Character Survey Thread

[wolfeyedangel]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."
My characters are not based on me, at least not the ones that make it out of my head. I will occasionally explore individual concepts starting with my own perspective then branching out to different aspects of a concept or situation based first on contrast then go from there in order to figure out how a certain personality type would react to a given situation, especially in the stages before a character goes 'real' on me.

For "Keep Stories" while I haven't written most of them down yet, I have 3 distinct characters in the world of magistream so far. None of them are me. I have Lordain who specializes in most of the things the Dark brotherhood brags about but has nothing but contempt for the brotherhood itself, Damkina a shaman from the worst parts of the Etainian Desert, and Alri who has an affinity for the canine style magical creatures and is working on a substantial pack.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
No real preference. I tend to start most of my stories with a strong female protagonist, but usually the male protagonist quickly becomes every bit as strong (or stronger). I do more commonly write in male/female pairs (and not necessarily romantic pairings.) It just plays out better for me.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
I don't get attached as much as they become real to me. This has advantages and disadvantages, that are often the same kinds of things. Once a character hits 'real' stage, I can usually rely on them to 'tell me' when I'm pushing them into something they wouldn't do (for those of you who don't like personifying characters in your head consider it a manifestation of the subconscious's understanding that I have screwed up somewhere.) On the other hand it also means they suggest courses of action I hadn't considered. Sometimes this is good, sometimes this is bad and I have to step on them because I know they're not that stupid even if THEY don't know they're not that stupid. Thus far such things have not hindered my ability to fold, spindle, and otherwise mutilate the lives of my characters for the sake of story, plot, and my audience. (Though I tend to save the physical folding, spindling, and mutilating for rarer occasions, buckets of gore get old fast.)

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
Again it depends. It depends on the story. An engaging story can make me weep for a character or rial against them. I really don't get attached to the point I get annoyed with the author as long as everything that happens to the character makes sense within the context of the story. I may be saddened if a character dies, but I will be very upset if the character dies (or takes some other action) in a moment where they completely BROKE character to do something the author wanted to happen but that was counter to the nature already established for the characters.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
Both. Depends on the character and story. Sometimes the character comes first, sometimes the story... most of the time the difference is very short in time. The story is nothing without the characters, just a setting. The character are lifeless without the world. They depend on one another too much to wholly separate one from the other. So the question, for me usually devolves to which one hit my brain first. "Hmm that's an interesting character I wonder... <bam world>" or "Hmm, that's an odd scinario, I wonder... <poof characters! no lamp required>". I do my best not to shoe-horn anything, either the plot or the characters, that's the fastest way I have discovered to screw up a story and have to re-write completely to make it worth reading.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
It depends on the character. I literally invented one from a miss-heard phrase from a roommate that I turned into a name. I then went "hmm that sounds Elvish." The character developed from there. Others have started from a trait I wanted to explore, and when I put that trait in a logical place for it in the world the character formed around it. Sometimes full blown characters just occur to me and wait for me to put them into a world. Other times it's a long evolution process over many years, and usually many re-writes of the story. Still other times a world and character evolve as the story is being written. Note: This is for 'core personality' not for actual character development, which happens in the story one way or another (which makes that last method rather messy.)

When I am stuck on a character, I will start tossing them into situations I didn't invent. Books I'm reading etc. Ironically it's one of my tests for a 'good book'. The good ones my characters have trouble squirming into. While I rarely (as in I think I've done so once) write these scenarios out they'll tend to break the log jam of what the character's thinking and how they react, which lets me get them back where they belong doing what they need to be doing. For the most part, I usually find that I know my characters better than I think I do, and I'll usually start writing things down so I don't forget them rather than forcing details to come out. This is a 'works for me' set of methods. I'm not sure any of them would be effective for anyone else (though if you're stuck, I've found trying a new way can help quite a bit.)

