I'll never tire of the different ways people internalise and produce tools, heuristics and principles around writing. Hope to see some more stuff which challenges how I think and hopefully be able to relay it to other people who find it useful!
I had never liked my characters, so I started working on a new character creation system recently, and it turns out it's a lot like this, just somewhat simplified so far. One thing I'd add about consistency is that it's important for character arcs. If a character is consistently inconsistent, the character arc can look like simply some more inconsistency.
That's an excellent point, I completely agree! You have to have a very consistent image of your character in order to plan a development arc using their traits, etc. And that consistency helps the audience maintain a clear idea of the character so they can see and appreciate the character's growth or evolution along that development arc. Thank you for watching!
This is S-tier advice. I've seen a lot of creators, and it's a rare few who stand out as exemplary like this. Really looking forward to seeing more content. And you know what? It's for the same reasons that you've outlined. It's deep and insightful, but also tinged with the color of your own identity. Although I'm looking forward to whatever you make next I know that that's an utterly unhelpful suggestion. I'd take anything in regards to characters, especially the relationship between characters and the self. I feel like my own identity is rather multitudinous, and as I attempt to express myself through characters I realize that there's still much that I don't understand about myself. It's a very interesting study, but not at all conducive to getting writing done.
Thank you very much for your support and your kind words! I hope to be able to continue making helpful videos. What you've said about character and self is very interesting. I remember examining this link myself along my writing journey. At the time, as an experiment, I wrote a kind of prose poetry faux journal. The situation was fictional, the life was fictional, but the "I" writing the journal was meant to be me. And the aim was to examine myself and come to understand myself better. I, myself personally, wanted to avoid making the characters in my regular stories into too much of an examination or expression of self as I've found that this can limit my creative decision making. So I let this exercise be entirely that. I spent about two years writing this and I learned a lot about myself and about how to convey emotional identity with literary economy. It was also an excellent writing exercise as I forced myself to do at least one entry a week and focused a lot on my actual writing. I also saw my skill improve as I went along, both in terms of understanding myself -- and therefore other characters -- and in terms of my prose. I do intend to do a lot of videos in the future on characters, but I thought this suggestion might be helpful food for thought for you. Perhaps you could give it a try, if you're so inclined. Maybe it will be as helpful for you and is it was for me. Thank you again, and happy writing!
I'd love to hear more about character arcs, and how those would be weaved into the pacing/plot you talked about previously. Also, great videos, they're quite different from other videos of this kind that are out there.
Yes I very much look forward to making a video about character arcs... Or videos, honestly. There's so much to explore there! Thank you so much for watching! And for your support!
The lady who showed up at her doorstep is a much younger version of herself, and she now understands why that old lady was so shocked and kind all those years ago...
Hands down one of the best character videos I've ever seen. Very succinct, and very correct. Everything I've seen with very few exceptions peddles these cookie cutter, card board cut outs of similar character after similar character.
It's insane how much basic knowledge and how many important hints and spins on seemingly straighforward premises of character creation you managed to fit into a mere half-hour video. I've watched my fair share of writing advice videos, but your concise and logical way of putting things is something I've rarely seen elsewhere. I especially like your organic approach to creating characters, i.e. paying attention to the interplay of various traits and how strengths and weaknesses derive from one another, as well as your advice not to simply run down a checklist of non-relevant questions. For a beginner, this is a goldmine, but even experienced writers will glean something from this. Thank you for sharing, I'm looking forward to any future videos you might make!
Thank you very much for this comment! It means so much to me to know that my videos can be of help to other writers. I've always loved creating characters because the process was so organic and interesting. I hoped sharing that process with others would spread that enjoyment. Thank you again for your support, it means a lot!
Character creation has always been a bit of a difficult subject for me, but you explained it in a digestible way and broke it down into actionable steps that I'm going to be using as a template for all my characters. Thanks for the awesome content!
I'm so glad that my video was so helpful to you! I wish you the best of luck in your future character creation. And thank you so much for your support! Happy writing!
I’m around 5 minutes in and while I find you interesting to listen to, I do feel like it was a lot of what NOT to do and I almost clicked away. I felt a little overwhelmed, taking it in but not being able to imagine what the process might look like. As a complete beginner, I actually haven’t come across much of what you mentioned (questionnaires, interviews, archetypes). Just general feedback as a complete beginner so please don’t take me too seriously, I just look forward to seeing more of your valuable content. I felt your confidence and ability to explain conflicting concepts makes you stand out amongst the few videos I have seen. Thank you for sharing!
I love those AHA moments so much! I'm really glad my video had helpful information for you, thank you for taking the time to tell me in a comment, it really means a lot! Thank you for watching, and for your support! Happy writing!
Love your videos, thank you for posting. I’ve been having doubts about some of my characters and this video has helped settle those doubts. I didn’t follow character formulas, they just came alive as I was writing them. I only found out who these characters were towards the end of my novel 🤩
Thank you! It sounds like you had a good handle on it. Though it does help sometimes to hear someone else reinforce what you already know. I'm glad I could help! Thank you for watching! Good luck with your writing!
This is the kind of video that you have to watch (and want to watch) multiple times to fully assimilate all the concepts (oh look, another C) presented. Your style is so soothing and your editing and humor make watching very enjoyable. Congrats on gaining such momentum with the channel so quickly!
Thank you so much for your support and your kind words! I'm really glad that my video could help you. And thank you for the taking the time to provide your thoughts on the homework and polls! It really helps! Happy writing!
Loved it! This is exactly what I needed. Got the hero, but understanding his arch nemesis, his wife, is proving difficult. Going to try these suggestions immediately!
I would love to see a video on character weaknesses/disabilities and how to work them into a story. Your videos are so insightful and clever. Thank you for giving examples to your points, it’s easy to get a feel for the process!
Your videos are awesome ma'am. Thanks a lot for making such eye opening videos. Please make a detailed video on the development of characters or character arcs.
Thank you, and thank you for the support! I intend to. Characters arcs and characters in general are definitely going to be the subject of more than one video in the future. (Hopefully the near future!)
This video and your channel is wonderful! I am particularly fond of your editing. I take part in a recreation of Titanic's voyage every year and creating a fully fleshed out character for it is always a struggle for me. I would love to see videos about character development, character arcs and good dialogue!
Thank you! That sounds incredible! I've never heard of such a thing, what a delightful challenge! Those topics are very important to me, as well. They are very high on my list. It's wonderful to know that others would also be interested in talking about them! Good luck with your character creation this year, I hope it goes well! Thank you for watching!
I'm no writer, but coming up with stories and imaginary people makes me want to draw. It helps a lot with ideas in front of the blank page. I took a long art break, but the creative impulses have been back for a few months now. The itch to come up with a new character has been creeping up on me. So truly, this video had perfect timing and UA-cam algorithm didn't mess this one up.
Ah I so envy the ability to draw character designs! I've been trying to teach myself to draw in my free time so I can draw my own characters, just for myself. I've often heard that there's a lot of narrative and storytelling involved in planning a drawing, no matter how simple. It's wonderful to hear that my video could somehow help with that. Good luck character creating! And drawing (so envious)! Thank you for watching!
Thank you for another insightful video! You're one of the few channels that I actually come away with the fee feeling I learned something and a drive to try it out, rather the than empty advice with no guidance for application.
That's wonderful to hear! I'm really glad my videos can help you, that's an incredible feeling. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Good luck with your writing, and thank you for watching!
Another banger! You've made 35 minutes feel like five! Character sheets and archetypes always clashed against my artistic sensibilities. Also the bit about only reading in your genre and following industry standard. All that advice is given with good intent, but it only served to make me feel like some literary orphan if that makes sense. Unkept and ill-mannered. But how did all those archetypes and formulas come to be without experimentation? Your advice makes so much more sense. Again, thank you so much for putting it so succinctly and giving form to arbitrary concepts! This story and the one from your previous video were actually compelling enough to make me want to read them, lol. I'll be working on that homework now! :)
I agree, I think people are genuinely trying to be helpful when they provide that advice. And in their defense, I think a lot of the big industry literary agents have to approach the job like managers of product development. But I'm like you, it made me feel very out of place. My problem was that I didn't particularly like a lot of the books in my target genre and was, in fact, writing largely because I wanted to "write the book I wanted to read" and all that. I confess I spent some time wondering if I was properly suited for this whole writing thing. Luckily I made it through that phase. Good luck on your homework! I hope it helps. And thank you for watching!
