#general character

[the-passionate-writer-blog]

General Character

Name: Evan Wu

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Nationality: Chinese-American

Appearance: Messy black hair, blue eyes, extremely thin, 5′8 and 110 lbs

Personality: Shy, quiet, vulnerable, nervous, easily taken advantage of. He used to be confident, charismatic, popular, friendly, smart, and approachable.

Family: Mother - she is very concerned for her only son and proud of his accomplishments Father - constantly on business trips around the world

Notes: -He used to be the perfect golden boy; straight A student, honor roll, student body president, star athlete, and very popular. -Grew up to a wealthy family and lived a perfect life until he was kidnapped -By the time police found him, he was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and his kidnapper had completely brainwashed him before killing herself -He values his friends dearly and will silently make them hot chocolate if he senses that they are feeling down, even though he himself hates hot chocolate; he knows how everyone prefers their hot chocolate -He is dating Lacy Young -His closest friend, other than Lacy, is Daphne -Only Lacy can really bring him out of his shell, but her other personalities make him go back -Always felt the need to make his parents proud, but he feels that he has shamed his family and refuses to see them, which breaks their hearts -Favorite movie is “Remember the Titans” and other sports movies

[the-passionate-writer-blog]

General Character

Name: Lacy Young

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Nationality: Irish

Appearance: Scarlet colored hair, emerald green eyes, pale skin, scrawny, some freckles on her nose. 5′7 and 110 lbs

Personality: Lacy has MPD (Multiple Personalities Disorder) or DID (Disassociative Identity Disorder). Lacy - cheerful, friendly, kind, flirtatious Cornelia - manipulative, calculating, cunning, ambitious Odette - tsundere-ish, easily embarrassed Ellie - yandere-ish, crazy, possessive Melody - sweet, innocent, motherly, overbearing

Family: None - she is an orphan

Notes: -She was born in Ireland and immigrated to America -No memory of her parents; was abandoned when she was two years old -Loves arts (painting, sculpting, sketching, etc.) -Boyfriend is Evan Wu, and all of her personalities love him in some way -Best friends with Daphne Beaumont; they balance each other out, especially since Daphne is the only one who is amused with having Ellie around -She has a slight Irish accent -Loves watching Rom-Coms (Especially Julie Andrews, Sandra Bullock, etc.)

[the-passionate-writer-blog]

General Character

Name: Daphne Beaumont

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Nationality: French-American

Appearance: Wavy blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, 5′2 and 120 lbs

Personality: Sarcastic, cynical, dark sense of humor, sharp tongue, painfully blunt, outspoken, cold, introvert, constant deadpan, emotionally detached, good listener, intelligent, not at all encouraging or optimistic. Essentially in a constant state of “no”.

Family: Father - in the air force and constantly away from home Mother - suffers from violent mental breakdowns and episodes Sister - six years younger and admires her older sister dearly

Notes: -Is struggling with depression, but will completely deny it -Loves foreign soap operas (Spanish and Korean Dramas mostly) and she’ll totally deny it -Will only eat rocky road ice cream -Lover of books and literature (Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, etc.) -Best friends (though she won’t admit it) with Lacy Young -Refuses to admit that she really loved Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, etc. -Enjoys to ironically watch horror movies -She loves her sister very much, even if it doesn’t seem like so at first -Hates it when people yell at her; she will recoil and be unresponsively silent -When she is angry, she becomes scarily calm and quiet- even more so than usual

[youreallwrite]

Can a character want to be saved by someone stronger but still be a strong character themselves as long as they're developed and have goals they're working toward? Or would they end up hated by the audience?

Hey nonnie!

This is a really HUGE issue for me.

A strong character does not mean the character has to be physically, intellectually or emotionally strong. I am so fed up of DAH STRONG FEMALEEE character having to be abrasive, a leather-clad badass, or a super emotionless matriarch pulling the strings. No, a strong character can be weak, they can be flawed. A strong character simply means they are real: full of positives and negatives, full of layers. 

It’s perhaps not the most natural thing to want to be saved by someone strong. To APPRECIATE being saved by someone strong is another matter. But to want it is still an interesting character feature; whether it is a dangerous thought process or not. 

So, in short yes. Your character can be a strong character and want this. They can be a strong character and be utterly incapable or unwilling to defend themselves. It’s all about their depth, and how they develop through the story. They don’t need to come out the other end a typical hero, defending themselves and everyone else, or anything, but they do need to change. Because people change, for better or worse.

Good luck!

[youreallwrite]

Hi I recently noticed that my main character shares a lot of similarities with a well known character from tv and books. They're like mirror images of each other. I can't change those traits because they're core traits but its greatly damaged my confidence and my interest in my book. Do you have any advice on differentiating between and oc and an established character that share a lot of similarities? I want my oc to be original and their own person.

Hey there!

I actually had this problem recently in a short story I was writing and thinking of turning into a big project. I was writing a Princess, who happened to have platinum hair, start off shy and unsure, if a bit entitled, and become a badass. She happened to have dragons. Now, she had Dragons made of ether, for one, but… It just didn’t dawn on me that she was very similar to Dany until about Chapter Two. 

I don’t feel too worried though, because my story is totally different. And to be quite honest, the idea of a Dragon Princess is not entirely very original. I think that’s the first thing you need to look at. How unique are these traits that you are sharing with the established character? Try to keep the net broad.

