Notes I had to make for myself: 1. Laugh in the face of cannibals: have characters react to events in very counterintuitive ways David Benioff - City of Thieves 2. Make your character carry something: a person’s prize possessions say something about them Cormac McCarthy - No Country for Old Men; Leonard Shelby - Guy Pierce & Polaroids; Tim O’Brien - The Things They Carried 3. Contradictory characters: they have some surprizing element not guessable from the stereotype Walter Mosley - known for Easy Rawlins, wrote Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned Triangle method of character creation 4. 3 Things to do every time you introduce a new character: 1. Say something (Six Levels of Dialogue) - what they say defines them; 2. Do something - Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; 3. Show what the character’s problem is, what he/she struggles with John Green - The Fault in our Stars 5. How to Make your Character Likable: a. not flawless, but with relatable flaws Sally Rooney - Normal People (Maryann Sheridan) b. Save the cat: Cormac McCarthy - All the Pretty Horses (John Grady Cole) - Border Trilogy 01 c. Suffers - Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid’s Tale d. Show competence - Stieg Larsson - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Millennium Series (Lisbeth Salander) 6. Give your Character an Odd Habit: boy ties string around everything because of abandonment issues 7. Widen the Perception Gap: create distance between how a character sees his/herself and how others do - who is right? Breaking Bad and why Walter White is doing his thing - for his family or himself? Game of Thrones (Cersei Lannister vs Daenerys Targaryen) from George R.R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces (Ignatius J. Reilly) 8. Create foils: an inverted version of the character Victor Hugo - Les Misérables (Jean Valjean vs Inspector Javert) Shrek (unfunny Shrek vs funny Donkey); C.S. Lewis - Narnia Series (Puddleglum, a funny pessimist) 9. Three-Time Character: haunted by the past, wrestle with the present, and worry about the future Claire Keegan - Small Things Like These (Bill Furlong vs nuns) Have layers of problems, i.e., main and minor
A gang leader who likes to crochet, in Japanese, would be referred to as "gap moe", where gap (gyappu) refers to the gap between your expectations and reality, and moe refers in this context to feelings of endearment towards that character.
As with every rule, a lot of them may backfire if you drag them too far. Much like "subverting the expectations" became basically a shoddy excuse for bad writing - "expected something good and logical? Consider your expectations subverted!". Some of these rules are best done in moderation - especially in a cast of characters. "Laugh in face of cannibals" - this may also lead to a character acting in an unappealing, disjointed way - instead of a compelling character, you may end up with "lol so random" or "opposite day" nonsense. This needs careful balancing in order to work. Personal possessions - it is important to not turn it into a gimmick. For one, maybe two character, it is ok, but every character carries a gimmick item... It becomes noticeable, and therefore unnatural. This needs certain subtlety to handle - this rule is very nice, because everyone personalises their items or space to certain degree. It is often the rule best done without thinking about it - let the character flow dictate what would they carry or have. Contradictory character - it is a very good idea to make a character distinct, true. BUT if you have a cast of characters, if everyone's special, nobody is. It is easy to make the contradiction too significant, too much in your face as well. Oftentimes a small contradiction, a character quirk that feels out of place for specific archetype adds to the character - makes them look like more than meets the eye. But overdo it, and it becomes obnoxious. A good thing to remember - with rules like these, the most important element is to make them look natural - a lot of the newbie writers turn such advise lists into a literal checklist. You need your character to have these aspects in a believable manner - you need to think "would this person actually do this or act like that"? If the answer is yes, go ahead. If the answer is no... Don't.
I know that having characters do contradictory things, like laughing in the face of a cannibal, can make a story interesting. But without understanding the character's depth, their core beliefs and inner motivations, these quirks become random superficial checklist behaviors. Great writers don’t stop at “what” a character does, they dive into the truth of “why” they do it. Actions should naturally result from a character’s inner feelings and sense of self, not the other way around. That laugh should come from somewhere real. Are they terrified but hiding it? Do they think life’s a joke because they’ve already lost everything? Are they defying fear to feel in control? But without that depth, it just feels random surface-level quirk. Actions just become tricks to get attention, and they’ll feel hollow. The most compelling moments come from actions that actually make sense for the character’s emotions and experiences. If you skip the “why,” the characters will feel fake and unrelatable.
Also interesting if you give into the tropes but in an unexpected way. Like you know something like that would be happening next. But the way they do is unexpected. (Like in the anime Frieren.) Sorry for the bad explanation there is a guy that does great video essays about writing technics/writing in general. The dude named his series "exploring Frieren" or something similar It's from pey talks anime
Glad to see a comment like this!! I personally think staying true to a character is vital to any story. If you write interesting characters with backstories and motivations, you should be able to let the characters make the decision that they would in that situation.
I read a book where the young girl in it finds someone has committed suicide in the room she’s supposed to be staying in. She is fine staying in the room after the body is removed and not spooked about it at all. It was a while ago but really stood out to me as a different reaction to most people.
@Kaminaridenki-x6z It's "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman" by PD James (1972). It's ages since I last read it and I did like it at the time but I see reviews are mixed. I don't really remember that much just what I remember about the character - I also didn't mention the strangest behaviour that I remember. She wears the man's clothes - I think just out of practically that she runs out of hers or something, and at one point she realises she's wearing the belt he hung himself with! Which would freak most people out but it doesn't seem to affect her. It's not a fast paced mystery but done in the old style.
This video just helped me clear an 8 month mental block on how to not only improve, but also link my characters, work out my villain motivation/arc/ties to the hero, give a side character more relevance, expand on my world building and finally figure out the logistics of my ending. Omg how??? THANK YOU!!!!
14:51 I used to work as a butler at the St. Regis hotel in NYC in the 90s. We had so many rich people come in, one being a prolific movie producer. The rules were for the staff not to engage the guests, but one day I saw this producer with a screenplay of “A Confederacy of Dunces”. I couldn’t help blurting out “Oh my God, you’re making this movie?!” We spent an hour after that discussing the book, figuring out who should play Ignatius (John Goodman, of course!) and which scenes were the best. I’m so disappointed that this movie was apparently never made.
5:00 crocheting tough guy isn't as rare as one might think. Well maybe now-a-days but there was a fair amount of WW2 submarine veterans that took to crochet and knitting because the intricate action and the attention to detail needed for either distracted them from weight of the ocean bearing down trying to crush them, or the hours in forced and intense quite trying to hide from enemy ships. nutts.
I agree it isn't the rarest, but it can be memorable. A similar example is Rosey Grier, the 6'-5", 284 lbs American football player who was also famous for his needlepoint hobby.
For my grandfather it was cross-stitching. Did a tour in the navy, became a firefighter, (beat his wife) and stitched murals and other presents for his daughter and granddaughters. Sometimes people really are just a walking contradiction
Not only that but many people in the armed forces (didn’t matter which branch) all had to sew, knit and crochet because they were in charge of keeping their uniform in good repair and to keep themselves warm in an era where heating was a luxury.
As someone who's been learning about the enneagram, I see many people touching on "tough guys" having a soft side, but not many of them having a nerdy side. Sometimes if you tickle the right fancy, they'll be more than happy to share how something works, especially if they can get you to practice it. If your characters are facing a tough decision, maybe your tough guy not only jumps into or pushes everyone into action, but also offers an angle no one's really considered before.
