s faces move differently, based on their structure- someone with a naturally downturned mouth won’t smile the same as someone with one that goes up, and expressions are often colored by the defaults. 
• Ethnicity: If you have a large cast, and no reason why they need to be of the same ethnicity, I don’t know why you wouldn’t vary your cast’s ethnicity.
• Body language: Similar to expression and posture- what sorts of gestures are typical of your characters? Maybe one moves their hands a lot when they speak? Maybe they nod a lot. Habitual gestures can be used as markers for particular characters. 
• Posture/lines of action: Does your character slouch, or stand up military straight? Are they floppy or rigid in their movements? Are their lines of action angular or curved? Try reducing the character to a stick figure, and check out how they stand and move. 

Ways to test your cast’s distinctiveness:

• Draw them with shaved heads and in similar outfits/naked. Can you still tell them apart?
• Draw your cast as silhouettes- can you still tell them apart? Is each character recognizable from a silhouette alone? 
• Get other people to review your character designs, and find out how easy it is for them to recognize characters. This will vary based on how good your subjects are with faces (some people aren’t good with them at all), but it will remove the familiarity that you have with your cast. 
• If you work in color, put everything in black and white. 
• If you work in color or grayscale, I hereby reduce you to outlines. Can you still tell them apart?

-This has been Evvy, at FYCD. 

Further reading:

TV Tropes: Cast of Snowflakes   

^ (Where I retrieved the image used as an illustration at the top).

TV Tropes: Only Six Faces

Character Design Tips

Different Body Types- Drawing Reference

Face Shapes

The Fourteen Nose Shapes 

A Bit of Eye Reference

A Posture Chart

Palmistry For Hand Shapes: Weirdly Drawn But You Get The Point 

Artist’s Guide to Human Features

Practicing Expressions/The Classic 25 Challenge (each character should have a somewhat different 25!)

pencilcat:

Are you tired of feeling like your art just isn’t improving? Do you want to do a 30-day challenge that’s actually useful? Welcome to 30 Days of Improvement Hell. >:D

I made this because I’ve been feeling super ‘blah’ about my art these days, and I needed something to kick-start myself. Who wants to do this with me!? Start now or whenever you can (now you procrastinators!). Challenge yourself and have fun at the same time!

Tag your posts with #Improvement Hell so everyone can follow along and see each other’s awesome artwork. I may even create a blog and reblog them! :D

What are you waiting for? START!

1. Self-Portrait - Introduce yourself
2. Draw a figure using a reference - link to reference
3. Draw a figure that’s in action, using a reference - link to reference
4. Draw a part of the human anatomy you have trouble with. x20, with atleast 5 being skeletal/musculature studies.
5. Draw more figures. Quick gestures and silhouettes. x20, with atleast 10 different body shapes
6. Let’s have some fun. Design a character from this character generator. (created by PreservedCucumbers)
7. Pick the weirdest object in your house/room. Draw it. Shadows and Highlights.
8. Find 2-3 objects, make a scene with them. Draw it. Bonus points for creativity. Double points for dramatic lighting.
9. Draw a landscape of a place you’ve never been or drawn.
10. Draw a BG with 1pt Perspective. Negative points if it’s a railroad or an empty street.
11. Draw a BG with 2pt Perspective.
12. Look out a window. Draw what you see. Bonus points for adding something interesting.
13. Draw an interior setting with the character you designed on Day #6 in it.
14. BG with either bird’s eye or worm’s eye view.
15. Halfway there! Draw three ‘action’ scenes with different compositions in each. Quick sketches are fine, just make them interesting and understandable! Bonus points if it’s the same scene, but different composition.
16. Draw a single page comic with 5-7 panels (the story begins and ends on one page). 
17. Draw an animal you’ve never drawn before. x10  Link references.
18. Draw a car. Negative points for whining. Hint: Use a perspective grid.
19. Think of the thing you hate drawing the most. Guess what? Draw it! Negative points for lying to yourself.
20. Pick an object in your house/room. Now design a character from it, using the shapes, forms, textures, purpose and colors as inspiration. Also link/post the object you used. Negative points for using a humanoid action figure.
21. Draw a character/object/scene, and shade them using ONLY solid blacks and whites. Bonus points for good use of lights/shadows
22. Draw a different object/scene/character. Shade using hatching, crosshatcing, and/or pointillism. Bonus points for lights/shadows and textures.
23. Colors! Pick a color palette, and paint a scene/character/object using only those colors (some blending allowed). Bonus points for good use of lights/shadows.
24. Draw and color a scene/object/character - no lines allowed! (aka - lineless art). Don’t forget light and shadows!
25. Draw a scene/character in a style you’ve never drawn before. If emulating an artist, credit+link. Bonus for color style.
26. Draw a character. Draw 10 emotions/expressions. Bonus points for ‘uncommon’ emotions. (i.e. anxiety, guilt, despair, loneliness etc.)
27. Draw three random shapes using your opposite hand (or your foot). Now design characters from those shapes.
28. Turn on the tv (or load your illegally downloaded movies). Pick an actor and draw them.
29. Almost done! Let’s have some fun. Draw some fanart. Bonus points if it’s super obscure and unknown. Make people guess what it’s from.
30. Last day! Find a drawing you did within the last year. Now draw it again using what you’ve learned! Link it for comparison!

