[main blog is @wingsthephoenix] this is an art/ask blog for all my ocs!! you can find out more about them here: https://toyhou.se/WingsThePhoenix my askbox is OPEN [inbox: 0]!! i might not always respond with a picture, but me and my ocs are happy to talk to you nonetheless!! (if you're ever stuck on what to ask, go through the "ask prompts" tag!)
forgot until just now that when i went to the grocery store today i turned down the oil/vinegar aisle and there was a store employee stocking the shelf and he said "welcome to the land of wonders" to me for some reason
I think a lot of people are too scared of messing up when writing a plural character to even try including a system in their story, and that's okay! It's totally okay to feel intimidated when representing experiences you have no frame of reference for.
But systems are so rarely included in stories, and I for one would really love to see more people like me in the stories I love. So, if you think you're up to it...
Here's a guide to how to write plural characters and include them in your story!
(long post warning.)
Here's the simple answer for how to write a plural character!
Step 1: Make a character, like how you would make any other character. Give them their own thoughts, feelings, and personality.
Step 2: Make another character the same way.
Step 3: Repeat a few more times if you're feeling fancy.
Step 4: Make all of those characters share a body.
Aaand you're done! Congratulations, you've made a system! It's really as simple as that if you want it to be, as at its core, plurality is just more than one selves sharing one body!
But that's not really the most nuanced way of doing it, is it? That's how you can create a generically plural character, but what if you want to get fancier, resonate with specific plural experiences?
Well... Let's forget the simple answer for now, then!
First, you want to decide what type of system you want your character to be.
I'd say there are four primary spectrums to consider here, all of which can be decided independently of each other!
Spectrum #1: disordered to nondisordered.
A disordered system typically refers to a system that meets the criteria for a specific diagnosis with a CDD (complex dissociative disorder), such as DID (dissociative identity disorder) or OSDD (other specified dissociative disorder). The symptoms and diagnosis requirements for these can be easily accessed online from sources such as the DSM-V.
A nondisordered system refers to a system that is, well, not that! This does not mean that plurality is never a struggle for them, nor does being a disordered system mean that plurality is inherently a negative experience.
If you want to write a system with dissociative amnesia between headmates, you'll likely want to write a disordered system! If you do intend to label your character with a specific medical diagnosis, please take extra care when doing research, as DID and OSDD are both highly stigmatized and frequently misunderstood diagnoses.
Also, avoid the term "multiple personality disorder"! That is no longer a medical diagnosis, it hasn't been called that since the release of the DSM-IV, and use of this term is largely considered ableist.
And lastly, maybe they don't use this framework at all! Not all plurals choose to identify as strictly disordered or nondisordered. If your OC doesn't, why not?
Spectrum #2: system origins.
Now it's time to answer why your system is a system to begin with!
Did childhood trauma cause it? Did they become plural intentionally? Perhaps it just sorta happened, or they were born as a system! Maybe it has something to do with their religious beliefs, even!
Broadly, system origins can be split into four categories: adaptive, spontaneous, created, and spiritual. A system can also be multiple of these!
Adaptive: adaptive systems are systems which became plural in response to some kind of stressor in their life, such as extreme childhood trauma or prolonged stress. Most disordered systems are adaptive! Ask yourself how their trauma may affect the relationships between their headmates. Does it cause hostility, or are they even closer because of it? A mix of both, perhaps?
Spontaneous: spontaneous systems are systems with no especially clear cause. Sometimes plurality just happens! Some folks are systems from birth! Some might not know why they're plural at all! Maybe your system OC has a unique or silly explanation for their plurality.
Created: created systems are systems which became plural intentionally through various mental exercises. It can be a long and complicated process for some, and come quite naturally for others! I recommend actually researching methods of system creation if you want to make a character who is a created system, to get a feel for what the process may have been like for them! Also, why did your OC choose to become plural to begin with?
Spiritual: spiritual systems are systems whose plurality is tied to spiritual or religious beliefs! This is quite broad. If you want to base this around a specific real world religion, be mindful to do your research! If not, what might their specific beliefs about their system be? Do they see their headmates as having come from somewhere else, like another world? Please remember to treat all spiritual and religious beliefs with respect, even more unorthodox ones.
