I'm also approaching the character questions interview-style and partly as a distraction from my attempt at writing a darker chapter for my legacy. The answers are those of one of my legacy founders (Asher Fier).
There are lots of fun dimensions to this. There's the truth about the character, how the character would answer, and what the character actually believes.
- Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?
"No. I'm not preoccupied with anything. I lose thousands of simoleons in income daily by working as a professor, but I work this job because my employment allows me to enlighten and enrich the lives of others. " - If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?
"Let's be honest. My name means blessed. I'm the chosen one: the main character in everyone's life. I won the lottery 100% of the time (before it was banned), so I banked an easy 2,000,000 simoleons. Nothing tragic or negative is ever happening to me. Hypothetically, though, if something 'negative' happens, it's either 1) not my fault or 2) deserved and not actually happening to me." - What does your character like in other people?
"Loyalty." - What does your character dislike in other people?
"I don't consider others enough to think about what I dislike in them." - How does your character normally deal with confrontation?
"My legal team did not approve this question." - What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?
"Is this a joke? I'm not going to die. For those who do, there may be a chance for some of them to be reincarnated or otherwise brought back." - In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?
"If you don't know me personally, don't consider criticizing me. Think before you say something stupid. I'm not arrogant. I'm confident because I have a history of always being right."
@SnowBnuuy Thanks for sharing these questions. Leo is one of my favorites of yours, so it was fun to see answers for him, especially since I'm not completely caught up yet.
@haneul I enjoyed reading yours, as I was reading I was like 'Yep, this all sounds just like how I imagine him to be as well' : P I'm glad you like Leo, he's good fun (well, in the second story anyway : P)
I was gonna answer every question on a blog post, but it'd be pretty spoilery so I decided to just do a handful of the same questions I posted interview-style, but with Morgyn this time (based on them by the third story).
- What does your character like in other people?
'I do love those who are passionate, even if it is about something I have absolutely no knowledge of. I appreciate when others are willing to defend those who are not able to defend themselves, and those with a sense of humour.'
- What does your character dislike in other people?
'If there is something far too frequent in this world, it is people who do a terrible job of parenting. On top of that, I cannot stand cowardice; if you cannot pick a fight with someone 'your own size' then do not bother. On top of that...poor manners. Is it too much to ask for a sliver of decorum?'
- How does your character normally deal with confrontation?
'As a teenager, I would always think that I was right, that I was better than everyone- it seems nowadays that is not true, so I try to be as humble as possible in the face of confrontation. Sometimes it can be upsetting or enraging, but I have to learn to take a step back and reflect on what is being said. Of course, if you are confronting me in an attempt to endanger someone I care about, then I have little issue giving you exactly what you deserve...'
- What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?
'As I said- I despise poor manners. In the magic academy, there is far too much of it- people not wiping their feet on the doormat, dirt under the fingernails, not washing cutlery and plates properly in the canteen...and do not get me started on the bathrooms! It all makes me nauseous just thinking about it.'
- In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?
'It depends on the person, and what is being said. With my old mentor, she was always kind and constructive and wanted me to be the best I could be. However, many others have thrown all kinds of terrible accusations at me. I try not to think about them.'
Whoa, I love how lively this place has become 😁 and how many answers to the newyears question there were! @Kellogg_J_Kellogg That’s a good goal to set! Are you going to add more descriptions to your future chapters to get in the practice?
@MonaSolstraale Small steps and taking it one step at a time is very important, yes. I’ve fallen into the trap of trying to do too many things at once too, or setting a goal that was so big I didn’t know where to start.
@SnowBnuuy I’ve always been very impressed with writers who can give all of their characters different “voices”, both in first and third person. It’s hard to stay consistent with it and so easy to break immersion or slip up. You really have to know how the character thinks and talks both.
@GlacierSnow Ooooh good luck! CC creation seems like a very difficult thing to get right. If you keep up with it, I wonder what kind of things you’ll have made by the end of the year!
@haneul Those questions look pretty good. It’s always a good thing to take a step back and see how your chapter fits in with the rest of the story. When you’re writing a novel you can look back on it later and make changes if it doesn’t fit the rest, but as simlit is a post-as-you-write type of storytelling (normally), we need to think about coherence beforehand.