~Wolf

[moondragon]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."
In a way, yes, but no at the same time. Every character I write for has at least one trait that I can realate too or a way of thinking or something in their personality that matches mine. However, my characters usually tend to delelope as their own people with their own personalities and apperances. I've never looked at a character and said they were me, expect maybe once in a role play.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
Most of my first person stories tend to be told from a girl's point of view. I'm a girl so naturally I find writing for them and thinking them up a lot simpler. However, I can't say that there's a centain gender I prefer to write for. I like to have an even mix of male and female characters and enjoy writing for them based on their personalities rather than genders.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
How attached I get to a character depends on whether I like them or not. Even though I think of my characters, some of them I find more boring to write for than others. I usually do tend to get attatched to my characters. Not to the point where I change the plot, for example making them live when I'd planned that they die, but to the point where writing their death brings tears to my eyes.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
Much like my own characters, how much I like them depends. How they fit in the story, how much I enjoy readin about them... I find myself crying if a favorite dies, but not feeling anything at all if another dies. Sometimes I find myself hoping some characters die because I dislike them. Honestly, I think I develope my opinions on characters depending on whether or not I'd like them if they were real or not.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
I usuallly come up with an idea first and the characters just fit into the idea. I have the characters thought up before I come up with the plot, but usually my characters end up fitting my stories. Before I think their personalities and such up, usually I already know what I want to happen.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
Usually my characters just come to me. I get a bit of an idea about what I want them to be like and a picture of them in my head. Then all I have to do is work out details about them, which usually happens on its own while I'm following along with the plot of my story.

[TxCat]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you?

When my creative writing gift was being fostered in school, one of the most valuable lessons I was given concerned this: write what you know. I don't base my characters off of myself directly --- any of them, not just Keep stories --- but I do use my experiences and observations to create them and round them out. Using myself as I exist for a character base would be impractical in most settings, since medieval/fantasy settings rarely have the technology to deal with severely disabled individuals. I'm also loathe to engage in such an amateur mistake. When I find characters like that elsewhere, with few exceptions, they generally tend to be perfect. Everyone loves them, they have odd/attractive attributes, no flaws, they can work any magic and master any spell, get along with even the most prickly of antagonists. In short, they're boring. I've no urge to 'write my life perfect' so while characters may have a few of my attributes (I favor redheads, for instance, and I like characters with physical flaws such as a stutter or needing to use a crutch) they are not me. I tend to look at my Keep, in particular, as a window to a world in which I am allowed some participation but the various magi caring for those creatures are not me and never will be.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?

A well rounded writer uses both with equal facility. I've found, as I got older and studied human behavior while observing how people interact, that I can write well for either type of character and even those who do not precisely fit either mold. I enjoy my characters as individuals regardless of gender, people with a story to tell through which I am the medium. The main character for my Keep story, for instance, is an effeminate male. The fictionalized autobiography/spy story has as its main character a pudgy, book bound ten year old girl. Still another of my efforts has dual main characters sharing alternate chapters. One is male and the other female.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?

I'm afraid I look at writing a bit differently than do most people. It's my belief that writers have access through whatever happenstance to alternate worlds and that the lives of those they chronicle belong to someone somewhere, even if they don't exist in this plane of reality. My characters do what they will for the most part, independent of what I want them to do, and that only lends credence to my personal belief about their origins. In one of my detective works, for instance, I started out with two stereotyped throw-away characters just to flesh out the surroundings of the main character a bit: a nerdy profiler geek with a photographic memory and an obsession with serial killers and a hard bitten detective type whose only goal in life seemed to be making other people miserable and complaining about being assigned two 'baby cops' for the case.

They didn't stay generic long; by the time I'd finished the first novel featuring them, they had their own lives, their own backgrounds, their own reasons for acting, and their own stories to tell. No matter how hard I tried to keep them as I created them, they wouldn't stay that way.

Short answer: yes, I get attached to my characters. I think in order to write believably and to make others care about your characters, this is something you simply MUST do. After all, if you don't care about them then why should a total stranger reading your works do so?

I don't find this attachment to be a problem because I don't let it be a problem. I can still make the necessary edits and screen cuts to make the work publishable or appealing to a market without feeling I've betrayed them. I simply keep an original copy of the manuscript for my own purposes and do what's needed to meet the market needs. Like other authors, I plan on offering 'bonus' content on my web site, some of which will probably be cut material or scenes which didn't fit but which give the reader another perspective on the characters. All my main characters have their own blogs on the site and they do talk about personal experiences only mentioned in the novels. It makes them more accessible and interesting.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?