Without understanding the character's depth, their core beliefs and inner motivations, these ‘laughing in the face of a cannibal’ quirks become random superficial checklist behaviors. Great writers don’t stop at “what” a character does, they dive into the truth of “why” they do it. Actions should naturally result from a character’s inner feelings and sense of self, not the other way around. That laugh should come from somewhere real. Are they terrified but hiding it? Do they think life’s a joke because they’ve already lost everything? Are they defying fear to feel in control? But without that depth, actions just become tricks to get attention. The most compelling moments come from actions that actually make sense for the character’s emotions and experiences. If you skip the “why,” the characters will feel fake, unrelatable and they’ll feel hollow.
Absolutely, it's important to figure out why they laugh and who they are as a character Maybe they're a skeptic and they laugh because they don't believe people would actually do that Maybe they're arrogant and they laugh because no one could POSSIBLY kill and eat them Maybe they're a cynic and they laugh because it doesn't matter and somehow they're all dead anyway Maybe they're self hating and they laugh because they don't think they're worth eating Maybe they're competitive and they see the threat as a challenge, laughing because no matter what it's gonna be fun Giving the same scenario to a bunch of characters and seeing how each one would react as a theory is something I really like to do with my characters, it gives a clear and distinguished answer and it allows me to understand them better
This is the most underrated channel on this platform 😐 I’m about to finish my first completed first draft ever and you just gave me so much to think about as I go in for my first round of edits.
If people are telling you that you have to swear in order to be a professional writer then those people are not your friends. That’s what my mom told me, and her advice has served me well.
laughing after surviving something serious, is VERY common. Speaking as a combat veteran. sometimes you just don't know what else to feel, and your brain just decides laughter is the only response. You're brain is trying to process the fact you just survived, and everyone reacts to situations like that differently.
Isrea-lie backed politicians thank you for your service. You served the chosen ones and I hope your children serve us just as well. Thank you. Love peace and friendship it was for the friends we made along the way.
I’ve been doing the whole “what does your character have in their pockets (or rather soldier’s trunk, aka knapsack, as they’re soldiers in the Civil War) for a while. Doing that helped me realize that my MMC was not only a knitter (he even knits a shawl for the FMC) but he was destined for the priesthood but enlisted in the Army to get out of it.
Such a great list! As a possible expansion to Number 7: having other characters discuss your main (or central) character before they appear, is another helpful device!
This is super helpful! Spent the last hour pausing and taking notes so I can beef up my characters more for my novel. Thanks a ton! You gave me language for things I wasn't sure how to articulate :D
Thank you for your excellent advice, Mr Bookfox! I was stuck. I felt each of my characters needed work, but now every one of your tips has unlocked a passage for me to set off and enjoy the writing process again. I’m so grateful.
I think this was very well thought out and delivered. I especially appreciated the "odd habit" and "contradictory" character traits you discussed. I think all of these really put so much dimension and nuance in a character. I also love that with every technique, you had a concrete example from amazing books and movies. Makes it so much easier to understand.
Wow, this is fantastic advice, and you referenced several of my favorite novels: City of Thieves, The Things They Carried, Game of Thrones, and No Country For Old Men. Thanks!
I must say, I introduced a lot of these even though I didn't know how they are called, so thanks to you I can use these techniques more consciously and can tweak mys tory where it's lacking. I guess, after watching many other youtubers' advice on writing your's most concrete and solid. You always give examples, present it in a neat way of points or short lists and develop on a subject a bit - what's not to like. I am gonna follow you, sir.
@@anthonycosentino463 It is a great argument because your comment is stupid..There is no deferential there! Those two things can never be separate in my mind! They are either likeable or not. I don't even agree on this for the Seinfeld cast.
Okay, let me explain to these ignorants. You like Hannibal Lecter as a character because he's interesting and engaging, right? But you cannot like him as a person if he were real.
I’ve been going through some insecurities over my storytelling lately (I’m writing my first long form project, which is hard as someone exclusively accustomed to short form; the difficulty in this is remembering that all first drafts are going to look bad at the outset, and not losing heart.) This video is an encouragement, because it’s a mixture of some things I can consciously try to implement and other things that I am subconsciously already implementing, but simply can’t see through the lens of criticism. With the last few tips on the list, I considered my characters and thought “oh hey, I’m doing that already!” I feel a little more competent now, lol.
I'm currently working on the...picture frame of my book. Characters, conflicts, personality's... This helped SO much with helping create my side characters and he habits of my main one. Thank You!
my good man, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge, I am doing a certain experiment in which I had already written a book with little knowledge on this subject, and a second book acquiring as much knowledge as possible, and thanks to your video and tips I feel like I'm going to do a great job
I just realized how important these rules are. They’re like spices-when used properly, they can create something truly remarkable. Thanks a lot, man. I can’t thank you enough; they’ve been a huge help in adding great depth to my novel.
Really happy to know I managed to fulfill all of these tips before watching 🙏 even then I'd still say these are great for anybody learning to write novels.
I'm saving this so I can come back later, very helpful video! Also if anybody wants to read I'll rant a bit about one of my characters So he loves explosives and going on hunting missions with his basically adopted child, but also sews things like bags, clothes, and other gifts for his closest friends. He also carries around a string of 3 pearls, each with a message from a friend inside to remind him of how they'll always be there for him. Some pretty bad interactions with other people happened to him in the past, which sometimes make him have mental breakdowns, and he is scared that something horrible will happen to his friends in the future. If you did read this, hope you liked it and have a good day/night :D
Just some friendly questions to press: Are these literal pearls, or more like beads? Could they be clear beads to make the messages legible without dismantling them? Did he ask each friend to do this, or did they all do this together, or each wrote a tiny message? How do his friends react to a gift that some might consider unconventional for a hunter/explosive enjoyer? Do these tease him, appreciate, reciprocate in kind, or give him less meaningful gifts? Is he the type to have three close friends, or many?
16:51 A great example of this is a limited TV series called “A Young Doctor’s Notebook”, based on Mikhail Bulgakov’s short story collection. Daniel Radcliffe plays the young doctor, and Jon Hamm plays the older version who tries to prevent his younger self from making the same mistakes. I highly recommend it!
you may talk about things in a book-context, but i am glued to the screen cos i wanna use it in writing for games. The tips kinda apply univerally keep up the good work, imma sub
Made a character recently (or rewrote him) and like he was really interested in photography when I first wrote him and now it's a tic of his to take pictures or fiddle with his camera-didn't do it on purpose but I love him and his little camera because that's him, that's how my protagonist knows something is wrong with him and it's cute to me
You just added so much to my book! I already had an idea for the epigraphs in my book to be journal entries from the protag but now I have ideas for the other characters that will expand them immensely and add an entirely new level of depth to my novel. This was the best!
6:48 now, I completely agree with this, but one thing, sometimes, you want to leave a character in the shadows for a bit. I find this mostly happens when your story focuses on one persons perspective, this comes when you try to make the reader's experience almost identical to the main character's (the reader being just as shocked if not more at a betrayal because they read it as the main character saw it, with no hints). Obviously if youre going to be using this 'in the shadows' character a lot, you want to learn more about them, but gradually, especially if this person is a more closed off and reserved character, which all leads back to the character bringing the reader along with them and forcing the reader to have the same experience All the advice was fantastic by the way, so many great ideas for character development! :D
Captain Nemo (especially the way he is portrayed in the animated TV show JV: The Extraordinary Adventures of Jules Verne) is a character who sees himslef one way, and is very deluded as to what is good and helpful for humanity. His backstory (eventually revealed in the show) explains him quite well, though it still almost makes you cry.