@HermioneSims Practice makes perfect there 😁 the more you read and write, the better your English will get, and your storytelling skills will improve at the same time. It’s doubly handy. Best of luck to you 😊
@MoonlightGraham Oooh, that’s a familiar pitfall. It’s so easy to hyperfocus on something and only want to do that, only to burn yourself out really early too. I fell into that trap myself a couple of times over the years. Still do, sometimes. Having a co-writer or other person to motivate you helps loads, though 😊 I hope you and your daughter can stick to it! And though you can always improve in the visual department, it’s important to recognise your own style too, yes.
Whew, that was a lot. I’ll return to answer @SnowBnuuy ‘s question later 😁
Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
@SnowBnuuy I like the glimpse of Morgyn your answers provided. One difficulty I have with the interview-style approach is that the questions are quite personal/aggressive, so I don't think any of my characters (including Asher) would be unguarded enough to give actually insightful answers. I imagine that asking someone if they caused any of the tragedies in their life might be pretty traumatic.
@haneul Yeah that’s a very good point. Not every character will be comfortable answering, others might not necessarily tell the truth as well. I’m glad you liked it ^u^
- Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not? Arthur: “It’s hard to answer ‘no’ to that question when you’re the Crown Prince. Money and material belongings come with the territory.” Morgana: “Naturally. They’re tools. Use them for your own benefit or against someone else. Money and material belongings hold sway over many people. Wit and guile can deal with whoever is left.” Gawain: “Not really. I like that we’re able to eat and have a roof over our head. I don’t need anything else.” Guinevere: “I… need money to buy food. I don’t really wear expensive clothing or jewellery. If you have more than you can carry in a basket, you can’t take it with you when you leave.”
- If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others? Arthur: “That depends on the situation. The question is black-and-white, but the world is not. Tragedies can befall people through no fault of their own... but I am not always blameless.” Morgana: “I might not have caused it. But if I let it happen without a fight, I deserved it.” Gawain: “That… really depends on what happened, right? I don’t think anyone deserves bad things to happen to them… unless they are bad people.” Guinevere: “I… don’t know. It’s probably my fault.”
- What does your character like in other people? Arthur: “Loyalty and trustworthiness. I have a large weight on my shoulders and very few people that I can truly trust. They mean the world to me.” Morgana: “I want them to be real.” Gawain: “I like it when someone is a good person. Like Arthur.” Guinevere: “I like people that are confident and kind. Like A… um, like… like Sarah.”
- What does your character dislike in other people? Arthur: “Disloyalty. I despise people that break promises and cannot be trusted.” Morgana: “Dishonesty.” Gawain: “I hate people like Agravaine. People that don’t care who they hurt.” Guinevere: “I don’t like it when people are angry. Or shouting. Or hurting others.”
- How does your character normally deal with confrontation? Arthur: “See the other side. Try to find a compromise. If there is none, I’ll stand by what I think is best.” Morgana: “Break their argument. If they won’t bend, break them.” Gawain: “I help who is right. It’s not hard.” Guinevere: “I’m not good at confrontations.”
Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
What do you want to improve about your stories in the future?
Do you want to learn to write characters better? Be able to write more exciting action scenes? Use pictures more? Less? Learn to edit them (better)?
i woud like to come up with new storylines. since its a story i've worked on since 2015 its hard but i promised ayden my second generation heir i would finish his familys story before strting a new one a few of you have read posts about how stubborn he can be, ayden also guilts me if i write something he disagrees with but if try and do another story the save breaks.
i'm looking through the questions now but to avoid spam i might answer one or 2 every few houes.
Thanks for some interesting questions and answers about Character development.
I admire the very structured approach to the material
I consider what it is that is blocking me from responding.....
I think it's impossible for me to answer those questions and it dawns on me that it's because I'm much more unstructured in my starting point.
I often start with a task I want to achieve and then my characters develop around it.
I think my three main sims characters (+ Trix) have some pretty different personalities. At least they have it in my optics, so I hope others can see it too.
At the same time, I reserve the right to let them surprise me because I do not know all the answers in advance. I like it that way. I love when random Sims suddenly cross their path and they evolve in an unforeseen direction. It reflects life as I have come to know it.