In all honesty, I've only seen one Keep story I really liked and in which I really cared about the characters. That particular writer knows her craft well and created a host of characters with which the reader can empathize and feel befriended. An investment, a personal one, in the characters is important if you're going to get and keep readers. I won't read something if I cannot get a good grasp on the characters and find something with which to empathize, something which resonates with me personally.

There have been a few characters belonging to others --- Walker, Matt Dillon and Kitty, Raistlin and Dalamar --- to which I have a direct emotional attachment. For these, I write fan fiction. The ones which are unabashedly wish fulfillment stay on the hard drive, mine to read over and savor. Most of the time I write canon fiction for them and explore little holes left in the plots or places in episodes which are inexplicably left blank. On at least one occasion I disliked the ending of the series so much that I re-wrote the entire movie for it. I consider these characters old friends.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?

Plot suggests itself first, usually. I write down the plot as completely as I've been able to visualize it and then start filling in the details: who and what and why. The characters generally grow and develop as I write, sometimes taking stories in surprising new directions which I would not have otherwise considered.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?

I have a character/profile form I like to fill out. It has the standard stuff on it --- weight, height, eye color, body shape, etc. --- but also some non-standard stuff as well. One question asks about the character's idea of a perfect day or a bad day. Another asks about sleeping arrangements and how s/he likes to keep her workplace. I find thinking these sorts of things out ahead of time give me a more well-rounded character to work with and a better idea of what s/he would or wouldn't do in any given situation.

An example of one of my character forms, for anyone who is curious.

[BBkat]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you?
I don't think any of my characters based off me, but I do think they have a little of me in them. In fact, I think that's true for any author, their characters are an extension of themselves.
(Of course, that being said, what the hell does that say about me considering some of my characters?)

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
I can write both but for main characters, I seem to do better when it's a male. I dunno why, especially considering I'm a girl and all. Even RPing, I tend to use male characters. I can write both, I just seem to end up with male leads a lot. Perhaps it's because I tend to write fantasy in a time period where, a woman doing those things would be weird (I call it medieval fantasy-even though it's not on Earth but rather the realm/world/universe/whatever you want to call it that I'm in the process of fleshing out)

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
It depends on the character. Some I can get very attached to, especially in my stories. When does this pose a problem, if I happen to decide I want/need to kill them off. I have done ti successfully and perhaps my attachment is what makes the death scenes actually work. It's my intention to make you get attach to the characters so you are sad when they die. I'm a writer, I'm trying to illicit emotion in you
I will admit, in one RP when we actually killed off two of the characters, the two we had started with(and the RP had been going forever) it was the most tear-jerking thing I wrote/read and I did cry a little. I was a really depressing scene.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
It depends, characters in books, I try not to get attached to because, they always die. I swear, they do, them becoming my favourite characters is an instant death sentence, or they turn evil.

Spoiler

Dead-Brom, Sirius, Lupin, Crepsley
Evil-Murtagh
Just to name a few.

RP characters, not usually unless the RP goes for a long time and I get to know them.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
Both. Sometimes the story idea pops into my head and I have to creature the characters for it, sometimes the characters pop into my head and I have to creature the story for them. And sometimes, both happens, a character pops into my head with the story, or part of the story, attached.

And you know when they pop up? Not when I want them to, whenever is the worst time for me- when I'm going to bed at 2 am(and yes, that actually did happen, I was climbing into bed when suddenly, idea. I had to write it down before i forgot), anywhere where there's no paper or pencil in reach(such as walking to.from school), when I'm in bed and, hell, even in my freaking dreams!

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
Honestly, I don't know how to describe this because, I don't know. They just, form, in my head. If I have a basic idea I write out a mini 'form' i.e name, age, race, appearance, personality, other random info... and go form there.

I still have way to many characters than I know what to do with.

[Cyrelijean]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."

I rarely base my characters off of myself, mostly because I'm pretty boring. I want to be able to control different personalities and really get to act how they act. It's a good way to collect your thoughts and develop your way of thinking, at least for me. But back the the question. I do have one character that is based off of myself, though it's more like I'm a part of her. The origin of my username comes from an in-game character, actually my first character that I created myself. She's very much like myself, and looks quite a lot like myself, but I have yet to introduce her on MS, though I might do so in a not so distant future.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?