This was so amazingly helpful, thank you so much! With both this video and the previous one, I feel like my third eye is slowly opening lol. I’ve always wondered why I found those typical plot and character formulas so frustrating and crushing. Anything I tried created with them was always so flat and dead, and it always felt like pulling teeth. I thought something was fundamentally wrong with me, like I was just never ment to create. But using the things you’ve said has really unlocked it and now I’m actually beginning to create something that works, that’s functional, and also fills me with life. Every connection I make with my characters and the story, it slowly piecing together. I’m so happy. Thanks so much!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment. It means the world to me that my videos could help bring you back to writing. I remember going through that same struggle, being unsure whether or not I "had what it takes" to be a writer. Everything that seemed to be innate knowledge to other writers eluded me completely and I could never make sense of their somewhat abstract, esoteric attempts to explain. I once heard a writing teacher say that the way you can tell if someone is a writer is that they write. If you love stories, then you can create them. Anyone can learn to do anything. I wish you the best of luck in your writing endeavors. And thank you for watching!
I love these style of videos, breaking down concepts to make a character are always great. What would be cool is if your video uploads “follow” the creation of a story and characters leading up to a finished story. They are amazing either way, and I love how eloquent you are, it makes the video thoroughly enjoyable and engaging, thank you so much.🙏
That would be such a fun series of videos, what a great suggestion! Now I want to find a way to do that... Thank you very much for this comment, and thank you for watching!
Please keep this up. I find your videos among the best I've come across. Your previous video, as well as this one, opened up a whole lot of potential and possibilities for my fantasy story. I particularly thought the advice on characters' flaws was brilliant. Once you explained that, I instantly came up with much better flaws for my main heroes. The multiple mini-arcs advice also helped a lot, and it makes the writing/story more complicated, but more manageable at the same time. Definitely more interesting too. In short, your approach/advice feels out of the box, but at the same time it makes so much sense
Thank you very much for this comment! It really does mean a lot to me to know that my videos are helping other writers. That's one of the things I really like about the approach of mini-arcs. I feel like I can create something a little more complex but that I've got a strategy to plan it well. I'm glad the note about flaws was helpful. When I realized that myself, I found that it made defining and understanding my characters so much easier. Thank you again for watching! Good luck with your story, and happy writing!
Another super helpful video - thank so much for this. I especially liked how you explained where character "flaws" come from, as opposed to "my character is clumsy - that's her flaw!" I would absolutely love to have you go through character arcs. Fantastic!!
Thank you, I'm glad it was able to help you! I'm really looking forward to making a video (or videos) about character arcs. That's really high on my list. Thanks for watching!
I don’t know if it’s the colors or the lighting but you just look like a well done character design. I don’t really know how to put it into words but for whatever reason your appearance stood out to me in a “these colors are nice” kinda way. I think it’s a combo of the lighting and the different whites contrasting with red hair. Dunno it’s not something I’ve ever seen before on a real person but the feeling was immediate.
I subscribed to your channel because of the last video - it’s was incredibly insightful for my own narrative. Can’t wait to see what this one has to offer
Next video votes: (Yes, I checked the list) 1. Character arcs 2. Using character development as plot development 3. The truth about creating conflict and tension And of course, thanks for the video. :3
Thank you very much for taking the time to give me your votes! Number 1 is definitely one of the top on my list. Numbers 2 and 3 are videos I'm really looking forward to making but I wasn't sure if, when I did, anyone would be interested. So thank you for answering that question! And thank you for your support, and for watching!
Hearing you mention Mei Changsu completely caught me off-guard! It's so rare for me to see examples from media less popular over here in the west. Consider me subscribed!
I couldn't help myself, really. Nirvana In Fire is a big favorite of mine. I'm always looking for a way to work it into a conversation. There's so much incredible storytelling in China (and South Korea and Japan and...!), and I'll follow good storytelling anywhere. I hope more people come to discover the wonderful stories that are out there (starting with Nirvana In Fire, of course). Thank you for watching, and for your support!
@@The-Second-Story It was so refreshing to see. I'm the same. Eveyone says "read widely" and then only list off western stories as examples in their videos, it was great to see someone actually "reading" widely.
Nice to meet you! Love this video. Great way to explain character creation. I'm prepping for NaNo, and I'm a pantser... but I am putting effort into creating better characters, so finding this video is great timing.
Thank you! Nice to meet you, too. I wish you luck in your November writing efforts! And I'm glad that my video could help you with your characters. Good luck and happy writing!
Thank you so much for the breakdown on creating interesting characters. I recently discovered your channel, and I love it. Please keep the videos coming!
You're naturally funny, you're gorgeous, you give solid advice and you're articulate. If anything, you're like an underrated page-turner book. Now, I'm not saying this because your comment section says so, but I really mean it when I say to you to never stop making these videos. They're great, and I hope the algorithm shines upon your work. The way you explained character flaws is brilliant. I never thought of it that way, because I thought flaws were just stereotypical negative traits. I'll put into action what you've said to the next character I'm going to be writing. The only nitpick I have is that your style of making videos may be long and may sound you're rambling to some low attention andies. It's not a problem really, but perhaps you might consider UA-cam shorts. As for the recommendation, I'm dying to hear what you have to say about worldbuilding now that you've explained characters and pacing very well. Sorry about the long comment lol, but I hope it could fuel your drive to continue UA-cam. Overall, brilliant video and please continue pumping them helpful videos. That's all. Take care and good luck! Subscribed and made the notification bell white!
I'm very glad that my video could help you, especially with character flaws. I find that point to be particularly effective in making characters seem realistic. It's great for antagonistic characters, too, because then you can see in their personality or development where they went wrong. Which makes them seem more human and real without necessarily making them sympathetic. I understand what you're saying about my tendency to be long-winded. Unfortunately, my videos are what occurs after I've pared myself down quite a bit. It's just a tendency of mine. I'd rather over-explain than be unclear for the sake of brevity. Though I am aware of the tendency, yes. Maybe I can gradually work on it. That said, I don't think we should worry too much about people with low attention spans. I think more and more people are training themselves to a higher attention span and they enjoy longer content. Perhaps catering to those who can't sit still for two minutes at a time isn't the best policy in general. Worldbuilding is one of my favorite topics! I really hope to start a series of videos on that soon. I love worldbuilding and I hoped people would be interested in videos on that, so thank you for mentioning it! And thank you for watching and for taking the time to write this comment with your thoughts. It's very encouraging and helpful. Take care, and happy writing!
On the topic of flaws. I see so many new writers struggle to make a flawed character because they are beaten over the head with verisimilitude and how relatable their character is. "The more flawed the character; the more I as a reader can relate." I see this over and over. And while having a complicated characters with some issues is great, too many times it becomes this painting session where new writers grab the widest paint brush possible and slather flaw after flaw onto their wide-eyed protagonist because, a "UA-camr told me to." They end up with a character that is so debilitated by their chronic issues that they are a hot mess. Of course, this is all dependent on the type of story and character. If were talking epic fantasy, where we need a larger-than-life hero that can take on dragons, then maybe we don't need a raging alcoholic that beats his kids because they got a "D" in math. But if we're talking about a random guy that runs into a burning building... now we have something to ground our expectation to in terms of realism. A interesting character study is in the 1992 film, "Hero." It's not the best film ever made, but it brings home the idea of a complicated protagonist, warts and all.
I do believe that the idea of "flawed and unlikable = relatable" is a fallacy and one that I find baffling. Every human being on the face of the earth is flawed, sure. But that's not what makes them relatable. That's like saying that all characters with noses are relatable. Or all characters who were born of woman are relatable. I strongly disagree with the common conception that writers ought to make characters more morally flawed in order to let them be more relatable to their audience. And I suspect that a great deal of the time this is being done in an effort to make the characters "interesting." A larger than life hero who takes on dragons can have large flaws, certainly, but they have to be balanced to the character and the story. Moral complexity is a lazy shortcut to character complexity. And very few writers nowadays understand the psychology of what they're packing into their characters. The larger than life hero needs flaws that are appropriate to his character path and his story. The random guy who runs into the building needs to crafted with equal care. Realism is possible in both cases. But everything, even realism, needs to serve the story. That said, I think there are certain very, very popular franchises these days that have stood out from the crowd by little more than creating a cast of largely unlikable characters. Many writers seeking to imitate this supposed key to "success" have wrongly interpreted "unlikable" characters as "complex, high-brow, and realistic" characters. Which is patently false. Flawed but likable is a really hard needle to thread in character creation. But it's a lot more important than people think. Anyone can create a horrible, wretched, morally bankrupt main character. It takes real skill to craft a character who is flawed but still likable. (By the way, thank you so much for watching!)
Thank you for this comment! It means a lot to know that my videos are helping. I've got more in the works, but hopefully I can gradually get a little faster at the process, we'll see. In the meantime, thank you so much for your support!