Mixed origins: as I said, none of the above terms are mutually exclusive! Maybe your OC's system was created intentionally for spiritual reasons! Maybe your OC's system formed spontaneously but has since been influenced heavily by trauma! Don't be afraid to mix it up!
Unlabeled origins: many systems choose not to label their origins at all! It's not something all systems care about, for one, and some systems also actively dislike the idea of putting themselves in a specific box. Some systems also just don't know their origins.
Spectrum #3: singlet to plural.
Okay, well, this one's weird, isn't it? Either you're plural or you're not, right?
Well, actually, no!
Some systems are what are called median systems, essentially in-between plural and singlet. Median systems may see their headmates more as differing facets of themselves than entirely separate people!
Median systems may identify with both plural and singlet experiences.
Separation between different headmates in a system can vary wildly from plural to plural!
Spectrum #4: headcount
Finally, how big is your plural OC's system?
There's no wrong answer here! Smaller systems may be easier to write, but if you want to write a large system, you don't necessarily need to precisely define details on every single headmate. Maybe they have more common fronters, so you can focus development on those!
Systems can be any size, from as small as two to as big as, well, infinity! Yes, you read that right, some systems actually claim to have infinite or uncountable headmates! The sky's the limit.
Please do note that duo systems, systems of two headmates, seem to be the most common in media, but are actually rather rare among systems in real life. If you make a duo system character, I recommend also making one other plural character with a higher headcount to reflect this! Obviously there are plenty of duo systems in real life, though, they're just not especially common.
I'd say a good number is about five to ten headmates. It should be manageable from a writing perspective, but it's also closer to the actual average headcount I've observed among plural peers (15-20). If you're up to the challenge, though, I absolutely recommend creating a larger system! Systems with a hundred or more headmates are actually quite common! Obviously this could be a huge writing challenge if you actually want information on every single headmate, but you don't need to be that detailed, and you can make new headmates for your OC as it comes up in the story.
Things to consider
Here are some more miscellaneous things to consider when making a plural OC!
Do they have any introjects?
Introjects are headmates that are in some way based on an external source. For example, a system might get an introject of their sibling, or a favorite fictional character! Not all systems have them, but they are very common.
Do they have introjects of real people in their life, and does that cause tension? Maybe their system has been heavily influenced by a special interest, so they have many introjects from a piece of media that's important to them!
What is their internal communication like?
Some systems can talk to each other freely in their head, while others can't communicate internally at all! And everything in between.
If they have difficulty with internal communication, what external tools might they use to talk to one another? Maybe they keep a journal, or leave each other sticky notes! Maybe they don't talk at all!
What are the relationships between headmates like?
Do they get along? Do they hate each other? Does it vary between headmates? (That last one is the best answer!)
Are any of them friends? Family? Enemies? Dating? Exes? And yes, headmates can be all of these things!
Maybe they have so little communication that they're practically strangers to one another, but one headmate has a lot of spite towards whoever keeps eating their leftover cake!
How do they feel about roles?
Many systems use a framework of roles for their headmates, as many headmates split for specific purposes! The most common fronter may call themself the host, for example! The one who takes care of the others may be the caretaker, the one who protects the others from harm may be the protector, and so on.
Some systems find role language like this helpful, others don't! What about your OC?
What ways do their headmates vary?
...And what ways might they be similar?
Do they have different genders, orientations, fashion senses, music taste, mannerisms, interests, accents, fears, hopes, or dreams? Do these differences cause tension, or do they all accept each other?
Are some of their headmates different ages? The most common terms for a child headmate are little or syskid!
Are some of them different species? If so, do they consider themselves otherkin or a therian, or do they see it as something else?
Maybe they're similar in some ways too! Maybe all of the headmates are the same gender, or the system trends towards a specific area of the gender spectrum!
Do they have a headspace?
...And if so, what's it like?
A headpsace, or innerworld, is an internally imagined space. Basically, exactly what it sounds like, and singlets can have them too! But they're more common among systems.
It can serve as a place for headmates to speak with one another, a place where headmates go when they're not fronting, and just generally a world for headmates to occupy.
Not all systems have one! Does your OC?
If so, how big is it? Is it a room? A building? A town? An island? A world? Does it even have an edge?
How detailed is it? Is it an empty void, a fully fleshed out world, or somewhere in-between?
Did they create one intentionally, or has it just sorta always been there?
What terminology do they use?