 Look at all that amazing improvement! Congrats!

writeworld:

referenceforwriters:

Recently I got a message about a person struggling on how to develop their characters, as they normally wrote about already created characters—also about how to make them interesting and make the people reading your story actually want to continue reading it.

I’d say this is one of the main differences between fanfiction and original work. Writing fanfiction you already rely on the fact people know the characters—how they look (or are supposed to look), personalities, and backgrounds… unless you’re writing an AU.  There’s people that already like the characters and would (probably) be willing to read your story. Now, you focus on a good plot to interest them.

But then we are back on our original stories, our novels, anything we write. We have to create our characters from scratch—interesting characters that can fit and make our story flow. Because good characters can handle a poor plot, yet a good plot can’t handle poor characters. I guess this is all we do here, right? this is the bane of our existence as writers. 

Truth is, there’s no right way to write a story. And there’s no right way to develop a character! I tested this by asking you guys how you do to create and flesh out your characters. Every response was personal and different.

Sometimes it starts with the spark of an word, an archetype, a color, a trait, a flaw, a song lyric, a painting, someone you know in real life—then you go from there.

Here are some basic steps on developing a character, yet, you can do it as you see fit:

1. You start with the personality. Once that’s done it’s relatively easier to know how they look like. You sculpt and pick virtues and vices, flaws and qualities—perfect characters are not interesting. When it comes to protagonists and antagonists, they’re neither 100% good nor 100% bad, because there is not fully good or bad people. Get what I’m saying? Round characters are the thing we’re going for. Take details from people in real life, if you want: funny habits, mannerisms, what makes people human. 
2. Work on the appearance of your character. What’s their body type, their eye color, skin color, hair color, shape of their face/nose, if they have birthmarks or scars somewhere… 
3. Pick a name as you see fit. This can be the first step depending on how you work. Is there a meaning behind it? does it show somehow their character’s personality? remember sometimes they are relevant to the setting/genre. 
4. Flesh. ‘Em. Out. Think of hobbies and background. How’s the relationship with their family and friends, how they act around authority, what kinds of clothes they like to wear…
5. Always remember: character development is an ongoing thing. You never “finish” developing your character, just like we, as people, don’t stay the same. 

That being said, be creative with it! Don’t imitate the way your favorite authors develop their characters- create your own way! your characters are all yours! Make playlists about songs that remind you of your characters, keep a journal for them- sky’s the limit.

Good links for you:

• Fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment: a blog just about character development. Seriously, if you are not following this blog, you are in nothing.
• Our character descriptions and characters tags, along with body and mind and personality.
• Create fictional characters from scratch
• 13 ways to create compelling characters
• Moral Alignments and Jung Personality Theory: both good resources by the same person. They’re a different way to add dimension and understand better your characters. Even if you aren’t using them, they’re still a pretty good read.
• Get to know your characters interesting questions require interesting answers.

-Alex

WriteWorld’s resources on character can be found in our Toolbox. we also tag all of our posts related to character.

