#character plot

[sugar-queen12]

Y’all know that song “Running up that hill” by Kate Bush, normally people make it that the character wants to trade places with the person in danger in order to save them, but what if the person in danger wanted to trade places with the other character, what if when they say running up that hill it’s not in order to reach the one in danger what if its the person in danger running up the hill in a struggle to try and get away from the danger.

[au-yuukiemcee]

~So Far Malleus is winning the Love Interest battle, but there's still time to vote.~ -Malleus and Yuuki were a couple in her previous life, but words were exchanged and their relationship ended. Vanessa's hesitant to love again, especially to the same man who did her wrong so many times before. Lonely, and regretting his actions, Malleus wants to move on and close the distance between him and Vanessa who is determined to keep him at arm's length.

[pocaluzwrites]

Feedback on my Character Plot

So i've heard great feedback from one of my sensitivity readers about the plot line of one of my characters, Youssef Magnuson. He is a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder, or at least close to what the disorder is. My story is set in an urban fantasy setting and so there will be some differences with how it is portrayed in the story, and it is not explicitly stated that he has the disorder. I wanted to portray someone with DID and what it's like, but did not want readers to self diagnose and romanticize the illness, hence I went for the sensitivity reader route besides my intensive research.

[monsterkinkmeme]

I have no problem coming up with monster characters, but figuring out ways to start relationships, character plots, and general settings are my kryptonite. Any suggestions on how to get better at that?

So, fair warning this is going to be a long post of each of the mods writing out their process. While we’re going to be similar in some aspects, other parts will be different.

You’ll find that writing prompts such as the ones provided on this blog will help you get started with the theme and the plot.

Mod Elizabeth: I have two processes, one is for short stories and one is for when I write books. I do the basic “Who, What, When, Where, and lastly, How?” strategy at first while I brainstorm then go from there.

For short stories I pick the relationship first and I often build around that relationship because it’s going to be the focus of the story, especially in romance or fluff pieces that I usually write. Most of the time in writing you’re watching the character respond to the plot. Short stories are no different.

After I’ve decided the relationship, I decide the characters personalities. Are they anxious, confident? Do they have ticks? Are they chill? These kinds of things and then I go for the plot based on that. What do the characters need to overcome? Then I think, in real life how would this type of person overcome this particular problem. How would they react? Most of the stuff in between after this is just me writing on the fly.

For books, I’m hella strategic. When I write books, I calculate out how many pages I needed per chapter while I brainstormed characters and ideas. Each character had a sheet of their personalities and their hang ups and backstory. What made them the person they were and why they are still a certain way. So, once I have personalities, I develop a plot line. My plot lines are done chapter by chapter where I’ve written out the exact main points per chapter and what needs to happen to get to the climax and then how I wrap it up at the end. Getting yourself a plot diagram that you can write on will be really helpful.

This works for me, but I’ve encountered plenty of writers who figure out the problem and the solution first and then build the world around that. Really, it ends up finding a process that works for you because my process might not work for you, but it really works for me :)

Mod Traveler: I’m not going to lie, half the time I’m flying by the seat of my pants. I usually have an outline, a basic plot, and a character, but everything else I mostly make up off the cuff as I’m writing it. I tend to find inspiration from many sources. I wrote a story based on a drawing I once saw, and on a stuffed animal I once owned.

I also know what my strengths and weaknesses are, and I play to my strengths. I’m bad at action sequences, so I just don’t write them. I’m really good at dialogue and character development, so I write a lot of that. As far as developing a plot, Elizabeth’s “Who, what, when, where, why, and how” is a very good way to go about it. Make a chart, kind of like you would in D&D. Give your character a name, a short background, a driving force, a strength, a weakness, a character flaw. Add as much detail as you need to to jumpstart the creative process.

Here’s a few links you might find helpful:

Character Chart Worksheet

The Ultimate Novel Writing Resource Masterlist

Writing Reference: Characters

Hopefully this helps!

Mod Aelia: I’ve dispensed some writing advice on my own blog that tends to revolve around the theme of “just go for it and do what’s fun” (Getting Started in the Community & Don’t Doubt Yourself) but I don’t think I have ever really talked about the “how to do the thing” with writing. Settings aren’t my strong point, but I tend to try to think about what sort of story I want to tell. Do I want to tell a high fantasy story, or something more modern, or a sci-fi story? That’s going to determine a lot of other things for me, so I tend to start with what sounds the most fun on a given day. D&D and other RPG handbooks are actually great resources for this kind of thing. There are a ton of worldbuilding resources out there, but don’t feel like you need a fully fleshed out world to write a great short story.

At that point you also want to decide what you want to write. If you’re writing romance, are you writing the meet cute & beginning of the relationship? Or do you think you’d prefer to jump into the middle of an established relationship? Once you decide that, you can start to figure out your plot, and what you’re building toward. 