It is when I begin to examine these relationships or reactions they evoke in my characters that new history emerges in my head.
My writing process is quite intuitive and dialectical in relation to my main characters.
That's probably the best answer I can come up with.
Thanks for some interesting questions and answers about Character development.
I admire the very structured approach to the material
I consider what it is that is blocking me from responding.....
I think it's impossible for me to answer those questions and it dawns on me that it's because I'm much more unstructured in my starting point.
I often start with a task I want to achieve and then my characters develop around it.
I think my three main sims characters (+ Trix) have some pretty different personalities. At least they have it in my optics, so I hope others can see it too.
At the same time, I reserve the right to let them surprise me because I do not know all the answers in advance. I like it that way. I love when random Sims suddenly cross their path and they evolve in an unforeseen direction. It reflects life as I have come to know it.
It is when I begin to examine these relationships or reactions they evoke in my characters that new history emerges in my head.
My writing process is quite intuitive and dialectical in relation to my main characters.
That's probably the best answer I can come up with.
sometime you just let them take over. i decied to do this with parties. my sim was divoced so i gave her a dog. the next day i sent her to a party and left the room she came back pregnant. which shcked me cause shes not like that .
sometime you just let them take over. i decied to do this with parties. my sim was divoced so i gave her a dog. the next day i sent her to a party and left the room she came back pregnant. which shcked me cause shes not like that .
It was something of a surprise
I do not allow my Sims quite so unlimited freedom.
sometime you just let them take over. i decied to do this with parties. my sim was divoced so i gave her a dog. the next day i sent her to a party and left the room she came back pregnant. which shcked me cause shes not like that .
It was something of a surprise
I do not allow my Sims quite so unlimited freedom.
oh i used to be more controlling. but i had to give them a little freedom cause if you read one of the other posts here been trying to finish the story since 2015. so i gave them more freedom cause its hard yo come up wiyj ideas after 5 yrs.
sometime you just let them take over. i decied to do this with parties. my sim was divoced so i gave her a dog. the next day i sent her to a party and left the room she came back pregnant. which shcked me cause shes not like that .
It was something of a surprise
I do not allow my Sims quite so unlimited freedom.
oh i used to be more controlling. but i had to give them a little freedom cause if you read one of the other posts here been trying to finish the story since 2015. so i gave them more freedom cause its hard yo come up wiyj ideas after 5 yrs.
I agree that having them behave autonomously is fun. I've experienced a Sim getting pregnant when I wasn't paying attention as well. If that's what they want, it's generally okay with me. But at the same time, it's hard to have a story if there's no direction and no set plot. So I try to sort out the whys and the hows after the fact to give their actions some coherence.
@_sims_Yimi Thanks for the encouragement on the cc making! I actually made it an official goal (taped up on the wall above my desk and everything) to put in at least 50 hours this year on learning custom mesh making. I decided to go with that rather than 1 hour per week, because I know there are certain times of year I'm so busy with work that I will need to skip some weeks. Don't know if I'll have anything good to show for it after just 50 hours, but it's a start! I really enjoyed learning to do custom poses, so hopefully this will be fun too.
Since I haven't shared my story online, here's a picture of the two main characters so you can see who I'm talking about. They're roommates. Reuben is a detective (and a vampire) and Ion is an alien who was sent to "Human World Alpha" to study humans. The cat is his bodyguard.
None of my characters are totally honest people, so an interview would likely not yield truthful results. I will sum up.
Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?
Reuben - Not exactly preoccupied with money or material possessions, but struggling to make ends meet is the reason he took on a roommate. He definitely has some money worries.
Ion - Does not fully understand money or have a good sense of what things are likely to cost. On his planet all needs and expenses of the Amalgamation members are covered by the Amalgamation. So he's still kind of getting used to the idea of having to pay for stuff.
If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?
This is a tough one. They both kind of do both things simultaneously. But Ion will apologize. Reuben has a tough time with that.
What does your character like in other people?
Reuben - Mostly that they keep quiet, stay out of his way, cooperate with his investigations, and otherwise mind their own business.
Ion - Ion likes people who are friendly and don't mind being asked a lot of questions about humans.
What does your character dislike in other people?