I was looking forward for your next video. Your approach is the most interesting and genuine I came across and the way you present it is of a very pleasant kind of soft. Once again, thank you.
I was just looking at your channel the other day, wondering if there's any new content. I'll definitely do a rewatch and take notes, although I liked the style of your last video more. Looking forward to future videos. Thanks for sharing! 🌼
Thanks for the advice about creativity, I needed it since I always try to come up with a fully new idea that’s never been done before, great video, you look amazing btw
Wow, your channel is a GOLDMINE. I’m so happy I stumbled upon your wealth of information, I hope you never stop uploading. I’m curious about your opinions on writing good romance? I’m struggling to write romance that has a point, and builds a natural progression. My attempts at writing romance comes off more like a horrible fan fiction. 🤣 (Nothing wrong with a good fanfic though)
I really enjoy making these videos, so it means a lot that you've found them so helpful. Romance is not my strong suit. I have added romantic sideplots into stories before, but I've never written a story that had romance as its main plot. Good romance, in my opinion (and in my limited experience with the genre), must indeed have a point. You're very right about that. I think one of the keys to writing good romance is to weave the growing relationship into a non-romantic plot in an integral way. The first thing that comes to mind is the South Korean drama Crash Landing On You. (if you haven't seen it, I suggest watching it to study it, taking notes. It might be a perfectly constructed romance) The main plot, for all intents and purposes, was Seri trying to get home after crash landing in North Korea. During which plot she learned to navigate the dangerous waters of North Korea and developed bonds with everyone she met there and became part of the life of the entire village where she was hiding. Their lives and daily struggles were often more important to the plot -- and to her -- than whether or not she ended up with the guy. Which made her, as a human being, a lot more relatable and likable. He, naturally, came to love that part of her, too. Meanwhile the romance with Jung Hyuk built very organically from that. It developed almost despite their wishes and accentuated the really beautiful parts of their existing personalities (remember: love doesn't change who you are, it intensifies who you are). They gave each other strength to handle the main plot (helping Seri escape North Korea). I personally believe that the most meaningful romances have in common two things: first, they are built into a non-romantic plot. And second, the main characters (the romantic couple) are not the center of everything that happens. I'm not sure if that latter point makes sense. A big problem with fanfic-esque romance is that it writes the main character as if she (or he, but usually she), is actually the most important person in everyone else's lives. This makes the plot come off highly imbalanced and often even unrealistic. Hinging the whole story on will-they-or-won't-they almost always results in a boring story. Making the main character too central to everyone's lives makes her (or him) accidentally come across self-absorbed. Romance storylines are meant, in a sense, to showcase the heart of the main characters. If they never have to put other people before themselves then the heart on display feels colder. Oof, I'm sorry that was so long. In the future, I might consider trying my hand at a romance video. But like I said, when it comes to writing, I know the least about romance. Good luck on writing yours, though! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'd love to help if I can. Thank you for your support!
Again, I am so happy I came across your channel ( I say again because I saw your previous video an hour ago hahaha). I really feel the way you are approaching these subjects feels compatible and helpful and natural to me and the way I would like to go about doing things, or how I even instinctively started approaching them in my amateur, hatching pre-beginner ways. Also, strange things happening out in the forest.. I was immediately hooked 😅😅
Thank you! I'm glad the process was helpful, and thanks for letting me know it helped you. I'm never completely sure what will help and what won't. Thank you for watching, and for your support!
Would love the home work idea, I’m not a writer by any means, and I’m writing my story so the land I created isn’t just a map on a page, but an actual place to be explored. So the 2 videos I’ve watched so far have been extremely helpful!
My hope is that my videos can be helpful for storytellers of all kinds. It sounds like you're a worldbuilder. I love worldbuilding! Creating maps and building histories and mythologies around those places... Thank you for taking the time to tell me your thoughts about homework. I'm actively researching the best way to do that and hopefully will have a system set up soon. Thank you for your support and for watching! Happy writing (and worldbuilding)!
Enjoyed the practical approach to the process, trying to steer folks away from the swamp of gimmicks out there. Nicely presented. I also had a look at your catalog and will be checking out more of your posts. Liked and subscribed - welcome to my recommendation list (for what that's worth)!
Such a lovely surprise, to wake up to one of your videos! And, I'd really love you to talk about weaknesses. I'm particularly stuck on that with my current WIP.
Thank you for mentioning that! I'd really enjoy making a video about weaknesses, I hoped it would be of interest so I'd have an excuse. Thank you for watching, and for your support!
This was really helpful, thank you. Looking forward to seeing more videos. I really like the video idea you mentioned about character arcs, I would definitely like to see that. ❤️
I definitely plan to do a video on that. I'm very much looking forward to it actually. I love studying and planning character arcs, there's so much possibility! Thank you for watching!
It's one of topics on the very top of my to-do list! Thank you for taking the time to comment with your input, it really helps me! Thanks for watching and happy writing!
Thank you! I very much look forward to making more videos about characters, especially character arcs. That's very high on my video list! Thank you so much for watching!
Thank you for your support and your kind words! I'm always in the process of making the next video. Though the editing, etc. does take me a little time. Thank you for watching!
The legendary Helen the Demon Hunter that never backs down from a fight due to her tragic origins of being lost in the woods as a child and having to fight bigger creatures for food to survive. Once she found humanity again she realized she no longer fit in and went off to live in solitude in the dangerous forest she had called home for so many years. Now her forest is under attack by strange creatures from underground. Now she must fend off the demon hoards and defend her forest and her world in a great showdown of the ages.
omg ok but what does she use to hunt the demons? is it simply a gun? a cool-looking blade of some kind? her own personal magic that is a lot more structured and sensible than whatever chaos reigns in the forest, thank you very much?? why am i so invested...
@@marshmyellow her weapon is an axe that she forged from diamonds straight from the great ghastly caves of the east with a handle being made from the trunk of an oak tree she cut down with her bare fists. The axe is a massive 30 meters tall and weighs a whole 1000 pounds. With her trusty axe no demon she faces will ever live to tell the tale.
I definitely have dialogue on my list. I love studying dialogue! Adding character voice to that topic is a very good idea, thank you! And thank you for watching!
Nice to see you added chapters. Much appreciated. As to character creation, I disagree. It is not up to the author. First, you can either create the character first and then shape the plot around the character, or vice versa. The reality is that likely they will merge during editing. What do I mean? Taking the latter option. First, you imagine a premise: character A does not want to do action x (character and not protagonist because this may be true of every character in your story). Why? What sort of person does not want to/ is unable to do that action? First character trait. Now, how can you make that action even more objectionable for character A? This is perhaps an escalation. What second trait would make this even more objectionable? And so on. It is the story that trumps everything. If it advances the story, keep it. If it does not, change or drop it. Want to give the character a quirk? Fine. But that quirk should add to the story. For example, in a love story, the woman loves daisies. The real reason, they remind her of her childhood and she would love to relive it vicariously. That reason does not need to be pushed at the reader; it can be alluded to much further in the story and the reader has to connect the dots. For example, 'That daisy looks just like one I had as a little girl. See, it's missing a petal.' (Is the woman herself missing a petal?) In another place, she can wonder whether her daughter will love daisies. You don't need to have her fantasize about leading the daughter to fields of daisies so she can watch the girl run through them.
Hi, having just found your channel I subscribed because your topics in three videos have me hooked and wanting to learn more so I hope you will be putting out new videos soon. Thank you !!
Hi, thank you for the support! It does take me a bit to get each video finished (though I think I'm getting a little faster) but I am constantly working on them! Thank you for watching!
I can't wait to see everything you've planned! Character Developement would be very interesting but I bet everything other on your list would also be. I know this might not be a topic for your main audience (who are I guess book authors) but I would also be interested in how to write a main character for a video game, the influence of POV and genre. The gist would be the same but to juggle the freedom a player has somewhat with the character and how to make the player decisions sometimes work with opposing character traits. Thinking of Geralt in the Witcher 3, he has a distinct personality despite being somewhat of the player's canvas. Are there certain tricks to achieve this well? I will obviously make research on games where it worked well, but just in case you have insights to writing video game character for less linear games, I wouldn't mind you dropping some knowledge, maybe on the end of a fitting video that your main audience might interest more haha!