If you want to write a slow burn romance, your key point to figure out is “why aren’t the characters together now?” which is going to be the question you need to keep coming back to. Remember that any plot that can be solved with a simple conversation is going to be frustrating to the reader. Make it more interesting than that. 

Ultimately though, write the story you want to read. Have fun with it.

Mod Ghosti: I’ve got the tough gig, coming in last after some top quality advice, and I would say that my approach is most similar to Elizabeth’s. Work out who they are and what they do, and then how they might meet. It doesn’t have to be super unusual: like ‘is it a friend’s birthday and one of them gets dragged along to a bar’ or ‘are they in the same class at uni’, or you can think about ways to put a little twist on it, so, sticking with the ‘same class’ idea, ‘are they both attending night classes for something, and if so, what’s their reason?’

It is hard to think up plots and motivations etc, and it’s ok to take your time and maybe feel a bit stuck, but sitting down with a pen and paper (or whatever your preferred form of verbal doodling is) and just thinking about what they do in their daily lives that could cause them to overlap, can be a good place to start. What do you want from these characters? Why are you wanting to write them anyway? Do you have an image of them doing something (it can be just a tiny flash, a one frame only kind of image)? If yes, then build a story around that…

Anyway, good luck, and I hope that was in some way helpful!

[yaliteraturebookshelf]

Screenwriting tutorial: Basic character construction | lynda.com

A useful look at creating characters for screenplays.

[underopenskies]

Blast To The Past

@scientistofthevoid

Weston slipped his coat on over his shoulder, his house keys in his pocket as he slipped his shoes on at the door. “Gil, Gabe! I’m off to work!”

Gilbert poked his head around the corner of the kitchen, peeking at him with an excited grin. “Nyeh! It’s your first day at the new lab! Have fun, brother!”

“It’s science! Of course it’s going to be fun!” He gives a laugh, and steps out the door, flitting off to work before Gabriel could poke his head around and wish him off.

“He forgot his lunch again. Looks like we’ll have to bring it to him in a couple hours.”

Weston scuttled along and let himself into the lab once he reached it. He enjoyed that it was a few degrees warmer inside than it was outside.

Once inside, he shook the snow from his loafers, and gave a soft whistle. “Hello?” There wasn’t anyone immediately out front for him to get directions from. “Is anyone here? I’m Doctor Weston Dexter Gaster, transferring from Laboratory Sector Seven?”

[shirtlesslizard]

18 Summers ago– Age 7 [Korekaze’s First Entry.]

Mother told me I need this journal. Father too.

They said this will improve my handwriting in both their … Languages? Some words they use are still hard to know.

They like to speak in their own which often is confusing… Why can’t they pick one? I know I’m both of them… I can see it on my scales. But… it’s hard.

Father said I’ll be watching him hunt today. There’s a sickly tiger that has to be put down or she might scare the other healthier ones. He wants me to watch how it’s done.

It was hot today, but there she was, about to attack one of the other kin that wander in the grounds. Father was quick, he took her down so easily with his bow and arrow. A mark on her head, and two strong shots to her heart and lungs.

I was told to skin her fur since I have been getting used to handling a hunting knife. As I did that he took the arrows out of her body.

I felt bad for her… She didn’t have to die like this. But if she kept living– other kin of hers would suffer. Father looked sad too as he shot those arrows.

“What’s done is done” he said. That is until we heard a small mew, there was a cub. Just a few weeks old… The little beast was blind in one eye. I was afraid we would have to kill him too because he only had one good eye. Father didn’t though.

He took the cub home with us. Mother was happy to see us with a new family member.

I named him Katame because he had one eye. I like calling him Kata as a nickname. He’s a fun cub to play with! I hope Kata will grow big and strong and take good care of his kin once he’s ready. The other people from my father’s clan are happy to care for this cub once he gets bigger.

The next few pages were recorded weekly… The growth and changes on the tiger he once kept. As Koke flipped through the pages did she find one with a worn leather patch of tiger skin– attached to the page. The year it was… When Korekaze was 10 summers old—when he went hunting for the first time.

I had to kill him… My closest friend…

He showed those same symptoms like his mother when she grew ill…

It was my rite of passage too—Slay a striped beast and earn your first scar.  I earned two—On my left hip and on my right shoulder.  I could not take him down so easily… I was hesitant. He ran off from our village and started to attack his kin blindly.

With blade in my hand did I slay him after a long struggle. I could not hold back my tears as he laid there motionless.  Please wake up was all I said—No response.

I became a man that day… But at the cost of his life…

The clan welcomed me warmly while my parents held me close knowing I was in tears… It’s never right killing a beast… Let alone one you raised for so long.

Kata… Forgive me. I took what remained of you to be a part of my journal.

I will never forget you…