Make sure to add the little details of the world along with the MC's thoughts. If everything in the city is bland without anyone there, that wouldn't be a very exciting start. Maybe include a mysterious vibe, with a dramatic change in how the city works now, animals crossing the streets, birds chirping with nothing to scare them away, and so on.
@Bookfox It would be an interesting story to recontexctualize, changing the period from the Second French Revolution to something like the Mexican War of Independence. You could have all the same Catholic influences, and the time period is fairly similar, maybe too similar, even though the cultures are different. Or maybe feudal Japan or China. Plenty of stories get retold and adapted into different settings and genres. How many versions of the Price and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet story are there? I couldn't count them. So why not do Les Mis? Put it in the Star Wars universe and have the bishop be a Jedi. Instead of Javert recognizing Valjean because of a feat of strength, Inspector Javv Errit recognizes Val Jiyan using the force. There are so many possibilities.
Excellent video, very helpful to improve one's writing! I think we always need something to like in at least one of the main characters. I hate shows that only have villains.
Maybe. Sometimes the tick or quirk is what compels you, and if it gets you curious, it may hook a reader too. It's then your job as a creator to justify and explain why we should care
I have a real life example of "the unexpected element" in a persons character. About ten years ago I was working on a by-election to elect a member for the British Parliament. The (male) candidate was right wing and had a fairly hard persona standing for a party that liked to talk about immigration a lot. His hobby? Jam making! This also turned out to be a super power as it made him relatable to a huge swath of elderly ladies that made up a fair proportion of the constituency. He won (for many reasons, not all of them jam related). You could certainly write a story based around the idea of a tough guy politician winning an election and maybe gaining redemption by humanizing himself at the last minute at the suggestion of his wife and/or campaign manager (or maybe have these two in conflict?) with his hobby of jam making and winning over the older female voters who would never normally support him.
This video was really helpful for me in fleshing out my protagonist! Personally, I feel that the last suggestion is very good advice for a lot of characters and stories, but your phrasing that you ‘have to’ have those things I would disagree with. Bilbo Baggins doesn’t really have to grapple much with the past, beyond coming to terms with how his life changes throughout his journey. His past life was idyllic and, from his perspective, unremarkable. Not all characters have particularly haunting or remarkable pasts. Similarly, not all characters worry or prepare much for the future. Even if they don’t know what’s going to happen, they might not give much thought to it, and just go with the flow.
For a story I'm writing, I made about a third of the characters speak a different language but be able to understand everyone else, and 3 characters can speak both and the rest only speak normally. It makes a cool dynamic where the ones who speak a different language can understand what everyone else says, but not everyone can understand them, hence the 3 translators.
Question: When writing relationships, people usually bring up how they positively effect each other. But should we also be writing how they're negatively effecting each other?
I wrote a guy named Erik - he's the only one of the main characters in the book I'm writing with a (kind of) normal name. He's a time traveler, but that's only because of an old antique cursed pocket watch he found. The twist is that engraved on the outer casing of the pocket watch is "To manipulate the hands of time, you must trade an ability for the responsibility," so when he touched it he inadvertently lost the random ability to lie. The entire time he's making time-travel jokes and it turns out that he's not really joking. He's also the comic relief guy, if you didn't get that before. All the other characters know he has a fear of the dark -- but that's only what they think. In reality, he fears the unknown, and because he has the ability to go back and redo moments in time thanks to the watch, once he loses it in a fight with a more powerful being his personality flips back from jokey and cheerful to cowardly and constantly timid. He does have a past that haunts him, he just purposefully ignores it 24/7 with humor and topic shifts. He accepts that the world doesn't make sense, but will do literally anything to avoid comprehension of it. He has smiling depression. He's also known for literally laughing in the face of death, only because he's experienced it all before and genuinely believes he's in control. Also, when I said that he was the only one with a casual normal name, I mean that the other main character's names are Vex, Render, Juniper, Castor, Zero, Azure, Scarlett, and Jay.
I do want to say Introducing a character can be heavily reliant on what kind of character they are If they're meant to be a mystery, maybe don't reveal all their tricks right away, you know? If their motivation or problem is part of a twist, don't say what it is, give a bread crumb instead that hints towards their goal, but nothing more
That's OK. If you are willing to pay $200 an hour to a guy for listening to your stories for years, then eventually you might become a somewhat sufferable human being with a girlfriend. ;-)
Are you creating characters based on how you would act? Try instead building a framework for how a character is portrayed, by creating events as constants and then extrapolating a character's disposition from definite junctures; basically figuring out the way a character matures through experiences. This way the process could be more spontaneous.
I already kind of figured out the Three-Time Character with the story I have been inventing. I like to think of it like this, if a character had suffered some kind of trauma, the present problems happen as a consequence of their trauma or simply the coping mechanisms they developed to avoid that trauma, the future is the answer to whether or not they can overcome it.
For the "What do they have in their pockets" thing, it can also be done with what they DON'T have in their pockets. For most adults, they usually have their phone, wallet, and keys - it's basically the Holy Trinity of adulthood. But if they don't have one of those items and they don't have it on purpose, then it also defines what kind of character they are Another thing that helps define character is what vocabulary they have. Simple vocabulary with basic old words? That gives off more of a child-like character, as children don't have very big or complicated vocabularies. Big vocabulary with complex words? The character's likely older and very smart. They're probably more analytical and know what they're talking about. They use slang a lot? They're probably a teenager with a group of friends, and they're likely more laid-back and casual. Vocabulary and their way of speak says a lot about the character. And with the contradictory part, you can have them use vocabulary that's contradictory to the character. For example, Young Sheldon. If you lived in their universe and see Sheldon for the first time, you might think that he's a little odd, but you're not gonna expect him to be a super genius who knows almost everything, especially since he's a child. It's a good example of being contradicting while also saying a lot about his character and what kind of person he is. Anyways, hope this helps !!!
Personally, I'm having a lot of fun with these techniques with my MC who had the Time Loop trope. Whenever he gets a drink or food from someone, he always checks it first no matter what and he knows a lot about the characteristics of different poisons and drugs because he used to often get drugged and poisoned by the people around him. He could get full marks on every single assignment at his school if he wanted to because he's done them so often and basically know the formula and exact perfect answers and the kinds of answers each teacher would like. During ice breakers he already knows people's answers, and he knows every characters deepest darkest secrets because of the various emotional bonds he formed over the course of the loops, even if said characters have already forgotten him. Before he got tired, he used to make use of the loops to study and train in different subjects basically for as long as he pleased without worrying about time, and since he didn't possess magic but kept being killed by it, he's an expert at magic theology moreso than the characters who actually have magic in the story. He picks up of the others character's habits and learns lots of skills from them, and when the timeline rests he'd teach those skills back to them. One time he got bored and angry and went up to some guy who kept bullying him and just socked him in the face and beat him up until he got dragged off, died, and then did it again the next round. If you ask some stupid or crazy sounding question out loud like "Can you actually break your neck while tap dancing?" or "Could you, hypothetically, do xyz?" He will, without looking up from his book, have an answer because he's pulled tons of stupid stunts before. He can spoil every book in the school library for you if you decide to screw with him. He can play every instrument you can think of and crochet, knit, and sew. He remembers everyone's birthdays. He knows when the price of certain items would drop at the school store and knows the dates of sales and discounts for which item and is the most frugal little teenage boy alive. You invite him for any game and then he casually lore drops that he won a championship once. And of course, most certainty, he's the most traumatized person in the story. I love Time Loops.