I prefer to play as males, mostly 'cause they have more moral rules to break. Such as being soft and gay and all that. Females are too easy to play, if I may put it that way. They are also judged in a different light compared to males. 98% of my OC are males.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?

Depending on how much time I spent on the character, developing them, creating their stories and such, it's different for each one. Some characters I could become very attached to, like Woxai, which is my first OC ever, others I could just dismiss as scraps or badly made characters.

Personally it isn't too much of a problem, because I tend to keep my characters alive for as long as possible, and they often survive until the RP either dies or is closed. My own stories however, I like to have them hurt rather badly, like losing a leg or an arm, or become paralyzed, rather than killing them off. I'm quite sadistic when it comes to such events.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?

If a character is well developed and fits my taste, I could become very attached to them. Though this is only within Manga/Anime, books and movies, not others OC. Bleach would be my biggest obsession, it's easier to ask me which characters I'm not attached to, since I adore so many of them. It's the same thing with books and movies, though mostly movies. How to Train Your Dragon for example, or Treasure Planet are two movies that I fell in love with, mainly because of the main characters that I just can't get out of my head. The Eragon trilogy would be the only book series in which the characters have been so close to my taste that I've come to love them like my own OC.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?

Neither. I do both a the same time, I write after my mood, and in time the characters personalities will become clear, as will the story. I'm pretty bad at making thing up in advance, more of the "do it as late as you possibly can, preferably after the deadline" type.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?

I model them in my head, usually in school, on the bus or when I'm bored. If I know what I want in the OC I need maybe 5 minutes and I'm done, having a well balanced and somewhat original OC as a result. But it seems that if I put too much thought into the character, they become boring, dull, not so original or just badly made. 5 minute characters are usually the best ones, while 3 hour characters are scrapped a week after I made them. As for efficiency, I create the characters appearance, personality, history and power/weaknesses at the same time, so I'd say it's a pretty good way of doing it. Another way to put it, is that they just come to me, like some sort of "Eureka!" moment.

[Ye1]

1. sometimes, creatures are partially based off me, but just my personality but sometime my personality is spread out throughout the characters, it halps me know them and get attached to them and like them. (3 msometimes, there's one that just has no me in it so i guess it depends

2. i honestly dont care even though i do share the problem with juding women... (grr how dare they) even though male characters are harder to pupeteer because i dont know what being a dude is all about, even though i have a good idea. females are pretty easy, complain about this and that but females with fire is whats in most of my stories
3. i get too atached to my characters, like wishing they were reall. most of my stories are based off dreams so i see those characters a whole lot more than just in my head when writing. same here with however much time i spent devoloping them, creating them like pixel by pixel makes me know them better, like a friend, like he/she could be on my head for all i know.
i like torturing (sorta) my caracters, not dying, just to live with enternal pain. one who is less fortunate always dramatizes the story
4. barely any. I can't think of anyone who's ever made me like therir character a whol whole bunch. no one thinks like me.
5.meh... either way around, mostly charater then add on a story to make the character less like a ghost, more solid. Writing's no puzzel. You can just snapp stuff together like that.
6.think think think. sit up in a tree, base it off a strong emotion. it's easy. there's no way to explain it. just comes to me.
7. wait is there a 7...? nope. alright sorry there....

[Lisbels]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."
Yes some of my characters are like me, there's also characters that is the total opposite of myself.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
I prefer writing female characters, seeing that I am female, I don't want anyone to mistake me fir a dude...haha.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
I don't really get that attached, I do like acting to be someone else, but I like to bring my own personality threw sometimes. Maybe getting too attached might be a problem for some people, don't forget to take a breath in reality, to clear your head for a while.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
It differs how their characters are if their nice, then I except them as friends, but I don't get that attacked.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
I like making things happen in a story. So I make my characters usually follow the story then I'll let something unexpected happen to them to give the story a twist. It makes it fun.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
My characters also just come to me, I also like working with contrast in the story, for example having a clean finicky character in a wild messy story...haha. It's kind of funny.