My hope is that my videos can be helpful to all kinds of writers! Obviously, video game writers have different things they have to consider as well. But still, I like to think that all writers are my main audience! But your question is so interesting! If you don't mind, I'd like to take a moment to try to give you some thoughts here as I have no idea when or in which video I would be able to talk about this. Although now I really want to! I had a fascinating conversation with a friend once about the brilliance of never unmasking Master Chief in Halo. Because of that, despite his very solid, specific personality, the player could more easily imagine being him -- even me, a tiny ginger lady. And that imagining is a lot more subliminal. We don't know we're doing it. However, we can tell when we aren't able to. Halo is a little different from Witcher 3, because Witcher is an RPG, so you the player are literally making a lot more of Geralt's decisions. I think that right there might be a factor: the more distinctly and clearly drawn your character is, the more freedom you ought to give your players in terms of controlling him. The less freedom you give your player, the more room for interpretation there ought to be in the character. All that said, I don't believe it's much different from writing immersive novels. I know for a long time, especially in the 60s and 70s, it was believed to be a selling point for novels' main characters to be a kind of flat, blank everyman or everywoman so people could better immerse themselves in the story. But that ultimately led to a lot of boring characters and forgettable novels. I think in reality, people don't want an everyman. Partly because he's boring, and partly because a blank avatar is unable to ever be blank enough to suit all players. Giving your players room to impose their own opinions onto the character's behavior is a huge help to player immersion. Show your players ideas and situations and then give them the freedom to act on them according to their own interpretation of the story and character and their own opinion. Even with more linear games like God of War that seems to be possible. Otherwise how would anyone relate to a giant ash-skinned man with world-breaking rage? Your player should know who the character is. Is he hot-tempered, calm, smart, impulsive? Your player needs to know those things. Then the players can get behind the wheel of all those traits and immerse themselves in such a mind, even if that mind is different from theirs. Clarity of character is very important. No matter how fully drawn he is (Geralt) or subtly drawn (Master Chief), whatever traits are present must be clear. But also don't forget that a lot of people like it when the character is very different from them. Very few people would actually enjoy playing as Everyman. But no one really likes when the writer leads them around by the nose, either. Your players are often going to interpret your characters in ways other than how you intended. You have to make your peace with that and allow them the space to do so. The trick is to find the balance between distinct, unique characters with a fully-fleshed out personality and story, and enough of a light writer's touch that the character and the player blend together in the player's mind. Myself and most video game fans I know don't like so much imagining the character as ourselves, but ourselves as the character. It's more about imagining we're Geralt than making Geralt blank enough to also be each of us. Ah, I've accidentally made this answer overly long. Anyway, I hope there might be something in there that helps. Thank you very much for suggesting that line of consideration. I'd like to add that to a future video after doing more research and consideration. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask! I'd be happy to help if I can. Thank you so much for your support and for watching!
@@The-Second-Story I'm very grateful you took the time to write such an elaborate answer! I definitively got some new ideas here to think through. You're absolutely right that we mostly love to imagine ourselves as the character - I never thought about it that way but this is exactly how I enjoy especially extravagant characters. I try to act like I would do if I was them, had their lifes and their personality instead of opposing my own thoughts onto them. Also, the more clear the character is, the more freedom of controlling them should be there - I haven't considered this simple equation before, it makes a lot of sense. Thank you very much!! I feel like I can tackle my project more confidently now
The worst thing I did for my character was makeing it a self insert, and because of that, I slowly came to terms with the fact that I had to develop an interesting character.
You're absolutely right. Self-insert characters are definitely to be avoided. A lot of writers don't realize that among other problems that also makes it very hard to give your characters interesting flaws or allow them to make mistakes. It's a common mistake but it's wonderful that you figured out that problem yourself! There's so much more possibility for your characters now! Thank you for watching and happy writing!
Cool! And very interesting. I *Love* creating characters. I'd never heard of all those forms _thingies_ You've mentioned, but they sound pretty much the same as the way I had approached creating characters at least twenty years ago, back at the Carboniferous Era; my writing has significantly evolved since. 😃 Your way, however, appears to be a very good one; I shall attempt it. I like the _Helen_ character, she mostly sounds like Red's Granny's Character at _"Once Upon a Time"_ excellent TV Series = a rather formidable, and 100% self-reliant old lady, who (like any good GrandMa...🙂) Always Knows Best. And, *of course: One Must Write, What One Feels Right.* I wish to tell You a little bit here about my two most beLoved characters, the Two Queens of My Own Well. They are both rather lithe-built 16-year-old girls, but the similarity ends there. 😍😍 Short-haired Blonde Yullie is a wild Bisexual Slut. And *she takes Great Pride* in that. For Her (as for me), _"a Slut"_ is the Best conpliment, as it shows how she goes and extract whatever Sexual Pleasures she wants to out of Life, without ever giving a damn about _"what society might think!!"_ 🤣 She is Free and Independent, with *extremely* high self-confidence, and is practically *never* afraid of *_anything_* in Life. She has various hobbies, the greatest two of which are swimming, and classically playing the violin. Long-haired pale Brunette 'Iddìth is rather shy and concervative, and is very proud to be called *_a Nerd._* She is pretty religious, *always* dresses very modestly, is very much aware of any expectation any authority figure might have of her, reads a lot, and her most favourite Literature includes pretty much everything from the 19th Century - and, more than anything else, she identifies with "Pride and Prejudice"'s Mary. She proudly maintains her virginity, is not willing to let any boy even kiss her prior to an _official_ engagement, enjoys _"Hallmark"_ movies, and sees a lot of Beauty at the _"trad wives"_ trend - but, nonetheless, something in her does wish to break away from it all, and to be more like her Cousin Yullie.😍😍😍
Another great video on story telling and appreciate the worked example❤ on sharing our “homework” I’ve seen other creators setup a discord server or create a community on skool which are options that could work
Thank you! Those are good ideas. A few other people have mentioned discord servers, too. I've been researching different options all day. I'd really like to set something up. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts, it really helps! Thank you for watching!
I've had quite a few people ask about character arcs, which makes me really happy because I'm really looking forward to making that video (I love character arcs!) and hoped I'd have an excuse to do it soon! It's really high on my list. Thank you for watching!
This is now the second time in a row you've gotten me unstuck in my writing.
I'll never tire of the different ways people internalise and produce tools, heuristics and principles around writing. Hope to see some more stuff which challenges how I think and hopefully be able to relay it to other people who find it useful!
I feel like I've learned more from this video about writing than I have the past 3 years of reading about writing 😂 It's because you're good!!!
The clarity. I really appreciate the clarity and conciseness of your topics.
It makes things so much easier to absorb.
As with your video on plot, your dry humor and nuanced sarcasm won me over. I laughed and learned. Liked and subscribed! Don’t stop.
I had never liked my characters, so I started working on a new character creation system recently, and it turns out it's a lot like this, just somewhat simplified so far.
One thing I'd add about consistency is that it's important for character arcs. If a character is consistently inconsistent, the character arc can look like simply some more inconsistency.
That's an excellent point, I completely agree! You have to have a very consistent image of your character in order to plan a development arc using their traits, etc. And that consistency helps the audience maintain a clear idea of the character so they can see and appreciate the character's growth or evolution along that development arc.
Thank you for watching!
This is S-tier advice. I've seen a lot of creators, and it's a rare few who stand out as exemplary like this. Really looking forward to seeing more content.
And you know what? It's for the same reasons that you've outlined. It's deep and insightful, but also tinged with the color of your own identity.
Although I'm looking forward to whatever you make next I know that that's an utterly unhelpful suggestion. I'd take anything in regards to characters, especially the relationship between characters and the self. I feel like my own identity is rather multitudinous, and as I attempt to express myself through characters I realize that there's still much that I don't understand about myself. It's a very interesting study, but not at all conducive to getting writing done.
Thank you very much for your support and your kind words! I hope to be able to continue making helpful videos.
What you've said about character and self is very interesting. I remember examining this link myself along my writing journey. At the time, as an experiment, I wrote a kind of prose poetry faux journal. The situation was fictional, the life was fictional, but the "I" writing the journal was meant to be me. And the aim was to examine myself and come to understand myself better. I, myself personally, wanted to avoid making the characters in my regular stories into too much of an examination or expression of self as I've found that this can limit my creative decision making. So I let this exercise be entirely that. I spent about two years writing this and I learned a lot about myself and about how to convey emotional identity with literary economy. It was also an excellent writing exercise as I forced myself to do at least one entry a week and focused a lot on my actual writing. I also saw my skill improve as I went along, both in terms of understanding myself -- and therefore other characters -- and in terms of my prose.
I do intend to do a lot of videos in the future on characters, but I thought this suggestion might be helpful food for thought for you. Perhaps you could give it a try, if you're so inclined. Maybe it will be as helpful for you and is it was for me.
Thank you again, and happy writing!
I'd love to hear more about character arcs, and how those would be weaved into the pacing/plot you talked about previously.
Also, great videos, they're quite different from other videos of this kind that are out there.