Reuben - Pretty much anything that gets on his nerves (which is a very long list)
Ion - People being rude to him when he's confused about human customs
How does your character normally deal with confrontation?
Reuben - Badly.
Ion - Tries to calm people down. He's a tele-empath (like others of his species) and he feels the emotions of others around him directly, so conflicts can get pretty painful for him.
What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?
Reuben - Is a vampire. He knows exactly what happened to him after he died. And, yes. It scares him. But he won't admit it.
Ion - [I haven't developed this aspect of Ion's homeworld yet, so I'm not sure... something about fungi maybe...? ]
What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?
Reuben - (edited for forum guidelines ) "Woohoo", "Juice", and "Moodlet altering potions"
Ion - Hard to say. Everything he sees on this planet is new to him, and he's very open-minded about most of it.
In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?
Reuben - Defensive and condescending, but secretly self-loathing
Ion - Willing to improve, but not always comprehending exactly what improvement is expected
I do it a bit differently than the question method (though the interviews are fun), and am still trying to solidify my thoughts. After reflecting on what appeals to me about character development, I think the most satisfying part is choosing a few core traits and then fleshing out the character to explain how those relate to each other, so that they feel like a coherent person while still giving the reader the satisfaction of being able to predict the character's feelings and actions.
The comic I have now is a spinoff of the main storyline, but just the first chapter required ("required"---I DON'T KNOW WHY I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HELP) 10 new named characters in addition to 9 main characters from the main story. This was my strategy for the new folks:
- Establish the character's role in the main narrative
- Establish for the reader, as quickly as possible, how they can expect the character to behave in the scenes immediately following
- Choose a core personality trait
- Choose a core value
- Choose a skill
- Based on the core trait and value, establish the character's immediate and long-term motivation
- Think of ways the core personality trait, value, skill, and motivation interact, then use your insight to build on those four things. This is the core of the whole process, and what makes the characters feel more real.
- Solidify character's group membership, based on nationality, interests, geographical location, and
- Use group membership/values/personality/etc. to give the character recognizable dialogue and speech patterns
And that's how we get people like neuroatypical Cambodian-American lesbian Sherlock Holmes helping run a secret spy ring out of an art gallery.
Also, and especially if it's a main character, I want their traits to clash in interesting ways. Like my main man looks like an affluent public figure who cares about his social standing, but is naturally hedonistic and a risk-taker. His behavior changes drastically depending on which aspect of his personality dominates at the time.
Chapter 2? More new characters! Chapter 3? Even more new characters! Yay!!! Then it slows down a bit. Ugh, I love making characters.
Catastrophe Theory: If, through loose ends, we could resume/Unrav'ling defects from the loom/And soften as the shuttle mends---/Then save for me a few loose ends! Haunted: Picture Oscar Wilde dating Willy Wonka, also Oscar Wilde is still dead
sometime you just let them take over. i decied to do this with parties. my sim was divoced so i gave her a dog. the next day i sent her to a party and left the room she came back pregnant. which shcked me cause shes not like that .
It was something of a surprise
I do not allow my Sims quite so unlimited freedom.
oh i used to be more controlling. but i had to give them a little freedom cause if you read one of the other posts here been trying to finish the story since 2015. so i gave them more freedom cause its hard yo come up wiyj ideas after 5 yrs.
I agree that having them behave autonomously is fun. I've experienced a Sim getting pregnant when I wasn't paying attention as well. If that's what they want to, it's generally okay with me. But at the same, it's hard to have a story if there's no direction and no set plot. So I try to sort out the whys and the hows after the fact to give their actions some coherence.
sometime you just let them take over. i decied to do this with parties. my sim was divoced so i gave her a dog. the next day i sent her to a party and left the room she came back pregnant. which shcked me cause shes not like that .
It was something of a surprise
I do not allow my Sims quite so unlimited freedom.
oh i used to be more controlling. but i had to give them a little freedom cause if you read one of the other posts here been trying to finish the story since 2015. so i gave them more freedom cause its hard yo come up wiyj ideas after 5 yrs.
