So I've realized you have something specifically for people to ask you questions. Oops.
Uhh, anyway, how exactly do you get a good read on characters? I've told you in the past that I've been trying to read transcripts but it's really time-consuming (and kinda tiring) to try and understand them and make notes of them, but I feel like if I don't get every detail then I must not really "get" things. I have no idea how to find that middle ground, where I don't spend a ridiculous amount of hours trying to perfectly understand a character (and still struggle with what to do with all the information I get), but I still understand them enough to feel comfortable writing them.
In a similar vein, do you ever tend to (intentionally) adjust characters in your head to kinda fit a certain vision? Part of the reason I've been having trouble is because I'm worried about changing, missing, or getting anything incorrect about a character's personality, hobbies, etc, but I know this is a somewhat common thing, headcannons tend to be all over the place in fics as a whole. If you do, why and when do you make changes? And how do you make sure your changes still fit the essence of who that character is, so even if they literally are different as a character compared to the source material, they don't feel super OOC?
Thanks for your time.
Hi there!! And yes, my ask box is always open for any questions or commentary or anything! :D This answer is going to be REALLY long lol so I’m going to put it underneath the cut, but I hope it answers your questions! ^^
I also included a summary at the bottom if you don’t want to read it all XD
I can definitely see how reading transcripts can be challenging, and although they can show you a character’s speech patterns it won’t really show you physical habits that you can see onscreen. But honestly make sure you’re having fun with it too, writing is also supposed to be enjoyable and not feel too stressful <333
But yeah, I can totally get that. My first Rottmnt fanfic (and the first fanfic I actually continued and finished) was The Crescent’s Ascent, and I can remember being worried about the same things since with fanfiction you want to make sure you’re keeping the same characteristics people know and love. One thing that I look for (this isn’t everyone’s method, and I’m not saying this is cut and dried but I think it helps) is looking for the character’s MBTI, or Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator. Again it’s not cut and dried, but I think the principles help! For instance… just some questions I like… AGAIN DON’T COME AFTER ME IT’S NOT LAW I just think these questions help really determine a character…
1. Is your character is extroverted or introverted (or a social introvert or a quiet extrovert, pretty much what gives them the most energy)?
2. Does your character read in between the lines? Picking up on body language and situational awareness? Or are they more direct, like taking things literally and at face value? As my mom puts it sometimes, do they follow the letter of the law or the heart of why the law exists?
3. Are they more head over heart? Or heart over head? What leads their decisions? For instance there’s an argument between Donnie and Mikey in Crescent’s Ascent that kinda emphasizes their differences with this in particular. I think I remember you saying that you’ve read that fic which is why I’m using it as an example lol, but it’s where Leo is found with amnesia as Crescent, and they’re arguing on the best approach to getting him back. Mikey, being more heart over head and very empathetic, is determined to reason with Crescent and try to get him to come along once he feels safe with them. Donnie, being more head over heart and leading with logical efficiency, thinks that the best option is to just drag him kicking and screaming back to the lair because he knows that they’re in the right and Leo is their brother even if he’s brainwashed.
4. Do they make decisions quickly or procrastinate? If they had a test would they do all the work right away and double check it or would they wait until the night before it’s due?
MBTI is based on a four-letter typing system: Introverted (I) or Extroverted (E), Intuitive (N) or Sensing (S), Feeling (F) or Thinking (T), and Perceiving (P) or Judging (J). It sounds more complicated than it is lol, but there’s this website/app called Personality Database (PDB) that lets people vote and debate on fictional character’s personality types. It might not be set in stone but it can help you get a quick idea of how a character thinks and acts and you can also read the arguments for it in the comments to see if you agree with it. Even if you don’t get into the actual typology itself I think the questions I listed above are helpful in influencing your character’s decisions! I could try making a list of more character questions at some point lol, but I think these help a lot! As for physical habits and mannerisms, I’d look for…
1. What do they do when they’re angry? If they are an animal, does an ear twitch or a tail flick? If human do their eyes sharpen or jaw clench?