Yes I very much look forward to making a video about character arcs... Or videos, honestly. There's so much to explore there!
Thank you so much for watching! And for your support!
The lady who showed up at her doorstep is a much younger version of herself, and she now understands why that old lady was so shocked and kind all those years ago...
I *Love* it!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Lovely to see you back.
Not me leaping for joy as soon as I saw you uploaded a new video (I mean i was sitting down but i did 'whoop whoop' in my head👀)
No one can be expected to do any leaping on a Friday!
Thank you for watching! And for your support!
Hands down one of the best character videos I've ever seen. Very succinct, and very correct. Everything I've seen with very few exceptions peddles these cookie cutter, card board cut outs of similar character after similar character.
It's insane how much basic knowledge and how many important hints and spins on seemingly straighforward premises of character creation you managed to fit into a mere half-hour video. I've watched my fair share of writing advice videos, but your concise and logical way of putting things is something I've rarely seen elsewhere. I especially like your organic approach to creating characters, i.e. paying attention to the interplay of various traits and how strengths and weaknesses derive from one another, as well as your advice not to simply run down a checklist of non-relevant questions. For a beginner, this is a goldmine, but even experienced writers will glean something from this. Thank you for sharing, I'm looking forward to any future videos you might make!
Thank you very much for this comment! It means so much to me to know that my videos can be of help to other writers. I've always loved creating characters because the process was so organic and interesting. I hoped sharing that process with others would spread that enjoyment.
Thank you again for your support, it means a lot!
Character creation has always been a bit of a difficult subject for me, but you explained it in a digestible way and broke it down into actionable steps that I'm going to be using as a template for all my characters. Thanks for the awesome content!
I'm so glad that my video was so helpful to you! I wish you the best of luck in your future character creation. And thank you so much for your support! Happy writing!
TQ for being an independent thinker - you are an oasis in the desert of writing coaches~~~
I’m around 5 minutes in and while I find you interesting to listen to, I do feel like it was a lot of what NOT to do and I almost clicked away. I felt a little overwhelmed, taking it in but not being able to imagine what the process might look like.
As a complete beginner, I actually haven’t come across much of what you mentioned (questionnaires, interviews, archetypes).
Just general feedback as a complete beginner so please don’t take me too seriously, I just look forward to seeing more of your valuable content. I felt your confidence and ability to explain conflicting concepts makes you stand out amongst the few videos I have seen. Thank you for sharing!
10:11 I litterally shouted a joyful "OOOOOOH" In this section, it makes so much sense. You have my thanks
I love those AHA moments so much! I'm really glad my video had helpful information for you, thank you for taking the time to tell me in a comment, it really means a lot! Thank you for watching, and for your support! Happy writing!
Love your videos, thank you for posting. I’ve been having doubts about some of my characters and this video has helped settle those doubts. I didn’t follow character formulas, they just came alive as I was writing them. I only found out who these characters were towards the end of my novel 🤩
Thank you! It sounds like you had a good handle on it. Though it does help sometimes to hear someone else reinforce what you already know. I'm glad I could help!
Thank you for watching! Good luck with your writing!
This is the kind of video that you have to watch (and want to watch) multiple times to fully assimilate all the concepts (oh look, another C) presented. Your style is so soothing and your editing and humor make watching very enjoyable. Congrats on gaining such momentum with the channel so quickly!
(And Yes to homework opinions, and Yes to video topic polls!)
Thank you so much for your support and your kind words! I'm really glad that my video could help you. And thank you for the taking the time to provide your thoughts on the homework and polls! It really helps!
Happy writing!
A video about Character development and Character arcs would be incredible!
I'm very much looking forward to making multiple videos on both topics in the future, hopefully soon! Thank you for watching!
Loved it! This is exactly what I needed. Got the hero, but understanding his arch nemesis, his wife, is proving difficult. Going to try these suggestions immediately!
Thank you! And good luck! I hope you can figure her out now. Thank you for watching!
I would love to see a video on character weaknesses/disabilities and how to work them into a story. Your videos are so insightful and clever. Thank you for giving examples to your points, it’s easy to get a feel for the process!
I would love to make such a video, so it's wonderful to know that there would be some interest! I will definitely add it to the list now. Thank you!
The material you covered was as engaging as it was thoughtful, so grateful that you shared . Sharing is caring! So Please keep Sharing. Thanks!!
Your videos are awesome ma'am. Thanks a lot for making such eye opening videos. Please make a detailed video on the development of characters or character arcs.
Thank you, and thank you for the support! I intend to. Characters arcs and characters in general are definitely going to be the subject of more than one video in the future. (Hopefully the near future!)
@@The-Second-Story thanks ma'am
1:22 please do them all! 😅
That's certainly the plan!
Thanks for watching!
i agree, please do, your video was very comprehensible and enjoyable, i would look forward to more!
This video and your channel is wonderful! I am particularly fond of your editing.
I take part in a recreation of Titanic's voyage every year and creating a fully fleshed out character for it is always a struggle for me. I would love to see videos about character development, character arcs and good dialogue!
Thank you! That sounds incredible! I've never heard of such a thing, what a delightful challenge! Those topics are very important to me, as well. They are very high on my list. It's wonderful to know that others would also be interested in talking about them!
Good luck with your character creation this year, I hope it goes well! Thank you for watching!
I'm no writer, but coming up with stories and imaginary people makes me want to draw. It helps a lot with ideas in front of the blank page. I took a long art break, but the creative impulses have been back for a few months now. The itch to come up with a new character has been creeping up on me. So truly, this video had perfect timing and UA-cam algorithm didn't mess this one up.
Ah I so envy the ability to draw character designs! I've been trying to teach myself to draw in my free time so I can draw my own characters, just for myself. I've often heard that there's a lot of narrative and storytelling involved in planning a drawing, no matter how simple. It's wonderful to hear that my video could somehow help with that. Good luck character creating! And drawing (so envious)!
Thank you for watching!
Thank you for another insightful video! You're one of the few channels that I actually come away with the fee feeling I learned something and a drive to try it out, rather the than empty advice with no guidance for application.
That's wonderful to hear! I'm really glad my videos can help you, that's an incredible feeling. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Good luck with your writing, and thank you for watching!
Another banger! You've made 35 minutes feel like five!
Character sheets and archetypes always clashed against my artistic sensibilities. Also the bit about only reading in your genre and following industry standard. All that advice is given with good intent, but it only served to make me feel like some literary orphan if that makes sense. Unkept and ill-mannered. But how did all those archetypes and formulas come to be without experimentation? Your advice makes so much more sense. Again, thank you so much for putting it so succinctly and giving form to arbitrary concepts! This story and the one from your previous video were actually compelling enough to make me want to read them, lol.
I'll be working on that homework now! :)
I agree, I think people are genuinely trying to be helpful when they provide that advice. And in their defense, I think a lot of the big industry literary agents have to approach the job like managers of product development. But I'm like you, it made me feel very out of place. My problem was that I didn't particularly like a lot of the books in my target genre and was, in fact, writing largely because I wanted to "write the book I wanted to read" and all that. I confess I spent some time wondering if I was properly suited for this whole writing thing. Luckily I made it through that phase.
Good luck on your homework! I hope it helps. And thank you for watching!
@@The-Second-Story Yes! I'm glad you pushed through it, because even from what little I've seen, you seem very skilled at storytelling.
Great video with good practical advice.
This was so amazingly helpful, thank you so much! With both this video and the previous one, I feel like my third eye is slowly opening lol. I’ve always wondered why I found those typical plot and character formulas so frustrating and crushing. Anything I tried created with them was always so flat and dead, and it always felt like pulling teeth. I thought something was fundamentally wrong with me, like I was just never ment to create. But using the things you’ve said has really unlocked it and now I’m actually beginning to create something that works, that’s functional, and also fills me with life. Every connection I make with my characters and the story, it slowly piecing together. I’m so happy. Thanks so much!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment. It means the world to me that my videos could help bring you back to writing. I remember going through that same struggle, being unsure whether or not I "had what it takes" to be a writer. Everything that seemed to be innate knowledge to other writers eluded me completely and I could never make sense of their somewhat abstract, esoteric attempts to explain. I once heard a writing teacher say that the way you can tell if someone is a writer is that they write. If you love stories, then you can create them. Anyone can learn to do anything. I wish you the best of luck in your writing endeavors.
And thank you for watching!
I’m an aspiring short film creator and the channel has been so educational and inspirational. Thank you!