Many systems have varying idiolects when talking about their systems!
What do they call their headmates, for example? Just headmates? Alters? Members? Sysmates? Facets? Parts? Brain friends? Or something unique to them, like stars or puppies or fuckers or anything else! Does it vary between headmates?
(Note that "alters" is generally more common among disordered systems! Also, parts language is considered offensive to many systems, but many also actually prefer those terms for themselves. Always ask!)
Do they call themself a system? A collective? A plurality? Something unique, like a flock or a constellation?
How complex is their system's structure?
This can relate to headcount, the larger the system the more generally complex it is, but there's more to it than just that!
For example, maybe your OC's system also has subsystems! Those are exactly what they sound like, a system inside a system, a headmate with headmates.
Maybe their system has different layers or sidesystems! Essentially two entirely or mostly separate systems within the same brain. Sidesystems may have worse communication with headmates from other sidesystems, or they may not be able to communicate at all!
Do they have any fragments, "partially formed" headmates?
Do they know they're a system?
Maybe they don't! Maybe they found out recently! Maybe they've known for years! Maybe they've always known!
If they don't, are they going to find out during the story? What might that look like for them? What do they think is going on, if they don't know it's plurality?
Do they use external tools?
Do they keep a journal? Do they leave notes for each other?
Maybe they wear pins or bracelets to show who's fronting! Maybe they use an app to track their system and their fronting!
Plurality and magic
If you're writing a story with magic, how might magic and plurality intersect?
Maybe different headmates can use different types of magic! Maybe their magic looks different depending on the fronter!
I would caution against having your only plural character be plural from magical origins, such as possession, though. Those can very much be akin to plurality in media, and there's no reason not to explore that! However it is fundamentally disconnected from the experiences of real systems, so if you are specifically setting out to make a plural character, I'd recommend against explaining their plurality with magic. This doesn't apply if you're willing to include multiple systems in your story, like one magical in nature and one not!
Closing thoughts
Writing a plural character is much like writing any other character.
Do your research, be prepared to receive constructive criticism, but don't be afraid to try! This may all seem like a LOT to consider, but you don't have to include every single thing I mentioned here, this is all just something to get you started and give you a basic idea of what's out there!
The bottom line is, write your plural character like a person. Plurality is not a gimmick, and it's not an entire character in and of itself. It's a trait a character can have! Yes, it's quite a unique trait, and comes with a lot of implications for the character, but it's still just part of the character.
Include your plural OC in the story how you would any other. Let them be a character, with their own story, with friends, with enemies, with strengths and weaknesses.
Writing a plural character really is just a lot like writing multiple characters, at the end of the day! If your character views their headmates as entirely separate people, write them as such!
there's something so good about a character who hasn't had enough comfort and warmth in their life and now has weird complicated kinda sexual feelings about being treated with actual basic respect and dignity and they feel like an awful gross pervert for it. i like those wires getting crossed
Not only is this allowed but it's something i encourage all writers of any kind to play with! :D
The idea that all writers know what to say all the time and just splash fully-formed drafts out one word after the other is false. There are some who can do it, but i think most of us... can't. Which is why we need tricks like square bracket notes! They're not cheats or lazy writing or some other flavour of Not Allowed, but instead really really important tools that we should use as much as we need to.
Some of the most helpful tricks I've collected over the years are:
make some notes in square brackets – e.g., I had to write a scene on a sailboat, but I know nothing about sailing so i literally just had notes like [boat part] and [how to do X thing?]. If you use square brackets as punctuation anyway, use something else like [[double square brackets]] or a unique letter combination like XY at the start of the note; the point is to pick something you can search for easily later on.
(You can also style inline comments in a different font/colour. Scrivener has an inline annotation feature; if you use Word, you can make a specific Style to make notes stand out at a glance, etc.)
bullet-point your way through any tricky parts – this can be pure stream-of-consciousness vague ideas. it only needs to make sense to me later. much more helpful than just leaving big blank gaps that Future Me has to work out how to fill, but also better than dwelling on a piece of writing forever.
use comment tools – mostly do this if I have ideas for alternate events and/or phrasing, or if I want to check something for continuity purposes.
write out of order – Best advice i ever got for academic writing is to know or even write your conclusion first and your introduction last, which your main argument in between. Similar principles apply in fiction, or any kind of creative writing. If there's a part of the essay that I can visualise clearly or a part of the story that is particularly exciting or important, I might write that first, then figure out how it fits/how everything fits around it.
keep a loose scenes and/or "outtakes" folder – anything that i write out of order goes here, along with any notes for how I think I want to incorporate it into the full text. In the same vein, if I delete something but don't know for sure it will never be relevent ever again, it gets cut and pasted into an outtakes folder.