I love contradictory characters. I made a woman that wanted to make connections to people, so she isolated herself further in an attempt to stay gone long enough that people would forget why they hated her.
I don't know how to word this better just yet, but there's also a notion I've picked up on that I don't agree with. It's where a character can only be interesting if they behave differently than the rest of the people in the same profession, team, etc. It's the cop who breaks the rules; it's the young uppity character disrupting the seasoned professionals trying to solve the same problem. In real life, for example, nobody is perfect, including priests. They know that they're imperfect, and most take their vows joyfully and seriously. But in fiction it'll be treated as if they all believe they are perfect, and yet are all dour and sad about it, while the one who stands out / is treated as interesting is the alcoholic, vow-breaking one. I haven't seen many Father Brown-like priest characters, is what I'm getting at in that specific example.
Probably the favourite odd reaction I've written was a woman who, after a meeting got interrupted by the plot for some hours, returned for another meeting and fetched her old and cold coffee to drink, instead of getting a new cup from the machine like everyone else.
Actually i beg to differ. As a growing writer I begin to realize about the humanization factor of character and making them feel like living being with a consciousness rather then a puppet on strings. With that being said, i don't agree with the first and last tip. While your advice is very solid overall, those two i listed are rather debatable. For the 1s tip, laugh at the face of the cannibal, while contradicting reactions can make a character memorable, it doesn't necessarily mean they HAVE to do that. If a character is cold and quiet for an example, even if its a cliche to make them react in their nature, a cold and unreactive response to a traumatic event, it's still within their character. It remains consistent with their being, making them laugh or act differently doesn't necessarily mean that theyre suddenly a better character. However if you consider an emotion such as crying from a character who shows little emotion, then it does improve a character. For the last bit, specific with a characters past present and future, a character can be a good character with or without a tragic backstory. While memorable characters can often have pasts that can haunt them, it doesn't mean that ALL characters should have some sort of elaborate backstory to make them mysterious. An average person is as human as you can get, and people don't usually go through a lot. Keep in mind these criticisms are very debatable and are contradictory to themselves, I just wanted to share how i saw it.
I do think its about cause and effect fundamentally, it doesn't just have to be a traumatic, a person can have a totally good backstory where nothing bad happens to them ever. But a character with such a backstory would have a different reaction to someone who had, I don't know, a pet die. The 'three-times' thing is about characters with an upbringing, living a life consistent with their upbringing (sometimes to the benefit or detriment of themselves or others), and their future where they have changed either for the better or for worse.
11:43 I disagree. If a character is a jerk I do't care how powerfull or talented a they are, since that talent is not real. You can write a character as talented as you wan't, it's not really a spectacle. However, as soon as they show a sliver of vulnerability, and a sign of just playing the role of the tough guy, then I'm in.
@@mattpace1026 I just don't like jerks, even if they are good at their job. I can acknowledge their skill, but I won't like them, because they are a bad person. Their skill also doesn't really worth much, since the author just wrote they are insane at math for example, so they are. It's not really an achivement to respect, since they aren't real. The only way I can "like" evil characters, is by admiring the skill of the author in writing them to be as deep and interesting as possible, but not them as a person. They gotta have a deep reason for being a jerk, and then I can at least not hate them. I need at least a little vulnerability in a characters edgy jerkface personality, like a single person they are nice to, or an innocent passion to make me actually "like" them beyond admiring their design, or how much they fit into the story.
@NerdGlasses256 Okay, you go on about needing characters to be "deep" or whatever right after saying that since they're fictional it doesn't really matter? You're full of it.
@@mattpace1026 I say it doesn't matter if they are skilled, because their skill is an achivement of noone. Them being deep does matter, you are twisting my words out of their meaning.
Notes I had to make for myself:
1. Laugh in the face of cannibals: have characters react to events in very counterintuitive ways
David Benioff - City of Thieves
2. Make your character carry something: a person’s prize possessions say something about them
Cormac McCarthy - No Country for Old Men; Leonard Shelby - Guy Pierce & Polaroids;
Tim O’Brien - The Things They Carried
3. Contradictory characters: they have some surprizing element not guessable from the stereotype
Walter Mosley - known for Easy Rawlins, wrote Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned
Triangle method of character creation
4. 3 Things to do every time you introduce a new character: 1. Say something (Six Levels of Dialogue) - what they say defines them; 2. Do something - Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; 3. Show what the character’s problem is, what he/she struggles with
John Green - The Fault in our Stars
5. How to Make your Character Likable: a. not flawless, but with relatable flaws
Sally Rooney - Normal People (Maryann Sheridan)
b. Save the cat: Cormac McCarthy - All the Pretty Horses (John Grady Cole) - Border Trilogy 01
c. Suffers - Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid’s Tale
d. Show competence - Stieg Larsson - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Millennium Series (Lisbeth Salander)
6. Give your Character an Odd Habit: boy ties string around everything because of abandonment issues
7. Widen the Perception Gap: create distance between how a character sees his/herself and how others do - who is right?
Breaking Bad and why Walter White is doing his thing - for his family or himself?
Game of Thrones (Cersei Lannister vs Daenerys Targaryen) from George R.R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire
John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces (Ignatius J. Reilly)
8. Create foils: an inverted version of the character
Victor Hugo - Les Misérables (Jean Valjean vs Inspector Javert)
Shrek (unfunny Shrek vs funny Donkey); C.S. Lewis - Narnia Series (Puddleglum, a funny pessimist)
9. Three-Time Character: haunted by the past, wrestle with the present, and worry about the future
Claire Keegan - Small Things Like These (Bill Furlong vs nuns)
Have layers of problems, i.e., main and minor
Sorry, sir (or ma'am (or th'em)), i think you dropped your cape. 🎉🎉🎉 This is a fantastic summary!!
this is great!
thank you, so helpful!!
Me looking at the last tip already knowing I just forgot the last 10m. Thanks you!
So I just wrote all that in my notes while I could've just copied your homework? 🥲
Life is about finding the most appropriate solutions for problems. Writing is about finding the most appropriate problem for solutions.
U ate this
Work 10hours to figureout one scene which take 1 sheet of paper. After 7 or 8 attempt. Its perfect
You should write fortune cookies.
A gang leader who likes to crochet, in Japanese, would be referred to as "gap moe", where gap (gyappu) refers to the gap between your expectations and reality, and moe refers in this context to feelings of endearment towards that character.
Basically Kanji Tatsumi from Persona 4.
@@Surikoazimaet Exactly!
@Surikoazimaet I was just thinking that 😅
I love gap moe so much!
Same..I love gap moe ❤
As with every rule, a lot of them may backfire if you drag them too far.
Much like "subverting the expectations" became basically a shoddy excuse for bad writing - "expected something good and logical? Consider your expectations subverted!".
Some of these rules are best done in moderation - especially in a cast of characters.
