Unlike my friends (that you’ll read about in a bit ;P) I’m not a writer. I’m a roleplayer at heart and have and probably will pretty much always be. I don’t create my stories in vaccuums— I need a close friend or multiple with me. For me, I barely ever have a semblance of plot in my mind. My character creation/development process is very much so orientated about my current inspirations and what the ideas are of those around me. I build a kind of synergy off of what’s already there, springboarding off of anything thrown out and developing my characters by seeing how they’d interact with or feel or think about anything mentioned. More often than not, all I have to start with is a general, vague idea of who the character is, and then they mold and meld themselves into something more complex fitting of their role in relation to everyone else.
My roleplaying partners and I bring our ideas to the table, and from them spawns a slew of theoreticals that breathe life into what starts out as an empty vessel. Complex motivations and character insights come out of random headcanons and late-night ramblings. In this way I’d say I’m most like an antenna, where I receive and project ideas from and to others and build off of what we each say. The characters I create this way live for years. Their stories will likely never reach an audience, but the thrill of creating and discovering something together doesn’t get old. ... Though maybe the main reason it’s not suitable for reading is that it’s kind of a chaos in the process with jumping all over the timeline and filling things in whenever it happens :P (not to mention, sudden AU’s and what-ifs if things went differently.)
The initial seed for characters though can happen pretty differently for me. Sometimes out of nowhere I just go “Hm, I want a character that is xxx.” and off we go if the notion (as I like to call it) catches on. Sometimes, it’s an incredibly out of the blue piece of inspiration that suddenly strikes me. And then sometimes in my mind a six-second scene appears and begs a greater story. Honestly, I’m so used to creating a character for any occasion, though, that I find if I just sit down, stop talking, and think for five minutes, something comes to me out of the existing notions given. These notions can be others’ kernels of ideas for their characters, a few notes on the world background, or an image or piece of writing that invokes what we’re going for. But either way, once the character headcanon train starts rolling it ain’t stopping for nobody 'till it runs out of fuel to build off of -eyes emoji-.
That said, I find that most all of my character start off as a notion of a person in the moment as they are. Backstory tends to fill itself in as we go along. Depth to characters show up as I think about them more in context of everything else going on. It’s kind of like the character is opening up to those they’re interacting with, as well as to us. Very exciting! I’m telling you it makes the time you spend brushing your teeth that much more interesting :D
So sure, my process isn’t the most elegant, but for me, it’s fun this way and that’s honestly all that matters to me. :D I love my characters when I learn about them this way. They’re not so much my friends or my tools as they are a person that coexists in a universe alongside others. I find as I further explore hypothetical situations and interactions between our characters, npcs/further characters just pop up on their own. :D it’s wonderful fun~
I'd say my process and "interactions" change from story to story. Sometimes I have a very precise, full fleshed character in my head and I want to tell their story. And sometimes I have an idea for a plot and I try to find the best characters to tell that story. And since I don't like to fit in, I'd say that I'm a joyful mix of everything :P
As for the interactions themselves? I've never ever filled any character interview or worksheet. Well I tried, but after 5 min fighting over what the hell could be their flaws (or hair color or whatever details I don't judge useful at that moment), I usually threw them out. I don't "talk" to my character neither, nor do they talk to me (creeeepy). And it can be sometimes frustrating to hear authors complaining about their characters actions because eeeh, yep but nope, I don't interact with them that way. As much as I consider them as "real" people, I'm still holding the reins. Of course, I will never make a character do something I consider they will never do. But they're are not "present" in my mind and when I write, it's not the character who decides what happens it's me who thinks "how would they react in that situation".
So, if I had to summarize my process, or at least what I think I do (and really summarize is a big word after the wall of text I wrote up there), I would say that I start with a character's wound from their past and their journey to healing. That wound will affect their behavior and their perception of the world. I then throw them into various conflicts where the events challenge their beliefs and push them on the road to freedom (hooray).
One last thing, I like to think of my characters as companions to the readers, friends of some sort. And it may sound weird from an artist, but often their eye color and other physical features come later in their development phase. Sure I take into consideration everything that makes a point as to who they are, but really the details of how they look like only comes later. That way it kinds of let the reader imagine what they look like, maybe associate them with someone they know and that way they can explore the story with their real best friend. Kind of.
Characters are useful packets of conceptual tools and ideas and information. Plotless characters can still be interesting whereas the best plot ever falters because a character is made of cardboard.
tldr also too complicated & too thinky for me.
My fault this post took so long to reach the virtual surfaces, but I’m finally typing my answers now!
I'd consider myself a part of all of these types. I'm an Engineer in the sense that I want the plot to develop in a logical or at least believable way, and I do have many minor characters who I generally consider "pawns" in the grand scheme of things. I'm notorious for not creating character sheets or outlines (to some mixed results lol).
I never really think of my main characters as tools. They're more like methods. They all have different ways of dealing with things in life, but their choices could reflect the ones people have made in the past or are making right now. I do control them, but I like to think they're not just born from me; they're bits and pieces from everyone I've known who was similar to them or everyone who I wished was like them. They already exist. Their stories already exist, whether it be in someone else's mind or attitude or mood or in the struggles they're facing. I'm just putting it all together by presenting the story in my own way. Meaningful characterization is more lively and ubiquitous to me than just taking root in a detailed character sheet and a plot chart.
I'm an Interpreter in terms of personality. I rarely try to imitate the looks of a person or a stranger in my life; I find I either go extremely specific or very broad with appearance. Few characters are based off of people I know, most are people that I've been or people who I've wanted to meet. People's reactions are for sure something I take inspiration from, though. I like seeing how people end up in certain situations and how they plan to get themselves out of it, peculiarities and all.
I think out of all of them, I'd definitely most call myself an Antenna. That's exactly how a lot of my characters come about, just walking into my mind one day and sitting down, waiting to be developed. When I write interactions, it feels more like discovery than me actively choosing their path. I didn't hang around anyone or have a "go-to" group of friends at the time when I created a lot of my characters, so I learned to care about some as much as I would an actual friend. They're really all I have at times, so I think having a deeper connection (without getting too crazy into it) helps out my characterization a ton. 'Cause you can talk to and change them anytime, but what aspects you let them keep says more about you than anything.
For me, ideas come from everywhere, but my process tends to stem from music first and foremost. I listen to the rhythms and the lyrics and try to create something new from it, or even from the spaces in between. I get so much inspiration from albums and musical concepts, I would say that over half of my characters have been made just because of songs. I also tend to have a lot of character playlists (like, a lot a lot). This has also led me to compare their voices to singers, even with the ones who've never belted a note in their life. :P
I always abide by the quote, "Good characters can carry a bad story, but bad characters can't carry a good one." So as long as I have characters stay true to themselves, I really don't see a way to go wrong.
This was a very interesting way of phrasing the question, so thank you for giving words to describe all these different interactions. ^^
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