[shadowsen13232]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."
A. None of my characters are based off of me, mostly from my own imagination of the multiple anime I've watched over the years. I am also new to this game, so I'm not entirely sure what I'd make my character to be part of the Keep Stories.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
A. I prefer to writing male characters over females as I tend to make the females to manly in my stories and so I stick to what I'm used to.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
A. Sadly most of my characters end up dying, or something terrible happens to them, so it doesn't really allow me to get attached to them very much. I think to a certain extent it could be a problem, as in you see yourself as your character and you act out like that character 24/7.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
A. If the story is written well, and its a very nice plot line, and the characters mental, emotional, and physical aspects are well thought out, I tend to get attached to them especially with the supernatural type stories.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
A. I do a little bit of both from time to time. Sometimes my characters are very well thought out, and so I base my story around my character, but other times my characters seem to be lacking, and so I re-create a character to fit into the story.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
A. I first think of the gender that I want it to be, and what his profession, or skill, or abilities would be. Then I'd think of a background story for them, just to give more depth to the character. Then I'd think of the physical appearance, then I try to name him according to everything that I've thought out. I'm not entirely sure if its an effective method that could be used for everyone, but it certainly works for me.

[cusith]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."
None of my characters are based of of me per-say, they may have some of my likes or dislikes, or one of my personality traits, but that's about as close as the get. I'm not nearly as interesting as half of my characters, or as out-going as most of them.
2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
I don't prefer either, I think that I write both fairly well, my stories usually have an equal number of guys to girls. Being a girl though I do find it easier to write for that gender.
3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
I get fairly attached, but at the same time I like to think that if the story demanded that one of those characters died I'd be willing and able to do so. It would probably hurt, since I put so much time and effort into making my characters seem like real people, but I think I'd be able to do it. Getting to attached might be a problem if I start trying to think of ways to save them instead of killing them off, but I haven't come across that situation yet.
4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
Not as much as I do my own, because they aren't mine. I didn't put hours into creating them. At the same time though if it's a character that I really liked I'd probably get upset if they died or something terrible happened to them. (R.I.P. Fred)
5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
Sometimes one, sometimes the other. Occasionally a character will pop into my head that demands a story be written for them, and sometimes it's the other way around. I usually get my story ideas first then created characters to fit into that world.
6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
I try to start with a situation in a story, or a scene, usually something active/dramatic/or a fight scene and try to picture who might be in that situation and let my imagination take over and go from there. I start with appearance, what they're wearing, how they look at that moment in the scene, then move on to why would they be there in that situation, build up their backstory a bit, and then I give them a name. I think it's a fairly effective method, but I have to be careful to make sure that if I'm usuing a similar scenario to make sure that the character is different for each story.

[BlackPearl13]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."
Some of my characters are based on me, others are based on my friends, or even just people that I admire! I guess it all depends on my mood.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
I don't really have a preference. I guess girls are somewhat easier, simply because I have a better understanding of how their minds work, but I don't struggle with guys much more.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
I get very attached to my characters. This is sometimes a problem. I occasionally have to stop writing for the day, simply because my words are destroying my characters lives, even if they are fictional.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
It really depends on how well-developed the characters are. If the deepest the character gets is "I lost my pen. I was sad," well, that stinks, but I don't really care. If the character is more like, "After I 'loaned' Susie my pen, she never gave it back. That pen was the last thing my mother gave me before dying in a car accident five years ago. I asked Susie where it was, but she just stared at me blankly. Now I fear whether or not I'll ever get that pen back!" (sorry if that was a bad example, I only spent a minute or two on it...) that makes me somewhat attached to the character.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
I hop back and forth between changing the story, and changing the characters... Changing the story, and changing the characters. I generally start with a vague notion of both the story and the characters. The I dream up more character details, start writing their story, change their personality, tweak the story, and so on.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
I mostly make up characters at night. As I'm trying to fall asleep I imagine what the character would be like in real life. I imagine things like what they would wear, how they would speak, who they would associate with and why... Then these thoughts continue in my dreams. I do think that this is an effective method (for me) because my imagination is the most effective at night. My dreams are very vivid and I generally remember them on SOME level, so come morning I am ready to write!