"Laugh in face of cannibals" - this may also lead to a character acting in an unappealing, disjointed way - instead of a compelling character, you may end up with "lol so random" or "opposite day" nonsense. This needs careful balancing in order to work.
Personal possessions - it is important to not turn it into a gimmick. For one, maybe two character, it is ok, but every character carries a gimmick item... It becomes noticeable, and therefore unnatural. This needs certain subtlety to handle - this rule is very nice, because everyone personalises their items or space to certain degree. It is often the rule best done without thinking about it - let the character flow dictate what would they carry or have.
Contradictory character - it is a very good idea to make a character distinct, true. BUT if you have a cast of characters, if everyone's special, nobody is. It is easy to make the contradiction too significant, too much in your face as well. Oftentimes a small contradiction, a character quirk that feels out of place for specific archetype adds to the character - makes them look like more than meets the eye. But overdo it, and it becomes obnoxious.
A good thing to remember - with rules like these, the most important element is to make them look natural - a lot of the newbie writers turn such advise lists into a literal checklist.
You need your character to have these aspects in a believable manner - you need to think "would this person actually do this or act like that"? If the answer is yes, go ahead. If the answer is no... Don't.
Well said. Agree that you can do these badly by pushing too far. Thanks for the clarifications.
Your comment should be pinned on the top of the comment section. Well said.
I know that having characters do contradictory things, like laughing in the face of a cannibal, can make a story interesting. But without understanding the character's depth, their core beliefs and inner motivations, these quirks become random superficial checklist behaviors.
Great writers don’t stop at “what” a character does, they dive into the truth of “why” they do it. Actions should naturally result from a character’s inner feelings and sense of self, not the other way around.
That laugh should come from somewhere real. Are they terrified but hiding it? Do they think life’s a joke because they’ve already lost everything? Are they defying fear to feel in control? But without that depth, it just feels random surface-level quirk. Actions just become tricks to get attention, and they’ll feel hollow.
The most compelling moments come from actions that actually make sense for the character’s emotions and experiences. If you skip the “why,” the characters will feel fake and unrelatable.
Also interesting if you give into the tropes but in an unexpected way. Like you know something like that would be happening next. But the way they do is unexpected. (Like in the anime Frieren.)
Sorry for the bad explanation there is a guy that does great video essays about writing technics/writing in general.
The dude named his series "exploring Frieren" or something similar
It's from pey talks anime
Glad to see a comment like this!!
I personally think staying true to a character is vital to any story.
If you write interesting characters with backstories and motivations, you should be able to let the characters make the decision that they would in that situation.
I read a book where the young girl in it finds someone has committed suicide in the room she’s supposed to be staying in. She is fine staying in the room after the body is removed and not spooked about it at all. It was a while ago but really stood out to me as a different reaction to most people.
That is strange! Good example.
Name of the book please :))
But every horror movie Charakter would have done the same. (And then died.) /J
@@lulu111_the_cool haha thankfully for her it was a mystery
@Kaminaridenki-x6z It's "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman" by PD James (1972). It's ages since I last read it and I did like it at the time but I see reviews are mixed. I don't really remember that much just what I remember about the character - I also didn't mention the strangest behaviour that I remember. She wears the man's clothes - I think just out of practically that she runs out of hers or something, and at one point she realises she's wearing the belt he hung himself with! Which would freak most people out but it doesn't seem to affect her. It's not a fast paced mystery but done in the old style.
This video just helped me clear an 8 month mental block on how to not only improve, but also link my characters, work out my villain motivation/arc/ties to the hero, give a side character more relevance, expand on my world building and finally figure out the logistics of my ending.
Omg how??? THANK YOU!!!!
make sure to stay unique, many people watched this video and used those advice .
@@eglantinepapeau1582 this is basic things... Anyone with brain can figure this
14:51 I used to work as a butler at the St. Regis hotel in NYC in the 90s. We had so many rich people come in, one being a prolific movie producer. The rules were for the staff not to engage the guests, but one day I saw this producer with a screenplay of “A Confederacy of Dunces”. I couldn’t help blurting out “Oh my God, you’re making this movie?!” We spent an hour after that discussing the book, figuring out who should play Ignatius (John Goodman, of course!) and which scenes were the best. I’m so disappointed that this movie was apparently never made.
Great story! I know, the movie has been in production for ages and somehow they never quite get it made. It would be awesome if someday it happened...
5:00 crocheting tough guy isn't as rare as one might think. Well maybe now-a-days but there was a fair amount of WW2 submarine veterans that took to crochet and knitting because the intricate action and the attention to detail needed for either distracted them from weight of the ocean bearing down trying to crush them, or the hours in forced and intense quite trying to hide from enemy ships. nutts.
I agree it isn't the rarest, but it can be memorable. A similar example is Rosey Grier, the 6'-5", 284 lbs American football player who was also famous for his needlepoint hobby.
For my grandfather it was cross-stitching. Did a tour in the navy, became a firefighter, (beat his wife) and stitched murals and other presents for his daughter and granddaughters.
Sometimes people really are just a walking contradiction
Not only that but many people in the armed forces (didn’t matter which branch) all had to sew, knit and crochet because they were in charge of keeping their uniform in good repair and to keep themselves warm in an era where heating was a luxury.
As someone who's been learning about the enneagram, I see many people touching on "tough guys" having a soft side, but not many of them having a nerdy side. Sometimes if you tickle the right fancy, they'll be more than happy to share how something works, especially if they can get you to practice it. If your characters are facing a tough decision, maybe your tough guy not only jumps into or pushes everyone into action, but also offers an angle no one's really considered before.
One Persona tough guy made it famous among the younger generation.
i'm an artist and this really helps me develop my OC
Heck, yeah, brother!!((o(^∇^)o))
(Me too.)
Without understanding the character's depth, their core beliefs and inner motivations, these ‘laughing in the face of a cannibal’ quirks become random superficial checklist behaviors.
Great writers don’t stop at “what” a character does, they dive into the truth of “why” they do it. Actions should naturally result from a character’s inner feelings and sense of self, not the other way around.
That laugh should come from somewhere real. Are they terrified but hiding it? Do they think life’s a joke because they’ve already lost everything? Are they defying fear to feel in control? But without that depth, actions just become tricks to get attention.
The most compelling moments come from actions that actually make sense for the character’s emotions and experiences. If you skip the “why,” the characters will feel fake, unrelatable and they’ll feel hollow.
Arcane s2 ep 8 and 9.
Lordy lord. 😂
Absolutely, it's important to figure out why they laugh and who they are as a character
Maybe they're a skeptic and they laugh because they don't believe people would actually do that
Maybe they're arrogant and they laugh because no one could POSSIBLY kill and eat them
Maybe they're a cynic and they laugh because it doesn't matter and somehow they're all dead anyway
Maybe they're self hating and they laugh because they don't think they're worth eating
Maybe they're competitive and they see the threat as a challenge, laughing because no matter what it's gonna be fun
Giving the same scenario to a bunch of characters and seeing how each one would react as a theory is something I really like to do with my characters, it gives a clear and distinguished answer and it allows me to understand them better
Thats why to write a scene takes me 3days to make it perfect.. Thats why take me many years to figureout main plot line and connect mains with it
The first chapter of a story I'm writing begins with the main character being hit by a bus (edit: semi truck not bus) going 80 mph.