-C

writingweasels:

Sordid Fairy Tale: How do I just start writing this damn scene already?

whydoiwriteanyway:

Okay, so I’ve been struggling to rewrite the opening of one of my older novels for a year now. And that’s not hyperbole. It’s a common problem, too: sometimes there are entirely necessary parts of stories that we find ourselves unable to write. Here are a few of the finally-fed-up-measures I’ve been using to get this thing underway:

1. Toss the chronological timeline out the window. The scene absolutely has to include this frustrating beginning. Fine. It’s your novel; it’s your judgement call. But that doesn’t mean the scene has to start at the beginning. Skip to the part you want to write, most likely the exciting part. Write that. Then jump back. Maybe you return to the very beginning, maybe you don’t. Jump forward again; pick up where you left off. Or don’t: show the character finally out of the situation and looking back on it. Bottom line: write the part of the scene that grabs you, no matter where it is. Skip around however you like. (Maybe you’ll even end up leaving the scene organized that way.)
2. Completely change what your character was going to do. Often, you’ll find yourself stalled because your inner storyteller’s gut knows better than to let you move forward. Something here, the way you have it, just isn’t working. So step back and let your characters throw a curveball. Let them take hold of the scene, flip it on its head, and give it a couple of kicks to the stomach. Let everything go wild. At least something’s happening. Even if it’s all a little too extreme for your story, you may stumble upon a thread of action that can be watered down for a more appropriate edit.
3. Change the location. Put your characters in the same basic situation, but shift them to a more dynamic location. If they’re sitting in a room talking to each other, put them on a crowded bus instead, or in a classroom during an important exam. Whatever they’re doing, put complications in their way. Make it more difficult for them. Have an aggravated stranger pick a fight with one of them while they’re unloading from the bus. Force them to track the teacher and whisper in order to communicate. Again, the scene may not end up being left in this exact form; just focus on getting yourself writing.
4. Write from a different character’s perspective. If the person isn’t alone in the scene and you’re not writing in third-person-omniscient, dial in on someone else. Get their thoughts; observe the main character as they act rather than as they think. How do their actions look from an “outsider’s” perspective? Also, what is this new POV character of yours doing in the scene? What do they know about what’s going on, and what’s beyond their knowledge? Gain as much story information as you can, and then skip into a different head.

thatfrenchhelper:

When creating a character, there’s a lot of questions you ask yourself. Whether it’s an original character or one you’ve been playing for a long time, using a character sheet to get to know your character better can always be a nice idea. With it’s help, you’ll be able to think about things you didn’t necesarily thought about, and ask some important questions to yourself that might activate your character’s voice, or help you to get your muse back with them. Everyone has their favorite character sheets, some people prefer to have a lot of questions, some others like it a bit more vague, so here’s a masterlist of the character sheets I found on various websites and found quite interesting, plus some other things that could be used to help you see, for example, how other character view yours. 

• Blank Character Sheet (+370 Questions)
• Abridged Character Sheet (100 Questions)
• Big-Ass Character Sheet
• Character Creation Form
• Character Sheet by Jody Hedlund
• Creating a character Bio Sheet
• Character Analysis Worksheet
• 100 Character Development questions for writers
• Create a Character Profile
• Character Development Worksheet
• Original Character Bio-Sheet
• Character Chart for Fiction Writers
• A Character Chart By Charlotte Dillon
• Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
• Detailed Character Sheet
• Character Sheet Template
• Character Twenty-Question Worksheet
• In-Depth Character Sheet
• Character Worksheet
• Character Interview Sheet (First Person)
• Background Questionnaire (First Person)
• Characters Perceptions (How do other people perceive your character?)

With these sheets, you could also try to find your character’s Jung and Enneagram Type or use the Moral Alignment tool. All of these things can be really useful to get a better grip on a character.

Then, if you’re trying to create a character, and do not have many ideas, or get stuck, I’d suggest for you to roam around TVTropes, which gives you a lot of tropes used for character creation. Maybe you could try to mix a few of these and create an original character?

Or, if you’re a skillful writer and know how to make your character different from another, make a list of characters in fiction you happen to find interesting and why. Try to keep it short. Then, maybe, try to mix and match things from two or three characters, take a character and change their backstory, to see what would change. Play with them to inspire yourself and create something new, original and truly yours.