I agree that having them behave autonomously is fun. I've experienced a Sim getting pregnant when I wasn't paying attention as well. If that's what they want to, it's generally okay with me. But at the same, it's hard to have a story if there's no direction and no set plot. So I try to sort out the whys and the hows after the fact to give their actions some coherence.
i do try and keep the parts i staered with in 2015 but when i stated the last time i had found the orginal benders and one of the kids aged too soon. when i found them he was older than his older siblings so i had to skip over a lot.
@Dollyllama108 Your process sounds both interesting and extremely complicated. I'm intrigued.
And that's how we get people like neuroatypical Cambodian-American lesbian Sherlock Holmes helping run a secret spy ring out of an art gallery.
This is a lot. Out of curiosity, how long are your chapters or stories? It seems like it would take many words and much research to get all of that across. Do your characters stay as you initially design them or is there some flexibility as the story develops?
I love how complex everyone else’s thought processes are on characters, meanwhile I’m just here recycling the same five archetypes over and over until somebody notices ‘Yikes is that YET another overprotective older brother character?’ Yes, yes it is : p
Out of curiosity, how long are your chapters or stories?
The work I'm referring to is a comic, and the first chapter will be ~84 pages. The main story is---I don't even remember, 200k+ words? 300k+? Over two novels worth.
But when it comes to characterization, I don't throw a ton of exposition at the reader. I let my notes about each character inform the way they talk, act, and feel, and only directly reference a characters' features if it's necessary for the story. That way, they feel more real and readers get the "ohhh, of COURSE character A would do that, of COURSE" epiphany when they put the pieces together themselves.
It seems like it would take many words and much research to get all of that across.
Ok, so I do go overboard on research (e.g. studying the native languages/cultures of my immigrant/ESL protagonists, and one time it took 10 hours to write a single character's dialogue in a chapter that maybe 5 people read), but it's much more important to have empathy and a strong understanding of cause and effect.
Do your characters stay as you initially design them or is there some flexibility as the story develops?
They absolutely develop over time! But there's always clear logic behind what prompted the changes. Funny thing, all characters in the main story do develop absolutely from scratch because I thought characters acting on their own and gaining a personality over time was the coolest part of SimLit. And they're great at driving the story themselves!
Catastrophe Theory: If, through loose ends, we could resume/Unrav'ling defects from the loom/And soften as the shuttle mends---/Then save for me a few loose ends! Haunted: Picture Oscar Wilde dating Willy Wonka, also Oscar Wilde is still dead
This is an interesting discussion regarding character development.
I actually don't develop my characters in a structured or purposeful way, especially not in advance. I've tried doing that before several times, and for me it results in fake characters who refuse to come to life for me. I have to let the characters develop themselves as I write the story. This is the reason I end up doing so much rewriting, because half way through I'll finally be like "Oh that's who he is!" and have to go back through the story and make sure everything fits.
I was only able to answer these questions now because I've written thirty-two chapters with these characters already. And honestly, some of my answers I'm not totally sure about, I'm sort of guessing. The story is meant to be a long slow burn (which is what I like) so there will be a lot more development to come.
So I'm curious, as an addition to this character discussion: What kind of process do all of you have for developing your characters or allowing them to autonomously develop? And are you happy with how well this process works for you? Some of you have already mentioned it, but I'm curious what others do.
I don't develop my characters in a structured way either. I was able to answer the questions because I started my legacy in 2018. I think I should have some familiarity with my Sims/characters after such a long time and it's probably even easier for me because I have a guarded character who isn't going to bare his soul and answer extremely personal questions in a completely genuine way. Plus, I viewed the questions as a snapshot in time that reflects how things are now, but everything could change.
My natural writing style is subtle, nuanced, and slow (i.e., boring), and I think I'd be writing a 100% tragedy if my Sims didn't have a bit of oddness or flair to their personalities. My Sims also aren't particularly relatable or likeable, so I try to make it fun by exaggerating things and being satirical. I love history and studied it for years and did other things with it, so ironically, I keep nationalities and real-life history out of my game as much as possible because I don't want my Sims to be restrained in that way, so my Sims don't have any nationalities associated with them even though it's not a challenge to tell which cultures influence them the most.