Isekais:
Does he reincarnate into another world?
Ah yes….whats in their purse🤨
Nice hook
yikes!
This is the most underrated channel on this platform 😐 I’m about to finish my first completed first draft ever and you just gave me so much to think about as I go in for my first round of edits.
If people are telling you that you have to swear in order to be a professional writer then those people are not your friends. That’s what my mom told me, and her advice has served me well.
laughing after surviving something serious, is VERY common. Speaking as a combat veteran. sometimes you just don't know what else to feel, and your brain just decides laughter is the only response. You're brain is trying to process the fact you just survived, and everyone reacts to situations like that differently.
Isrea-lie backed politicians thank you for your service. You served the chosen ones and I hope your children serve us just as well. Thank you. Love peace and friendship it was for the friends we made along the way.
1:20 Laughing after the danger has passed is the natural human response. That's the point of it: the ending of a defense response.
😅
I’ve been doing the whole “what does your character have in their pockets (or rather soldier’s trunk, aka knapsack, as they’re soldiers in the Civil War) for a while.
Doing that helped me realize that my MMC was not only a knitter (he even knits a shawl for the FMC) but he was destined for the priesthood but enlisted in the Army to get out of it.
I can't believe how many of these I'm already doing with this character Ive been working on without even realizing it. Thank you!
Such a great list! As a possible expansion to Number 7: having other characters discuss your main (or central) character before they appear, is another helpful device!
This is definitely one of the best writing channels on youtube.Absolutely love your advice very spot on.
5:08 Dandadan Turbo Granny is a menace 😂
What she said was random and completely out of context lol 😆
This is super helpful! Spent the last hour pausing and taking notes so I can beef up my characters more for my novel. Thanks a ton! You gave me language for things I wasn't sure how to articulate :D
Thank you for your excellent advice, Mr Bookfox! I was stuck. I felt each of my characters needed work, but now every one of your tips has unlocked a passage for me to set off and enjoy the writing process again. I’m so grateful.
I think this was very well thought out and delivered. I especially appreciated the "odd habit" and "contradictory" character traits you discussed. I think all of these really put so much dimension and nuance in a character. I also love that with every technique, you had a concrete example from amazing books and movies. Makes it so much easier to understand.
Absolutely brilliant and not a second wasted on fluff. Thank you!!
Wow, this is fantastic advice, and you referenced several of my favorite novels: City of Thieves, The Things They Carried, Game of Thrones, and No Country For Old Men. Thanks!
Perfect timing! I need help getting my characters fleshed out a little better.
Biker doing crochet ... Rosie Grier doing needlepoint, because it was soothing.
I truly enjoyed this! You condensed the world into a few minutes!
I must say, I introduced a lot of these even though I didn't know how they are called, so thanks to you I can use these techniques more consciously and can tweak mys tory where it's lacking. I guess, after watching many other youtubers' advice on writing your's most concrete and solid. You always give examples, present it in a neat way of points or short lists and develop on a subject a bit - what's not to like. I am gonna follow you, sir.
t's encouraging to know I actually have been practicing a few of these already and now I have even more to work with!
The characters need to be likable as characters, not as people.
No! ...and No!,
Great argument you have there.
Ridiculous
Yeah, I don't get this either. 😂 Example? 🤔
@@anthonycosentino463
It is a great argument because your comment is stupid..There is no deferential there! Those two things can never be separate in my mind! They are either likeable or not. I don't even agree on this for the Seinfeld cast.
Okay, let me explain to these ignorants. You like Hannibal Lecter as a character because he's interesting and engaging, right? But you cannot like him as a person if he were real.
I like your tips! you give important tips that are unlike other writers out there, i hope your channel grows fast!
I’ve been going through some insecurities over my storytelling lately (I’m writing my first long form project, which is hard as someone exclusively accustomed to short form; the difficulty in this is remembering that all first drafts are going to look bad at the outset, and not losing heart.) This video is an encouragement, because it’s a mixture of some things I can consciously try to implement and other things that I am subconsciously already implementing, but simply can’t see through the lens of criticism. With the last few tips on the list, I considered my characters and thought “oh hey, I’m doing that already!” I feel a little more competent now, lol.
First draft is just beginning. I prefer to write parts of story. Like bits or puzzles and later make them better.
I'm currently working on the...picture frame of my book. Characters, conflicts, personality's... This helped SO much with helping create my side characters and he habits of my main one. Thank You!
Write, write and write. Short stories, characters. Sometimes they evolve without help. I made concepts of characters and see how they do in story
Probably my favorite video of yours so far. Great advice!
my good man, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge, I am doing a certain experiment in which I had already written a book with little knowledge on this subject, and a second book acquiring as much knowledge as possible, and thanks to your video and tips I feel like I'm going to do a great job
Your writing advice videos are a cut above.
I just realized how important these rules are. They’re like spices-when used properly, they can create something truly remarkable. Thanks a lot, man. I can’t thank you enough; they’ve been a huge help in adding great depth to my novel.
Really happy to know I managed to fulfill all of these tips before watching 🙏 even then I'd still say these are great for anybody learning to write novels.
I'm really enjoying your growing subscriptions. You're worth it. Hope to meet you some day!
Superb. Please keep stuff like this coming.
So it’s like that scene from meet the Robinsons. Where Goob thought everyone hated him but that wasn’t reality.
Not gonna lie I use meet the robinsons alot as a reference for good characters and story telling
I'm saving this so I can come back later, very helpful video!
Also if anybody wants to read I'll rant a bit about one of my characters
So he loves explosives and going on hunting missions with his basically adopted child, but also sews things like bags, clothes, and other gifts for his closest friends. He also carries around a string of 3 pearls, each with a message from a friend inside to remind him of how they'll always be there for him. Some pretty bad interactions with other people happened to him in the past, which sometimes make him have mental breakdowns, and he is scared that something horrible will happen to his friends in the future.
If you did read this, hope you liked it and have a good day/night :D
Just some friendly questions to press: Are these literal pearls, or more like beads? Could they be clear beads to make the messages legible without dismantling them? Did he ask each friend to do this, or did they all do this together, or each wrote a tiny message? How do his friends react to a gift that some might consider unconventional for a hunter/explosive enjoyer? Do these tease him, appreciate, reciprocate in kind, or give him less meaningful gifts? Is he the type to have three close friends, or many?
16:51 A great example of this is a limited TV series called “A Young Doctor’s Notebook”, based on Mikhail Bulgakov’s short story collection. Daniel Radcliffe plays the young doctor, and Jon Hamm plays the older version who tries to prevent his younger self from making the same mistakes. I highly recommend it!
you may talk about things in a book-context, but i am glued to the screen cos i wanna use it in writing for games. The tips kinda apply univerally
keep up the good work, imma sub
Made a character recently (or rewrote him) and like he was really interested in photography when I first wrote him and now it's a tic of his to take pictures or fiddle with his camera-didn't do it on purpose but I love him and his little camera because that's him, that's how my protagonist knows something is wrong with him and it's cute to me
Good for you! Char tics like this are what makes good writing.
You just added so much to my book! I already had an idea for the epigraphs in my book to be journal entries from the protag but now I have ideas for the other characters that will expand them immensely and add an entirely new level of depth to my novel. This was the best!