2. What do they do when they’re excited? Do they stim at all? Do they talk faster? Become more animated?
3. What do they do when they’re sad? Do they look away to hide emotions? Cry easily? Mask sadness as another emotion, such as anger? Do they self comfort, like hugging themself or stimming?
4. What do they do when they’re nervous? Do their eyes dart around? Do they mask their fear as anger, becoming more combative or sharp with others? Do they pace? Do they freeze? What’s their fear response, just as fight, flight, fawn or freeze? Does their heart race?
You can examine other emotions too, but I think it’s a great way to show instead of tell sometimes. Once again these are all just some tips, it doesn’t have to be perfect but these are just some questions to help get to know a character if you’re struggling with figuring out their mannerisms and personality! I hope these help, and let me know if there’s something I didn’t cover that you wanted me to! ^^
As for your second question, it can be kinda tricky because I never want to drastically change a character but also yes I have my headcanons that are not confirmed lol. With HCs I think a good question to ask is ‘if this were true, how drastically would it change canon plot, if at all?’ I think with most if not all of my headcanons, the media I cover wouldn’t be too different. If it’s post canon you get a little bit more freedom lol since there’s nothing to prove that this didn’t happen in the future ;) But I do change my characters sometimes if that’s the plot, for instance I’ve turned characters into robots, given them amnesia (which means their new personality spawns from their original nature and how they have to behave in their new environment), given them Dissociative Identity Disorder, given them abusive, non-canon childhoods… yes most of them were Leo but congrats to Espio for joining the party XD
So yah, I think as long as their core personality remains the same you can tweak their behavior depending on how they were forced to behave growing up. For instance Leo (in my opinion lol) is extremely people pleasing but tries to hide it behind fake bravado and masking jokes. It causes a lot of insecurity as he kinda masks his real feelings and fears and would rather have people be annoyed at him for being reckless than see his vulnerable side of fear and feeling like he’s nothing. Sooooo in a contrast between him and Crescent, for example, as Crescent he was still people pleasing but to even more of an extent, and his form of ‘masking’ was to do whatever he was told and to not think for himself, whereas Leo would mask by using jokes and a nonchalant act. In Wings of Ashes Leo was raised by Baron Draxum and Big Mama with Raph, having never escaped with Donnie and Mikey to Splinter’s care, and he is desperate for people to be proud of him and wants their praise, but he masks it as combativeness and tries to prove to himself and them that he doesn’t care with acts of rebellion even though in his most vulnerable moments you can see that desperation to please shine through. I hope that makes sense, but that’s an example of how you can keep their nature while adjusting the extent of it due to their environment.
Golly this got really long lol, and thanks for coming to my Ted Talk! Sorry if I yapped too much lol. I hope this helps answer your questions, and in a quick summary:
1. To get a good read on my characters I try to figure out how they make decisions and what gives them energy, which in turn affects how they act in everyday life.
2. To make sure my characters don’t get too ooc when tweaking them, I make sure that their nature and deepest sense of self stays intact even if I change masking or coping mechanisms.
Let me know if there’s something I didn’t cover or something I missed lol. Thanks for the ask, and have a great day! ^^
Would you like to tell us a little (or a lot) about your creative process when writing? 👀
Just curious
Oh hiya there, how have you been?? I’ve been alright :D
And ohohohohoho how the floodgates have opened… I must resist… I must… okay yk what I’d love to lol! I mean, most of my ideas start with like a scene idea or a concept, then I just try to flush out the idea more. I should post screenshots of my brain dumps for my fics sometime lol, but yeah I basically just ramble in text form until I get something resembling a plot, and then I get bored with trying to figure out the whole thing and just write a beginning along with a bunch of scenes I think would be fun for the future! Like for instance the first chapter of The Crescent’s Ascent was initially gonna be a one shot but then I used it for the first chapter and all the support on it made me keep writing. Okay Imma just post some of my brain dump screenshots lol, warning for spoilers to my fics below the cut!! However I tried to make sure I didn’t spoil anything that revealed what wasn’t posted yet.