I love these style of videos, breaking down concepts to make a character are always great. What would be cool is if your video uploads “follow” the creation of a story and characters leading up to a finished story. They are amazing either way, and I love how eloquent you are, it makes the video thoroughly enjoyable and engaging, thank you so much.🙏
That would be such a fun series of videos, what a great suggestion! Now I want to find a way to do that... Thank you very much for this comment, and thank you for watching!
This and the last video have been truly remarkable. Wonderfully explained.
Please keep this up. I find your videos among the best I've come across. Your previous video, as well as this one, opened up a whole lot of potential and possibilities for my fantasy story. I particularly thought the advice on characters' flaws was brilliant. Once you explained that, I instantly came up with much better flaws for my main heroes. The multiple mini-arcs advice also helped a lot, and it makes the writing/story more complicated, but more manageable at the same time. Definitely more interesting too. In short, your approach/advice feels out of the box, but at the same time it makes so much sense
Thank you very much for this comment! It really does mean a lot to me to know that my videos are helping other writers.
That's one of the things I really like about the approach of mini-arcs. I feel like I can create something a little more complex but that I've got a strategy to plan it well. I'm glad the note about flaws was helpful. When I realized that myself, I found that it made defining and understanding my characters so much easier.
Thank you again for watching! Good luck with your story, and happy writing!
Another super helpful video - thank so much for this. I especially liked how you explained where character "flaws" come from, as opposed to "my character is clumsy - that's her flaw!" I would absolutely love to have you go through character arcs. Fantastic!!
Thank you, I'm glad it was able to help you! I'm really looking forward to making a video (or videos) about character arcs. That's really high on my list.
Thanks for watching!
Anything about the craft of writing, I’m in! Actually, i’ll watch every video you put out, they are the best videos on writing I’ve ever come across ❤
Thank you! And thank you for your support! I hope to continue making as many videos on writing as I can, for as long as I can!
@ That would be amazing! As a first time writer, I need all the help I can get and you advice makes so much sense. Thanks you!
Yes...please. Please make all those videos on that list. 🙏
That is definitely the plan! Thanks for watching!
I don’t know if it’s the colors or the lighting but you just look like a well done character design. I don’t really know how to put it into words but for whatever reason your appearance stood out to me in a “these colors are nice” kinda way. I think it’s a combo of the lighting and the different whites contrasting with red hair.
Dunno it’s not something I’ve ever seen before on a real person but the feeling was immediate.
Happy to see you keep uploading videos, please keep it up, we're all really greatful
I subscribed to your channel because of the last video - it’s was incredibly insightful for my own narrative. Can’t wait to see what this one has to offer
Thank you very much for your support! I hope there's something in it that can be helpful to you!
Probably the best video I’ve seen on character creation. Awesome! 👏
Next video votes: (Yes, I checked the list)
1. Character arcs
2. Using character development as plot development
3. The truth about creating conflict and tension
And of course, thanks for the video. :3
Thank you very much for taking the time to give me your votes! Number 1 is definitely one of the top on my list. Numbers 2 and 3 are videos I'm really looking forward to making but I wasn't sure if, when I did, anyone would be interested. So thank you for answering that question!
And thank you for your support, and for watching!
That was really interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed your sense of humour. Thank you.
Great content, please keep it going. Character arc for sure.
Thank you for this amazing video lesson! I think I could try to write my own characters now
I'm glad it could help you! Good luck, and thank you for watching!
You have a knack for making complex topics easy to digest. Also the video has great aesthetics.
Hearing you mention Mei Changsu completely caught me off-guard! It's so rare for me to see examples from media less popular over here in the west. Consider me subscribed!
I couldn't help myself, really. Nirvana In Fire is a big favorite of mine. I'm always looking for a way to work it into a conversation. There's so much incredible storytelling in China (and South Korea and Japan and...!), and I'll follow good storytelling anywhere. I hope more people come to discover the wonderful stories that are out there (starting with Nirvana In Fire, of course).
Thank you for watching, and for your support!
@@The-Second-Story It was so refreshing to see. I'm the same.
Eveyone says "read widely" and then only list off western stories as examples in their videos, it was great to see someone actually "reading" widely.
Not getting escorted by security 😭🤣 I just found your channel! 😊 this is the first time I heard about this process. Thank you!!
Nice to meet you! Love this video. Great way to explain character creation. I'm prepping for NaNo, and I'm a pantser... but I am putting effort into creating better characters, so finding this video is great timing.
Thank you! Nice to meet you, too. I wish you luck in your November writing efforts! And I'm glad that my video could help you with your characters. Good luck and happy writing!
I really like your videos. It gives such a different perspective while looking at the same problem.
Thank you so much for the breakdown on creating interesting characters. I recently discovered your channel, and I love it. Please keep the videos coming!
Love the practical example in the second half of the video, helps take all those ideas and advice and make them more physical.
Thank you, that's very helpful to know! Examples are very helpful to me, but I wasn't really sure about it.
Thank you for watching!
You're naturally funny, you're gorgeous, you give solid advice and you're articulate. If anything, you're like an underrated page-turner book.
Now, I'm not saying this because your comment section says so, but I really mean it when I say to you to never stop making these videos. They're great, and I hope the algorithm shines upon your work.
The way you explained character flaws is brilliant. I never thought of it that way, because I thought flaws were just stereotypical negative traits. I'll put into action what you've said to the next character I'm going to be writing.
The only nitpick I have is that your style of making videos may be long and may sound you're rambling to some low attention andies. It's not a problem really, but perhaps you might consider UA-cam shorts.
As for the recommendation, I'm dying to hear what you have to say about worldbuilding now that you've explained characters and pacing very well. Sorry about the long comment lol, but I hope it could fuel your drive to continue UA-cam.
Overall, brilliant video and please continue pumping them helpful videos. That's all. Take care and good luck! Subscribed and made the notification bell white!
I'm very glad that my video could help you, especially with character flaws. I find that point to be particularly effective in making characters seem realistic. It's great for antagonistic characters, too, because then you can see in their personality or development where they went wrong. Which makes them seem more human and real without necessarily making them sympathetic.
I understand what you're saying about my tendency to be long-winded. Unfortunately, my videos are what occurs after I've pared myself down quite a bit. It's just a tendency of mine. I'd rather over-explain than be unclear for the sake of brevity. Though I am aware of the tendency, yes. Maybe I can gradually work on it. That said, I don't think we should worry too much about people with low attention spans. I think more and more people are training themselves to a higher attention span and they enjoy longer content. Perhaps catering to those who can't sit still for two minutes at a time isn't the best policy in general.
Worldbuilding is one of my favorite topics! I really hope to start a series of videos on that soon. I love worldbuilding and I hoped people would be interested in videos on that, so thank you for mentioning it!
And thank you for watching and for taking the time to write this comment with your thoughts. It's very encouraging and helpful. Take care, and happy writing!
Your content is very useful and direct, iˋm writing a comic and this is helping me a lot! You have a new suscriber!
On the topic of flaws. I see so many new writers struggle to make a flawed character because they are beaten over the head with verisimilitude and how relatable their character is. "The more flawed the character; the more I as a reader can relate." I see this over and over. And while having a complicated characters with some issues is great, too many times it becomes this painting session where new writers grab the widest paint brush possible and slather flaw after flaw onto their wide-eyed protagonist because, a "UA-camr told me to." They end up with a character that is so debilitated by their chronic issues that they are a hot mess. Of course, this is all dependent on the type of story and character. If were talking epic fantasy, where we need a larger-than-life hero that can take on dragons, then maybe we don't need a raging alcoholic that beats his kids because they got a "D" in math. But if we're talking about a random guy that runs into a burning building... now we have something to ground our expectation to in terms of realism. A interesting character study is in the 1992 film, "Hero." It's not the best film ever made, but it brings home the idea of a complicated protagonist, warts and all.
I do believe that the idea of "flawed and unlikable = relatable" is a fallacy and one that I find baffling. Every human being on the face of the earth is flawed, sure. But that's not what makes them relatable. That's like saying that all characters with noses are relatable. Or all characters who were born of woman are relatable. I strongly disagree with the common conception that writers ought to make characters more morally flawed in order to let them be more relatable to their audience. And I suspect that a great deal of the time this is being done in an effort to make the characters "interesting." A larger than life hero who takes on dragons can have large flaws, certainly, but they have to be balanced to the character and the story. Moral complexity is a lazy shortcut to character complexity. And very few writers nowadays understand the psychology of what they're packing into their characters. The larger than life hero needs flaws that are appropriate to his character path and his story. The random guy who runs into the building needs to crafted with equal care. Realism is possible in both cases. But everything, even realism, needs to serve the story.
That said, I think there are certain very, very popular franchises these days that have stood out from the crowd by little more than creating a cast of largely unlikable characters. Many writers seeking to imitate this supposed key to "success" have wrongly interpreted "unlikable" characters as "complex, high-brow, and realistic" characters. Which is patently false.