6:48 now, I completely agree with this, but one thing, sometimes, you want to leave a character in the shadows for a bit. I find this mostly happens when your story focuses on one persons perspective, this comes when you try to make the reader's experience almost identical to the main character's (the reader being just as shocked if not more at a betrayal because they read it as the main character saw it, with no hints). Obviously if youre going to be using this 'in the shadows' character a lot, you want to learn more about them, but gradually, especially if this person is a more closed off and reserved character, which all leads back to the character bringing the reader along with them and forcing the reader to have the same experience
All the advice was fantastic by the way, so many great ideas for character development! :D
Oh, yes, liking animals totally works for making someone likeable. There was a German leader once who used that trick to great success.
Aaaand another video of yours added to my "Editing first draft" Playlist!
Captain Nemo (especially the way he is portrayed in the animated TV show JV: The Extraordinary Adventures of Jules Verne) is a character who sees himslef one way, and is very deluded as to what is good and helpful for humanity. His backstory (eventually revealed in the show) explains him quite well, though it still almost makes you cry.
I was just thinking about this, thanks Mr. Fox!
Really good overview, thanks!
This is a very helpful guide for adding depth to a character. Thanks.
This is a good one. I took several pages of notes.
It's great to see such a high percentage of likes to views. You have a great audience.
I do have a great audience, it's true. I love them.
This video is so easy to understand. I will use every one of these techniques! Thank you!
all your writing advice is very helpful
This is absolute GOLD✨
The first chapter of my novel starts by the MC waking up and going to work, except that everyone in the city is gone.
Make sure to add the little details of the world along with the MC's thoughts. If everything in the city is bland without anyone there, that wouldn't be a very exciting start. Maybe include a mysterious vibe, with a dramatic change in how the city works now, animals crossing the streets, birds chirping with nothing to scare them away, and so on.
Kind of like Alice in Borderland!
That`s really helpfull for my new D&D character creation! Thank you!
AWESOME VIDEO!! And HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Thank you for the advice. I learned a lot.
I like that this type of videos can apply to book writers and even RPG DMs or players
I've never heard anyone pronounce Inspector Javert's name as Javier before. Threw me for a loop.
I'm such a Californian that my Spanish slipped in and overrode my French. Apologies!
@Bookfox It would be an interesting story to recontexctualize, changing the period from the Second French Revolution to something like the Mexican War of Independence. You could have all the same Catholic influences, and the time period is fairly similar, maybe too similar, even though the cultures are different. Or maybe feudal Japan or China.
Plenty of stories get retold and adapted into different settings and genres. How many versions of the Price and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet story are there? I couldn't count them. So why not do Les Mis?
Put it in the Star Wars universe and have the bishop be a Jedi. Instead of Javert recognizing Valjean because of a feat of strength, Inspector Javv Errit recognizes Val Jiyan using the force. There are so many possibilities.
Excellent video, very helpful to improve one's writing! I think we always need something to like in at least one of the main characters. I hate shows that only have villains.
I am always stunned by what the muse brings forth.
For #6, it would be better to come up with the reason for the tick or quirk first. Once you know the cause, then the effect will come more naturally.
Maybe. Sometimes the tick or quirk is what compels you, and if it gets you curious, it may hook a reader too. It's then your job as a creator to justify and explain why we should care
I have a real life example of "the unexpected element" in a persons character. About ten years ago I was working on a by-election to elect a member for the British Parliament. The (male) candidate was right wing and had a fairly hard persona standing for a party that liked to talk about immigration a lot. His hobby? Jam making! This also turned out to be a super power as it made him relatable to a huge swath of elderly ladies that made up a fair proportion of the constituency. He won (for many reasons, not all of them jam related).
You could certainly write a story based around the idea of a tough guy politician winning an election and maybe gaining redemption by humanizing himself at the last minute at the suggestion of his wife and/or campaign manager (or maybe have these two in conflict?) with his hobby of jam making and winning over the older female voters who would never normally support him.
thanks man. i ain't no book writer, but i do like learning about characters and how to make good ones.
This video was really helpful for me in fleshing out my protagonist! Personally, I feel that the last suggestion is very good advice for a lot of characters and stories, but your phrasing that you ‘have to’ have those things I would disagree with.
Bilbo Baggins doesn’t really have to grapple much with the past, beyond coming to terms with how his life changes throughout his journey. His past life was idyllic and, from his perspective, unremarkable. Not all characters have particularly haunting or remarkable pasts.
Similarly, not all characters worry or prepare much for the future. Even if they don’t know what’s going to happen, they might not give much thought to it, and just go with the flow.
Great video! While I don't agree with everything I see a lot of value here. Great for inspiration, and inspiration is most valuable
For a story I'm writing, I made about a third of the characters speak a different language but be able to understand everyone else, and 3 characters can speak both and the rest only speak normally. It makes a cool dynamic where the ones who speak a different language can understand what everyone else says, but not everyone can understand them, hence the 3 translators.
these is great i was struggling how to express my characters and make them different, will definitely use them thanks!
Question: When writing relationships, people usually bring up how they positively effect each other.
But should we also be writing how they're negatively effecting each other?
Both are great!
Interesting concepts. I don't follow them personally, but they are still interesting.
Best channel I've discovered this year by farrrrr. Your wisdom is palpable. Thanks for sharing it 🥹🤞🏾
Damn, you’ve been killing it lately
I love it! We are being instructed by an expert in writing who tells us that a character “lays down” in front of a bulldozer.
this is a massively helpful video!!
Thanks this was so helpful!
I wrote a guy named Erik - he's the only one of the main characters in the book I'm writing with a (kind of) normal name. He's a time traveler, but that's only because of an old antique cursed pocket watch he found. The twist is that engraved on the outer casing of the pocket watch is "To manipulate the hands of time, you must trade an ability for the responsibility," so when he touched it he inadvertently lost the random ability to lie. The entire time he's making time-travel jokes and it turns out that he's not really joking. He's also the comic relief guy, if you didn't get that before.
All the other characters know he has a fear of the dark -- but that's only what they think. In reality, he fears the unknown, and because he has the ability to go back and redo moments in time thanks to the watch, once he loses it in a fight with a more powerful being his personality flips back from jokey and cheerful to cowardly and constantly timid.
He does have a past that haunts him, he just purposefully ignores it 24/7 with humor and topic shifts. He accepts that the world doesn't make sense, but will do literally anything to avoid comprehension of it. He has smiling depression.
He's also known for literally laughing in the face of death, only because he's experienced it all before and genuinely believes he's in control.
Also, when I said that he was the only one with a casual normal name, I mean that the other main character's names are Vex, Render, Juniper, Castor, Zero, Azure, Scarlett, and Jay.
Time travel plot. Insane difficoult to pull good. Good luck. Can take years
Many ideas forming in my head. Many ideas.
I read this in Trump’s voice
Never been so early. Love your vids!❤
I do want to say
Introducing a character can be heavily reliant on what kind of character they are
If they're meant to be a mystery, maybe don't reveal all their tricks right away, you know?
If their motivation or problem is part of a twist, don't say what it is, give a bread crumb instead that hints towards their goal, but nothing more
Excellent advice. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Any characters ive come up with usually tend to reflect different aspects of myself and/or my insecurities
That's OK. If you are willing to pay $200 an hour to a guy for listening to your stories for years, then eventually you might become a somewhat sufferable human being with a girlfriend. ;-)
Are you creating characters based on how you would act? Try instead building a framework for how a character is portrayed, by creating events as constants and then extrapolating a character's disposition from definite junctures; basically figuring out the way a character matures through experiences. This way the process could be more spontaneous.