But yeah I really try to make sure my characters are, well, in character, and that means they have a mind of their own. My outline could have them doing xyz, but then when I’m writing in their POV I realize that they actually would do abc and then that causes a chain reaction to change my fic. However I find that it somehow all works out in the end… no clue how but somehow it does and a plot surfaces…
And then of course there are just random tricks like listening to music for inspiration (i like imagining scenes to the songs and have a playlist for every fic of mine that I listen to while I write lol) and then some sort of movement, like going for a walk or a drive or just pacing helps me think. Hehehehe wow this answer was really rambling but I hope you enjoyed a trip into my weird little creative process lol! Thanks for the ask! :D
Holy cow, 200k words is impressive, congrats! Was just curious, what writing platform do you use? Bc google docs starts lagging/crashing at like 60k words for me 😭 (can't imagine the meltdown it would have with 200k lol)
Tysm!! And lol yeah I actually use the app Pages for writing, just was the first program I used and I guess I stuck with it through all the years! I just find it very easy to navigate and stuff. But yeah hope this helps! Thanks for the ask! :D
How did you learn to write? It's been pretty hard trying to make something good starting from pretty much no experience, so I guess I was kinda wondering how you figured everything out. I'm not good at figuring things out on my own yet, it's difficult to find where to start with so many things that stories have, like dialogue and symbolism, creating plots, creating character arcs, figuring out who the characters themselves are and what they're made of, and all that stuff. I was hoping that by learning how you learned, that I might be able to learn in a similar manner and be able to process and understand concepts better (maybe. I'm not sure if it really works that way.)
Hi there, and thanks for the question! Honestly you should see some of my earlier stories lol, I would write random short stories and poetry even when I was really young (as long as I can remember, really) just to get out some creativity, and although it wasn’t really good it made me happy and I just kept on practicing until I got better. I think that’s really the biggest thing about writing, like giving yourself grace to practice and become better. I don’t think anyone is just naturally good at writing—authors have to learn how to convey the weird little thoughts in their head through practice lol. But I think feedback also helped a lot, whether it be from editors, friends or commenters.
My first audience was my family when I’d read the little short story drabbles I wrote on road trips (my dad travelled for work so we’d often drive between two states) and hear how they liked it. I would also tell them stories until they fell asleep (not the most encouraging lol, but at least I was getting ideas out there) at night sometimes. Point is that I think the first step is loving the craft even if you’re not the best at it yet and learning to actually enjoy the creativity. If you love it enough then it’ll give you the drive to get through the rough drafts and the tedious process of learning punctuation and phrasing and proper grammar and whatnot, and over time you’ll get better with practice. Also don’t be afraid to talk with and collaborate with other budding creatives—at least in my experience I’ve seen that most people who love and are learning the same things as you are more than willing to give constructive feedback and cheer you on. I hope this helps and I’m sure you’ll come out with something amazing! :D
How do you find the motivation to write so much so often?
Hey there, Anon!
I guess there’s a couple things that contribute. For starters, I always say that my favorite writing hack is probably listening to a song that fits your story, then coming up with an imaginary AMV for the song, then using one of the scenes from the AMV in your story. Idk but it works for me lol! I’ve gotten a lot of cool scenes that way.
Another things is that for me writing is seriously a great escape from life, so if I’m feeling overwhelmed or want to avoid a situation I’ll escape into my mind—or escape to my computer to write lol. Being able to not only process my own emotions but also put myself into my character’s shoes (I do project a lot but I also do my best to write emotional scenes on things I haven’t experienced) is very therapeutic and helps me calm down. Hehe I’ve been really emotionally constipated so writing also helps me feel something, and that encourages me to write more often. I highly recommend writing (or really any creative expression like art or theatre or dance or something) to work on yourself and improve your mental state.