Flawed but likable is a really hard needle to thread in character creation. But it's a lot more important than people think. Anyone can create a horrible, wretched, morally bankrupt main character. It takes real skill to craft a character who is flawed but still likable.
(By the way, thank you so much for watching!)
Keep these videos coming please, I've learnt so much in only two videos, thank you :)
Thank you for this comment! It means a lot to know that my videos are helping. I've got more in the works, but hopefully I can gradually get a little faster at the process, we'll see. In the meantime, thank you so much for your support!
I was looking forward for your next video. Your approach is the most interesting and genuine I came across and the way you present it is of a very pleasant kind of soft.
Once again, thank you.
I was just looking at your channel the other day, wondering if there's any new content. I'll definitely do a rewatch and take notes, although I liked the style of your last video more. Looking forward to future videos. Thanks for sharing! 🌼
I couldn't agree more with the point of archetypes and character sheets
Thanks for the advice about creativity, I needed it since I always try to come up with a fully new idea that’s never been done before, great video, you look amazing btw
Wow, your channel is a GOLDMINE. I’m so happy I stumbled upon your wealth of information, I hope you never stop uploading. I’m curious about your opinions on writing good romance? I’m struggling to write romance that has a point, and builds a natural progression. My attempts at writing romance comes off more like a horrible fan fiction. 🤣 (Nothing wrong with a good fanfic though)
I really enjoy making these videos, so it means a lot that you've found them so helpful.
Romance is not my strong suit. I have added romantic sideplots into stories before, but I've never written a story that had romance as its main plot. Good romance, in my opinion (and in my limited experience with the genre), must indeed have a point. You're very right about that. I think one of the keys to writing good romance is to weave the growing relationship into a non-romantic plot in an integral way. The first thing that comes to mind is the South Korean drama Crash Landing On You. (if you haven't seen it, I suggest watching it to study it, taking notes. It might be a perfectly constructed romance) The main plot, for all intents and purposes, was Seri trying to get home after crash landing in North Korea. During which plot she learned to navigate the dangerous waters of North Korea and developed bonds with everyone she met there and became part of the life of the entire village where she was hiding. Their lives and daily struggles were often more important to the plot -- and to her -- than whether or not she ended up with the guy. Which made her, as a human being, a lot more relatable and likable. He, naturally, came to love that part of her, too. Meanwhile the romance with Jung Hyuk built very organically from that. It developed almost despite their wishes and accentuated the really beautiful parts of their existing personalities (remember: love doesn't change who you are, it intensifies who you are). They gave each other strength to handle the main plot (helping Seri escape North Korea).
I personally believe that the most meaningful romances have in common two things: first, they are built into a non-romantic plot. And second, the main characters (the romantic couple) are not the center of everything that happens. I'm not sure if that latter point makes sense. A big problem with fanfic-esque romance is that it writes the main character as if she (or he, but usually she), is actually the most important person in everyone else's lives. This makes the plot come off highly imbalanced and often even unrealistic. Hinging the whole story on will-they-or-won't-they almost always results in a boring story. Making the main character too central to everyone's lives makes her (or him) accidentally come across self-absorbed. Romance storylines are meant, in a sense, to showcase the heart of the main characters. If they never have to put other people before themselves then the heart on display feels colder.
Oof, I'm sorry that was so long. In the future, I might consider trying my hand at a romance video. But like I said, when it comes to writing, I know the least about romance.
Good luck on writing yours, though! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'd love to help if I can. Thank you for your support!
Again, I am so happy I came across your channel ( I say again because I saw your previous video an hour ago hahaha). I really feel the way you are approaching these subjects feels compatible and helpful and natural to me and the way I would like to go about doing things, or how I even instinctively started approaching them in my amateur, hatching pre-beginner ways.
Also, strange things happening out in the forest.. I was immediately hooked 😅😅
Watched this one 3x, thank you! Great tips and suggestions. Love seeing the process, it helps me understand how I can apply it to my own.
Thank you! I'm glad the process was helpful, and thanks for letting me know it helped you. I'm never completely sure what will help and what won't.
Thank you for watching, and for your support!
Good information...good video.
Looking foward for your next videos !
Would love the home work idea, I’m not a writer by any means, and I’m writing my story so the land I created isn’t just a map on a page, but an actual place to be explored. So the 2 videos I’ve watched so far have been extremely helpful!
My hope is that my videos can be helpful for storytellers of all kinds. It sounds like you're a worldbuilder. I love worldbuilding! Creating maps and building histories and mythologies around those places... Thank you for taking the time to tell me your thoughts about homework. I'm actively researching the best way to do that and hopefully will have a system set up soon. Thank you for your support and for watching! Happy writing (and worldbuilding)!
Enjoyed the practical approach to the process, trying to steer folks away from the swamp of gimmicks out there. Nicely presented. I also had a look at your catalog and will be checking out more of your posts. Liked and subscribed - welcome to my recommendation list (for what that's worth)!
Thank you very much for your support. It means a great deal! And thank you for watching!
Such a lovely surprise, to wake up to one of your videos! And, I'd really love you to talk about weaknesses. I'm particularly stuck on that with my current WIP.
Thank you for mentioning that! I'd really enjoy making a video about weaknesses, I hoped it would be of interest so I'd have an excuse.
Thank you for watching, and for your support!
This was incredibly useful! Thank you!
This was really helpful, thank you. Looking forward to seeing more videos. I really like the video idea you mentioned about character arcs, I would definitely like to see that. ❤️
I definitely plan to do a video on that. I'm very much looking forward to it actually. I love studying and planning character arcs, there's so much possibility!
Thank you for watching!
Same I love the art of story telling.
i would LOVE a video on writing character development!
It's one of topics on the very top of my to-do list! Thank you for taking the time to comment with your input, it really helps me!
Thanks for watching and happy writing!
I hope you post more, your mind is a goldmine
I like the 'nitwit' from your example. Main character of fantasy book im writing came from a life of goat herding. ❤
Oh! Perhaps they're distant cousins?
Great video!!!! Thank you! Would love to see more content related to character creation and arc. Keep up the great content.
Thank you! I very much look forward to making more videos about characters, especially character arcs. That's very high on my video list! Thank you so much for watching!
Another great video! A lot to think about in this one!
Love seeing Jorge Luis Borges on your bookshelf!
He was my first literary obsession. I think I was 17 when I read Ficciones and it completely blew my mind!
Please keep going, your videos are so profound and in depth thanks so much for your efforts!
Thank you for your support and your kind words! I'm always in the process of making the next video. Though the editing, etc. does take me a little time. Thank you for watching!
I already know your channel is gonna be a big one! Thank you in advance for the future videos that will help us creatives 🙏🏼🙂↕️
Thank you, and thank you very much for your support! I'm very glad my videos have been helpful. Happy writing!
Wow, brilliant work! I love this!
The legendary Helen the Demon Hunter that never backs down from a fight due to her tragic origins of being lost in the woods as a child and having to fight bigger creatures for food to survive. Once she found humanity again she realized she no longer fit in and went off to live in solitude in the dangerous forest she had called home for so many years. Now her forest is under attack by strange creatures from underground. Now she must fend off the demon hoards and defend her forest and her world in a great showdown of the ages.
omg ok but what does she use to hunt the demons? is it simply a gun? a cool-looking blade of some kind? her own personal magic that is a lot more structured and sensible than whatever chaos reigns in the forest, thank you very much?? why am i so invested...
@@marshmyellow her weapon is an axe that she forged from diamonds straight from the great ghastly caves of the east with a handle being made from the trunk of an oak tree she cut down with her bare fists. The axe is a massive 30 meters tall and weighs a whole 1000 pounds. With her trusty axe no demon she faces will ever live to tell the tale.
@@marshmyellow also she has knowledge in archaic magic powerful enough to halt the rotation of entire planets.
You've well earned my subscription. Thanks for making this content 🎉
Thank you very much for your support! I greatly appreciate it! (I enjoy making this content, too)
second time watching ur videos I really love u teach the very basics and I love r delivery so happy to have found this channel
I’d love a video on character voice & dialogue! It’s an area where I’m not even sure where to start properly honing it but I know it when I read it.
I definitely have dialogue on my list. I love studying dialogue! Adding character voice to that topic is a very good idea, thank you! And thank you for watching!
This was extremely helpful
Nice to see you added chapters. Much appreciated.