@@pixel_pizza im not really a writer, its the result of alot of daydreaming that ive come up with characters
I already kind of figured out the Three-Time Character with the story I have been inventing.
I like to think of it like this, if a character had suffered some kind of trauma, the present problems happen as a consequence of their trauma or simply the coping mechanisms they developed to avoid that trauma, the future is the answer to whether or not they can overcome it.
For the "What do they have in their pockets" thing, it can also be done with what they DON'T have in their pockets. For most adults, they usually have their phone, wallet, and keys - it's basically the Holy Trinity of adulthood. But if they don't have one of those items and they don't have it on purpose, then it also defines what kind of character they are
Another thing that helps define character is what vocabulary they have. Simple vocabulary with basic old words? That gives off more of a child-like character, as children don't have very big or complicated vocabularies. Big vocabulary with complex words? The character's likely older and very smart. They're probably more analytical and know what they're talking about. They use slang a lot? They're probably a teenager with a group of friends, and they're likely more laid-back and casual. Vocabulary and their way of speak says a lot about the character.
And with the contradictory part, you can have them use vocabulary that's contradictory to the character. For example, Young Sheldon. If you lived in their universe and see Sheldon for the first time, you might think that he's a little odd, but you're not gonna expect him to be a super genius who knows almost everything, especially since he's a child. It's a good example of being contradicting while also saying a lot about his character and what kind of person he is.
Anyways, hope this helps !!!
Personally, I'm having a lot of fun with these techniques with my MC who had the Time Loop trope. Whenever he gets a drink or food from someone, he always checks it first no matter what and he knows a lot about the characteristics of different poisons and drugs because he used to often get drugged and poisoned by the people around him. He could get full marks on every single assignment at his school if he wanted to because he's done them so often and basically know the formula and exact perfect answers and the kinds of answers each teacher would like. During ice breakers he already knows people's answers, and he knows every characters deepest darkest secrets because of the various emotional bonds he formed over the course of the loops, even if said characters have already forgotten him. Before he got tired, he used to make use of the loops to study and train in different subjects basically for as long as he pleased without worrying about time, and since he didn't possess magic but kept being killed by it, he's an expert at magic theology moreso than the characters who actually have magic in the story. He picks up of the others character's habits and learns lots of skills from them, and when the timeline rests he'd teach those skills back to them. One time he got bored and angry and went up to some guy who kept bullying him and just socked him in the face and beat him up until he got dragged off, died, and then did it again the next round. If you ask some stupid or crazy sounding question out loud like "Can you actually break your neck while tap dancing?" or "Could you, hypothetically, do xyz?" He will, without looking up from his book, have an answer because he's pulled tons of stupid stunts before. He can spoil every book in the school library for you if you decide to screw with him. He can play every instrument you can think of and crochet, knit, and sew. He remembers everyone's birthdays. He knows when the price of certain items would drop at the school store and knows the dates of sales and discounts for which item and is the most frugal little teenage boy alive. You invite him for any game and then he casually lore drops that he won a championship once. And of course, most certainty, he's the most traumatized person in the story. I love Time Loops.
Groundhog Day vibes?
A great example is darkis pemberton someone who grins when hearing of a powerful pirate leader showing up in his land
Nice! Good stuff! Thanks a bunch
I love contradictory characters.
I made a woman that wanted to make connections to people, so she isolated herself further in an attempt to stay gone long enough that people would forget why they hated her.
I don't know how to word this better just yet, but there's also a notion I've picked up on that I don't agree with. It's where a character can only be interesting if they behave differently than the rest of the people in the same profession, team, etc. It's the cop who breaks the rules; it's the young uppity character disrupting the seasoned professionals trying to solve the same problem.
In real life, for example, nobody is perfect, including priests. They know that they're imperfect, and most take their vows joyfully and seriously. But in fiction it'll be treated as if they all believe they are perfect, and yet are all dour and sad about it, while the one who stands out / is treated as interesting is the alcoholic, vow-breaking one. I haven't seen many Father Brown-like priest characters, is what I'm getting at in that specific example.
After watching this video i realised I am going towards the right direction
Probably the favourite odd reaction I've written was a woman who, after a meeting got interrupted by the plot for some hours, returned for another meeting and fetched her old and cold coffee to drink, instead of getting a new cup from the machine like everyone else.
Actually i beg to differ. As a growing writer I begin to realize about the humanization factor of character and making them feel like living being with a consciousness rather then a puppet on strings. With that being said, i don't agree with the first and last tip. While your advice is very solid overall, those two i listed are rather debatable.
For the 1s tip, laugh at the face of the cannibal, while contradicting reactions can make a character memorable, it doesn't necessarily mean they HAVE to do that. If a character is cold and quiet for an example, even if its a cliche to make them react in their nature, a cold and unreactive response to a traumatic event, it's still within their character. It remains consistent with their being, making them laugh or act differently doesn't necessarily mean that theyre suddenly a better character. However if you consider an emotion such as crying from a character who shows little emotion, then it does improve a character.
For the last bit, specific with a characters past present and future, a character can be a good character with or without a tragic backstory. While memorable characters can often have pasts that can haunt them, it doesn't mean that ALL characters should have some sort of elaborate backstory to make them mysterious. An average person is as human as you can get, and people don't usually go through a lot.
Keep in mind these criticisms are very debatable and are contradictory to themselves, I just wanted to share how i saw it.
I do think its about cause and effect fundamentally, it doesn't just have to be a traumatic, a person can have a totally good backstory where nothing bad happens to them ever. But a character with such a backstory would have a different reaction to someone who had, I don't know, a pet die.
The 'three-times' thing is about characters with an upbringing, living a life consistent with their upbringing (sometimes to the benefit or detriment of themselves or others), and their future where they have changed either for the better or for worse.
11:43 I disagree. If a character is a jerk I do't care how powerfull or talented a they are, since that talent is not real. You can write a character as talented as you wan't, it's not really a spectacle. However, as soon as they show a sliver of vulnerability, and a sign of just playing the role of the tough guy, then I'm in.
So, if a character isn't nice, that automatically negates competence in and of itself? Sounds like you have some serious insecurities.
@@mattpace1026 I just don't like jerks, even if they are good at their job. I can acknowledge their skill, but I won't like them, because they are a bad person. Their skill also doesn't really worth much, since the author just wrote they are insane at math for example, so they are. It's not really an achivement to respect, since they aren't real. The only way I can "like" evil characters, is by admiring the skill of the author in writing them to be as deep and interesting as possible, but not them as a person. They gotta have a deep reason for being a jerk, and then I can at least not hate them. I need at least a little vulnerability in a characters edgy jerkface personality, like a single person they are nice to, or an innocent passion to make me actually "like" them beyond admiring their design, or how much they fit into the story.
@NerdGlasses256 Okay, you go on about needing characters to be "deep" or whatever right after saying that since they're fictional it doesn't really matter? You're full of it.
@@mattpace1026 I say it doesn't matter if they are skilled, because their skill is an achivement of noone. Them being deep does matter, you are twisting my words out of their meaning.
really like ur content. and the books u recommend. love that ❤
Good one