For example, to use something from famous media; 

Creating a downtrodden family man who slowly gives in to his darker urges and becomes a monster, at first doing it to help his family, but slowly it becomes clear this is who he is now. That’s not bad. That’s been done, a tonne, and can be done again just as wonderfully. 

However, if you THEN make that guy a Chemistry teacher, or any kind of teacher of secondary school, give him some horrible disease that threatens his life, and maybe an ex-pupil partner. Yeah, that’s getting sketchy. 

If you are very worried about it, I’d take away traits that do not define who your character is. For example, I could easily just change my Princess’ hair colour and instantly the connection is not as evident or worrying. It let’s me keep my mind off it. I’m not going too, but you could try that. 

It’s just about balance. 

I think the main thing to worry about is making that character a real person, who is engaging with and reacting to your own story. If your plot is wonderful, no one will mind and probably no one will notice. If your character is their own person, they won’t be like anyone else. 

Good luck! 

[youreallwrite]

The ‘Headcanon Post’ Problem: Life doesn’t end at 25/30.

Lately, I have been seeing a tonne of posts titled ‘My ____ Headcanons!’ Basically, replace the blank space with a character or a ship, and you get the idea. They’re headcanons about characters---usually minor characters the fandom wish could be expanded, or next. gen characters, or ships that we never get to find out a lot about. 

And they’re super fun, and interesting, and I have no quarms about them whatsoever. 

Well, apart from the fact that they only go up until the character is about twenty-five years old. 

For example, there’s a post going round right now about Teddy Lupin and Victorie Weasley. It stems from their births, until--- well, you guessed it, sometime in the twenties. It has really great ideas, but like so other many headcanon posts I see, it ends when the characters are young; as if getting married, getting that star job or popping out a few kids is the pivotal goal of their life or relationship. 

As a Writer, never do this. 

People’s lives do not span 20, or 30 years. People’s relationships aren’t cemented in happy love forever just because they had a kid. We are all living later and later, and yet media tells us that our lives should be over, or cemented, or passed on to others by time we are 25, or, at the latest, 30 years-old. 

This isn’t the way it is in the real world. Everyone still has dreams and goals, wants, problems... And these things are just as important as yours, as a young person. Headcanons for adults, the middle aged and the elderly stages of a characters life are a huge part of who they are and I implore you, weather a writer of original content or a fanfiction/headcanon creator, to think about them A TONNE more often. 

So, here’s some ‘Older’ character questions;

Do they grow old gracefully, or take advantage of their freedom to be grouchy/rude/undignified?

Do they dye their hair when the first grey comes?

Did they have a midlife crisis?

Do they like to embarrass their kids? 

What atributes from their teenage years have they kept through into adulthood?

At what age, if ever, did they begin to feel like a proper adult, able to clean, pay taxes and be independent?

How do they finish the sentence ‘Back in my day ______.’

Do they still have the same hobbies at 40/50, that they did when they were 20? If so, what are they? If not, why not?

Which friends do they keep in contact with and for how long?

If they never got married or had children, how do they feel about that? What do others say about that?

What’s their approach to parenting?

Have they ever been through a divorce? 

Would you say they had one true love of their life, or many?

Where are they living at 54 years of age?

Have they ever had a chance to pass on some advice to another person based on a direct life event from their past?

Do they ever confess to a deep secret they have hidden nearly all their life? If so, what? Do they come out? Transition? Admit a crime? At what age?

How often do they ‘get some’ from their partner(s)/lover(s)? 

Have their political views changed?

What would they do if invited to join a club/group where all the members were at least 20 years younger than themselves? 

What hasn’t changed about them when they are 60, compared to 16? 

[youreallwrite]

How do you write/handle a male character that prefers to wear female clothing and look female without making it into a fetish? They're not transgender. They just prefer to look and dress that way.

Hey, anon.

I actually roleplay a character like this.

I tend to just roleplay him like… a person. 

And as long as you do that; you can’t really go wrong. He needs a personality, goals, habits, opinions. He needs a way of expressing himself separate from his dress sense. Just think of any people you know who have distinct personalities - someone shy. Are they shy because they wear a skirt? Nah. It’s just who they are. 

There’s too ways he could look at it;

As a hobby: It’s not a big deal. It’s what he likes to wear. 

As a lifestyle: It’s quite important to him. It’s who he is. People have to accept it as part of him. 

Then, what you have left to address are the other characters. People are likely to call him out, demean him and ask questions; depending on your world. They’ll likely ask why he does it, or ‘Do you want to be a girl then?’ Which is a good point to bring up the fact he’s quite happy being a boy. 

There are certain feminine stereotypes I would avoid if you are trying to make this not a fetish thing. The submissive cross dressing boy, would be one. Don’t have him be shy. Trust me, a shy boy wouldn’t be wearing a dress. Even if he wanted too. He wouldn’t risk being beaten up. 

If your male character has a love interest who is interested in or turned on by how he dresses; do not bring it up very early on. I’d work it in later. Like when you see your boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband/etc wearing something that makes them look sexy; it’s not at all why you love them, more just something passing to comment on. Steering clear of this would help it not seem like some fetish play. 

One final note;

Feminine clothes suck. They rarely have pockets. High heels are hard to fight in, lace get’s caught on stuff. It’s so annoying. He’d likely have these issues, too.