As to character creation, I disagree. It is not up to the author. First, you can either create the character first and then shape the plot around the character, or vice versa. The reality is that likely they will merge during editing. What do I mean? Taking the latter option. First, you imagine a premise: character A does not want to do action x (character and not protagonist because this may be true of every character in your story). Why? What sort of person does not want to/ is unable to do that action? First character trait. Now, how can you make that action even more objectionable for character A? This is perhaps an escalation. What second trait would make this even more objectionable? And so on. It is the story that trumps everything. If it advances the story, keep it. If it does not, change or drop it. Want to give the character a quirk? Fine. But that quirk should add to the story. For example, in a love story, the woman loves daisies. The real reason, they remind her of her childhood and she would love to relive it vicariously. That reason does not need to be pushed at the reader; it can be alluded to much further in the story and the reader has to connect the dots. For example, 'That daisy looks just like one I had as a little girl. See, it's missing a petal.' (Is the woman herself missing a petal?) In another place, she can wonder whether her daughter will love daisies. You don't need to have her fantasize about leading the daughter to fields of daisies so she can watch the girl run through them.
Hi, having just found your channel I subscribed because your topics in three videos have me hooked and wanting to learn more so I hope you will be putting out new videos soon. Thank you !!
Hi, thank you for the support! It does take me a bit to get each video finished (though I think I'm getting a little faster) but I am constantly working on them! Thank you for watching!
Oh my god, oh my god! It’s this person I watched one time!
Another great video thanx a lot!
Glad you popped up in my feed. Subscribed.
Thank you very much for your support!
I can't wait to see everything you've planned! Character Developement would be very interesting but I bet everything other on your list would also be. I know this might not be a topic for your main audience (who are I guess book authors) but I would also be interested in how to write a main character for a video game, the influence of POV and genre. The gist would be the same but to juggle the freedom a player has somewhat with the character and how to make the player decisions sometimes work with opposing character traits. Thinking of Geralt in the Witcher 3, he has a distinct personality despite being somewhat of the player's canvas. Are there certain tricks to achieve this well? I will obviously make research on games where it worked well, but just in case you have insights to writing video game character for less linear games, I wouldn't mind you dropping some knowledge, maybe on the end of a fitting video that your main audience might interest more haha!
My hope is that my videos can be helpful to all kinds of writers! Obviously, video game writers have different things they have to consider as well. But still, I like to think that all writers are my main audience!
But your question is so interesting! If you don't mind, I'd like to take a moment to try to give you some thoughts here as I have no idea when or in which video I would be able to talk about this. Although now I really want to!
I had a fascinating conversation with a friend once about the brilliance of never unmasking Master Chief in Halo. Because of that, despite his very solid, specific personality, the player could more easily imagine being him -- even me, a tiny ginger lady. And that imagining is a lot more subliminal. We don't know we're doing it. However, we can tell when we aren't able to. Halo is a little different from Witcher 3, because Witcher is an RPG, so you the player are literally making a lot more of Geralt's decisions. I think that right there might be a factor: the more distinctly and clearly drawn your character is, the more freedom you ought to give your players in terms of controlling him. The less freedom you give your player, the more room for interpretation there ought to be in the character.
All that said, I don't believe it's much different from writing immersive novels. I know for a long time, especially in the 60s and 70s, it was believed to be a selling point for novels' main characters to be a kind of flat, blank everyman or everywoman so people could better immerse themselves in the story. But that ultimately led to a lot of boring characters and forgettable novels. I think in reality, people don't want an everyman. Partly because he's boring, and partly because a blank avatar is unable to ever be blank enough to suit all players.
Giving your players room to impose their own opinions onto the character's behavior is a huge help to player immersion. Show your players ideas and situations and then give them the freedom to act on them according to their own interpretation of the story and character and their own opinion. Even with more linear games like God of War that seems to be possible. Otherwise how would anyone relate to a giant ash-skinned man with world-breaking rage? Your player should know who the character is. Is he hot-tempered, calm, smart, impulsive? Your player needs to know those things. Then the players can get behind the wheel of all those traits and immerse themselves in such a mind, even if that mind is different from theirs. Clarity of character is very important. No matter how fully drawn he is (Geralt) or subtly drawn (Master Chief), whatever traits are present must be clear.
But also don't forget that a lot of people like it when the character is very different from them. Very few people would actually enjoy playing as Everyman. But no one really likes when the writer leads them around by the nose, either. Your players are often going to interpret your characters in ways other than how you intended. You have to make your peace with that and allow them the space to do so. The trick is to find the balance between distinct, unique characters with a fully-fleshed out personality and story, and enough of a light writer's touch that the character and the player blend together in the player's mind. Myself and most video game fans I know don't like so much imagining the character as ourselves, but ourselves as the character. It's more about imagining we're Geralt than making Geralt blank enough to also be each of us.
Ah, I've accidentally made this answer overly long. Anyway, I hope there might be something in there that helps. Thank you very much for suggesting that line of consideration. I'd like to add that to a future video after doing more research and consideration. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask! I'd be happy to help if I can. Thank you so much for your support and for watching!
@@The-Second-Story I'm very grateful you took the time to write such an elaborate answer! I definitively got some new ideas here to think through. You're absolutely right that we mostly love to imagine ourselves as the character - I never thought about it that way but this is exactly how I enjoy especially extravagant characters. I try to act like I would do if I was them, had their lifes and their personality instead of opposing my own thoughts onto them. Also, the more clear the character is, the more freedom of controlling them should be there - I haven't considered this simple equation before, it makes a lot of sense. Thank you very much!! I feel like I can tackle my project more confidently now
That's wonderful! I'm really glad I could help. Good luck and happy writing!
The worst thing I did for my character was makeing it a self insert, and because of that, I slowly came to terms with the fact that I had to develop an interesting character.
You're absolutely right. Self-insert characters are definitely to be avoided. A lot of writers don't realize that among other problems that also makes it very hard to give your characters interesting flaws or allow them to make mistakes. It's a common mistake but it's wonderful that you figured out that problem yourself! There's so much more possibility for your characters now!
Thank you for watching and happy writing!
Cool! And very interesting.
I *Love* creating characters. I'd never heard of all those forms _thingies_ You've mentioned, but they sound pretty much the same as the way I had approached creating characters at least twenty years ago, back at the Carboniferous Era; my writing has significantly evolved since. 😃 Your way, however, appears to be a very good one; I shall attempt it.
I like the _Helen_ character, she mostly sounds like Red's Granny's Character at _"Once Upon a Time"_ excellent TV Series = a rather formidable, and 100% self-reliant old lady, who (like any good GrandMa...🙂) Always Knows Best.
And, *of course: One Must Write, What One Feels Right.*
I wish to tell You a little bit here about my two most beLoved characters, the Two Queens of My Own Well. They are both rather lithe-built 16-year-old girls, but the similarity ends there. 😍😍
Short-haired Blonde Yullie is a wild Bisexual Slut. And *she takes Great Pride* in that. For Her (as for me), _"a Slut"_ is the Best conpliment, as it shows how she goes and extract whatever Sexual Pleasures she wants to out of Life, without ever giving a damn about _"what society might think!!"_ 🤣 She is Free and Independent, with *extremely* high self-confidence, and is practically *never* afraid of *_anything_* in Life. She has various hobbies, the greatest two of which are swimming, and classically playing the violin.
Long-haired pale Brunette 'Iddìth is rather shy and concervative, and is very proud to be called *_a Nerd._* She is pretty religious, *always* dresses very modestly, is very much aware of any expectation any authority figure might have of her, reads a lot, and her most favourite Literature includes pretty much everything from the 19th Century - and, more than anything else, she identifies with "Pride and Prejudice"'s Mary. She proudly maintains her virginity, is not willing to let any boy even kiss her prior to an _official_ engagement, enjoys _"Hallmark"_ movies, and sees a lot of Beauty at the _"trad wives"_ trend - but, nonetheless, something in her does wish to break away from it all, and to be more like her Cousin Yullie.😍😍😍
Another great video on story telling and appreciate the worked example❤ on sharing our “homework” I’ve seen other creators setup a discord server or create a community on skool which are options that could work
Thank you! Those are good ideas. A few other people have mentioned discord servers, too. I've been researching different options all day. I'd really like to set something up. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts, it really helps!
Thank you for watching!
This came just in time!
Very helpful! Can you do a video on character arcs? I would happy to hear some tips from you ;)
I've had quite a few people ask about character arcs, which makes me really happy because I'm really looking forward to making that video (I love character arcs!) and hoped I'd have an excuse to do it soon! It's really high on my list.
Thank you for watching!
Conflict humor empathy and compelling back story
26:27 that's an incredible idea and also how did you know i'm in a coffee shop
Well statistically... writer... coffee shop... It's practically our natural habitat.
wow just wow thank you so much