So yeah, in conclusion I have some writing hacks that keep me from writers block and it’s also so, so important for my mental health. It’s such an incredible escape, so no matter how hard times get or if you’re overwhelmed you know that you have somewhere else to go mentally. Hope that answers your question, and thanks for the ask! ^^
(Also shoutout to commenters, because although I would write anyway, comments help me stay motivated on a particular fic. So thank you!)
So for Crescents Ascent, what does your writing process look like? I’ve been following it from around chapter 4ish and it still absolutely baffles me how quickly you update.
It’s awesome and so, so so cool but huh????
How do you do it??? Witchcraft??? Can I have some???
(Do you have everything already written out? Writing a couple chapters in advance? Somehow writing one chapter every 2 days and then dropping it only to pick it up two days later to write another full one before dropping it again?? TELL ME YOUR SECRETS PLEEEEEASE!!)
Hey there!
Yeah, I usually have at least a couple written in advance at each time, but inspiration does fluctuate so that’s why I try to always be ahead lol! Right now I’m not too far ahead, but I do have Chapters 43 and 44 written. But I also do write A LOT (like maybe an hour or two a day) and keep notebooks with me so that when I get any idea that could POSSIBLY work I can write or sketch it down then add it to the actual chapters later (Fun fact: I literally had to get a rolling backpack at college because the weight of all my notebooks was tearing it apart at the seams 😅)
And I do have a rough plan of the whole fic that I can refer back to whenever I get stuck. I find that really helpful because if you know the ending of a story then your middle will always have a direction to head in, and the same goes for the moral or message you’re trying to convey through the plot. And I might go to bed at 1-3am every night just because I love the silence and peace of nighttime (It’s a habit I learned since I was about fifteen) so that also gives me extra time to write lol!
I hope that answers your question lol! I guess if I had a little summary I’d say I commit to writing SOMETHING every day, even if it’s a scene idea or a drawing or something small like that (For example, in Crescent’s Ascent I had the whole fire scene written about a month before it was used just because it came to my mind and I wrote it down just in case). It really adds up! And then other little things like making a playlist to inspire you for the fic and moving around if you feel stuck on some part really helps so you can at least keep moving. Hope this little ramble helps, and thanks for the ask!
Hello, I'm a writer who is looking for motivation so I wanted to ask you: how do you manage to write so quick and well at the same time? /genq
Hope you don't mind the question, have a nice day :) /gen
-☆
Hey there!
If I’m ever looking for motivation I typically try to think back to the reason I write my stories. Yes, they are either about mutant turtles or hedgehogs, but I also try to include themes of healing from abuse or mental health. Most of my stories (unless tagged otherwise lol, yes I’m looking at you Second Chance and Boy Who Had to Grow Up TvT) will have happy endings and I HOPE that it gives voice to certain feelings that are hard to articulate as well as—combined with the happy ending—will give people hope if anyone is struggling with the same things I did. I know it’s a bit serious but honestly that’s my biggest motivation since I am a firm believer in how much stories can inspire people! So yes I write a lot of angst, but it’s typically a vent to process my own emotions or also a way to attempt to put words to things. (So if you’re thinking ‘ABBIE your fics HURT to read what are you talking about???’ I’ll just say that when I was struggling it was really helpful for me to see stories of people healing even if it was fiction because it gave me hope that I could do the same 🙏)
OR on a happier note I also just love writing and am passionate about my stories! I appreciate that you think I write quick AND well lol, and I guess when writing I try to always be in the mindset of my characters to try to get their voices and mannerisms right (is that obvious? idk sorry if it is but it helps me ^^). A couple more tips and tricks I use can be found in THIS ASK about my writing process, and idk if I’ve covered this but I like making a playlist for my characters, listening to a song and then making a music video about it in my head. I then use those scenes in the made-up music video in my fics! It’s like the long way to finding scenes but it works really well lol!
Okay that was really long but I really hope that helps! Thanks for the ask, and if you had a more specific question that I didn’t get answered in this then feel free to send another ask ;)