Oh, and here’s a little guide to Mary-Sues and OCs, just in case you want to make sure your character isn’t going to become a Mary-Sue or a Gary-Stu

And last but not least, this article about building fictional character definitely seemed interesting to me, and is full of many other links that could guide you during the creating of your character and help you file one of these sheets.

krisnoel-lionhead:

One of the most frequent questions I get as a writer is “where do you get your ideas from?” I’m always a bit baffled at first because sometimes I’m not really sure. It’s a difficult question to answer and I don’t think you can be a writer unless you have the ability to see and interpret the world around you in order to come up with your OWN ideas. There’s just something about it that’s hard to explain to other people.

Writers (or anyone creative) tend to notice things that other people don’t. It’s not that we’re better or smarter than other people, but we’re most likely much more introverted than the rest of the world. When you’re introverted, you spend a lot of time observing the world around you instead of directly participating in everything going on. You find solace in listening, watching, or hearing other people and their conversations. Ideas come from everywhere and we are more likely to notice them and turn them into something amazing.

However, if you are a writer and you’re finding it difficult to come up with fresh ideas, there are ways for you to improve this. I suggest you try a few of these things—

• Sit in a crowded area for a while. If you’re stuck, try sitting in a mall or a coffee shop or even a train station. You’ll see things that might make good story ideas. People watching is one of the best ways to come up with ideas and it’ll make your writing more realistic.

• Keep a notebook next to your bed. I always do this just in case I have a dream that makes me think in some way. You shouldn’t wait until morning because you’ll most likely forget all the details. If you wake up in the middle of the night from a dream or nightmare, write down every little detail you can remember. It will help you come up with your own ideas (technically dreams are YOUR ideas to begin with).

• Watch how people interact with each other. This is sort of the same as people watching, but you’ll learn a lot about dialogue and character relationships. It might give you some structure for your own characters and help you shape them for your novel. You might notice things you’ve never thought of before.

• Think about what you like in your favorite books. Why do you like your favorite books? What about them caught your attention? Were there certain scenes that really stayed with you? There’s something about those books that struck you in some way or else they wouldn’t be your favorites. Think of the dynamics between certain characters or details about the plot you loved. Use these ideas and make them your own. BUT DON’T PLAGIARIZE.

• Find a writing partner to discuss ideas with. Sometimes talking to other people really helps you out. They’ll be able to tell you what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes I just shoot out ideas to my friends or family and they tell me if they like them of not. They might not be the most reliable source, but you should be able to get some feedback.

• Have a brainstorming session. Just taking a few moments to dig into your brain might make all the difference. The ideas might already be there, you just have to take some time to get them down on paper and organize them. The potential to write a great story is lingering around somewhere.

-Kris Noel

referenceforwriters:

For those not familiarized with the term:  Memento? Homestuck? 500 Days of Summer? 

• Nonlinear Storytelling: what it is, examples in film, literature, and videogames. Pretty much the basics and probably what you already know. 

• Story structure: graphic examples of types of story structures, including nonlinear. 

• 25 things you should know about story structure: tips, advice about story structure in general, things you’ve gotta take into account. Pretty funny.

• Linear vs Nonlinear: a comparison between linear and nonlinear storytelling. 

• Nonlinear storytelling: more talk on nonlinear storytelling. 

• Exploring methodologies for a nonlinear story development: now we get to the really good stuff. Explaining in steps the way you can pull a nonlinear story development off. Suggestions on ways you can keep track of your plot. 

• Limits of a nonlinear narrative structure: stuff you need to know you’re getting yourself into. Some obstacles. 

• Structure and looking at the whole: talking about the difference between structure and plot. Plot is always linear, structure doesn’t have to be.

• Writing nonlinear stories: on continuity, timing, and cues.

• Sypnosis for a nonlinear story: what title says. Talkin’ about sypnosis, I’m adding this in case your story needs one.

• VIDEO: how to write a nonlinear story: Robert McKnee talks and gives advice on how to write non linear stories for screenwriters. 

• Out of order: a discussion of nonlinear narrative stories: OP even did  a restructuration of Red Riding Hood to make it a nonlinear narrative. 

For the anon that needed help with anachronic storytelling. Maybe they couldn’t find anything because we don’t use the word “anachronic”, we use nonlinear.

-Alex