Basic rule though is that you do not have to get your writing perfect on the first try. This is where drafts come in. The way I see it is to treat each draft as a fresh start – I create/open a new document (well, new Scrivener file) and start over as if from scratch. Each draft gets a narrower focus than the last. This is my process, as an example:
first draft is the word vomit. You do whatever you need to do to get it onto the page, and it can be terrible. In fact, it probably should be terrible. You can fix everything later. it's fine.
The second draft is a half-hearted cleanup attempt. I'll re-type everything because everything is subject to change, from the characters' personalities to the pacing to the order of events. It's all primordial goop, basically. i'm just poking and prodding and making a few adjustments, but mostly trying to create a more stable version of the first draft. All shortcut tricks continue to be my best friend.
By draft three I'll let myself copy-paste between documents if I'm particularly happy with a passage, but try not to get hung up on anything specific. I'll still make liberal use of square brackets etc. as I need to, but try to address as many from the previous draft as I can. This is where I get more brutal with making decisions and trying to fix parts of the story in place.
Draft four is usually my final draft, but there's literally no rules about how many drafts you're allowed to write. It's at this point that I try to keep square brackets etc. to a minimum (unless i've diverged significantly from the plot of a previous draft and having to rewrite large chunks), and make sure to address all the notes and problems encountered in previous drafts.
This is when I move on to revisions. Revisions are the "final do-overs", for me. I start them when I'm satisfied with all the large-scale aspects: plot and chronology; characters' personalities, motivations and arcs; large-scale pacing (so the over-arcing pace, rather than the pacing in individual scenes); backstories; and worldbuilding. I'll copy the last draft's document instead of starting with a blank one. First I run through those large scale things one more time and tweak until I'm happy, not just satisfied. Then I shrink my focus to in-scene pacing, dialogue, and the quality of the writing itself.
I'll also rewrite my plot outline between each draft, too. The act of actually re-writing stuff is very helpful for making your brain think about it.
Drafting like this isn't for everyone, but realising that you can just bullshit your way through chunks of text was a massive game-changer for me. Some people will do a draft, then work on something else, then come back and do another draft, work on something else, etc. Some people's drafting process will look more like what I consider to be revisions. Do whatever works for you. Just remember that from the moment you first decide you Want to Write a Thing to the moment you hit "post" or "publish" or give your manuscript over to a publisher, you can keep making as many changes as you like in any way you like. (And if you go the querying to traditional publishing route, you'll probably get suggestions for, and have space/time to make, changes to the manuscript quite far into the process).
I don't believe I've ever met two writers who have exactly the same process. Every writer I've spoken to about the craft of writing has their own process, usually developed over years and years of practice and trying things out.
For example, I don't rewrite at all, that sounds horrendous, I just save-as to create a new draft. I also get the big structure stuff done in outlining, but I'm a weirdo who writes 20k word outlines. As mentioned above, I am one of those people who needs space between drafts--or at least, between rough draft and first revision. And I do my first revision on paper, always. The human brain processes screens and hardcopy differently! I write all over my printed rough draft, and then go back to the doc and apply those edits and anything else that occurs to me at the time, so my draft 2 is more sort of draft 2.5??
There's a lot more, obviously, and it's different between novels and short stories (I don't print short stories unless I'm really struggling). But I'm always experimenting with different ways to write, and sometimes they work and sometimes I get stranded and have to go back to the drawing board. Some people have a lot more hand writing in the prep stages, in notebooks or on index cards--I visited someone once whose dining room walls were covered in butcher paper and index cards with pushpins!
So if you're a newbie writer, experiment! Read about a bunch of different ways to get those words down! Try new things! Put notes and placeholders and such in your drafts, write by the seat of your pants, try out the whole in-depth outline thing, revise every paragraph before moving on to the next one, whatever works!!
Also please feel free to come talk to me about it! I love hearing about how people write.
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