To get to the point, my characters are developed through gameplay. I play the game and my characters develop. Because I am so slow about it, I have months and months to think about what in-game actions may mean before I post things publicly. I have fun with it. But I also put in some effort/thought. I try not to get too precious about things, but I will rewrite infinitely 2-22 times to get something to an okay level. As a side effect, I think my Sims are also starting to develop something similar to a brand identity with their attention-seeking ostentatious behavior. I call it a legacy, but that's because "legacy" is a term that people are familiar with—I can't decide if it's off-putting or not, but I shamelessly don't follow any legacy rules. I don't even have heirs, but my Sims have a family so...
I love how complex everyone else’s thought processes are on characters, meanwhile I’m just here recycling the same five archetypes over and over until somebody notices ‘Yikes is that YET another overprotective older brother character?’ Yes, yes it is : p
@SnowBnuuy How can someone notice that? Your characters are diverse and don't seem recycled at all.
@Dollyllama108 Thanks for the response. 200k to 300k is very long. Wow. I'll have to spend some time on Catastrophe Theory. I can imagine you researched a lot of different things and not just that dialogue—that's another reason why I write in third person and don't have nationalities in my game. It already takes me forever.
@GlacierSnow Good question ^u^ Also slow burn stuff is always good fun.
‘ What kind of process do all of you have for developing your characters or allowing them to autonomously develop? And are you happy with how well this process works for you?’
Autonomously speaking: Sometimes spontaneous is the way to go, and sometimes that’s what I do- let the traits, Lifestyles and Sentiments give me ideas for characters and their relationships with others. If I really have no pre-conceived ideas, I randomise traits and go from there to get possible ideas for the character’s personality. Doing that also helps me try and make people varied in personality since I end up with combinations of traits I wouldn’t normally think to write.
If I already have ideas for traits, I write them all down as a sort of spillage of thoughts and then go through them and pick out the bits I want to keep for the character. Sometimes I’ll think of personality traits that ‘go against’ the other characters to add variety as well as possible conflict; one of these characters in my series is Willow, who is much more careful with her magic and more concerned about its potential misuse than a lot of the other characters are. She ends up in a fair few debates and arguments with the Mischief and Untamed casters over the matter.
Then it’s a case of thinking about a character’s identity, background, childhood and so on, and how that might shape their perception of the world, of themselves, and their perception of other people. If I have to do research here then I will, to ensure a level of accuracy, and that I’m not accidentally doing something super-stereotypical or incredibly unrealistic.
Then it’s thinking about their short/long-term goals in life, their fears and their flaws, and how these flaws might inhibit them from achieving their goal. For example, in TSAHF Morgyn’s biggest flaw is their arrogance, and it gets in the way pretty often/ both of themselves and of other people.
I’ll add more later if I can think of anything, but this is more or less the process for me. If mostly works for me, but the drawback for the latter is I have a habit of recycling ideas and archetypes. So I have to try and make sure that even with characters in similar situations, they all have something that separates them and makes them different.
Comments
There are lots of fun dimensions to this. There's the truth about the character, how the character would answer, and what the character actually believes.
"No. I'm not preoccupied with anything. I lose thousands of simoleons in income daily by working as a professor, but I work this job because my employment allows me to enlighten and enrich the lives of others.
- If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?
"Let's be honest. My name means blessed. I'm the chosen one: the main character in everyone's life. I won the lottery 100% of the time (before it was banned), so I banked an easy 2,000,000 simoleons. Nothing tragic or negative is ever happening to me. Hypothetically, though, if something 'negative' happens, it's either 1) not my fault or 2) deserved and not actually happening to me."
- What does your character like in other people?
"Loyalty."
- What does your character dislike in other people?
"I don't consider others enough to think about what I dislike in them."
- How does your character normally deal with confrontation?
"My legal team did not approve this question."
- What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?
"Is this a joke? I'm not going to die. For those who do, there may be a chance for some of them to be reincarnated or otherwise brought back."
- In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?
"If you don't know me personally, don't consider criticizing me. Think before you say something stupid. I'm not arrogant. I'm confident because I have a history of always being right."
Read Sim 66 here:https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/978195/sim-66/p1
https://kelloggjkellogg.blogspot.com/2020/10/sim-66-prologue.html
I was gonna answer every question on a blog post, but it'd be pretty spoilery so I decided to just do a handful of the same questions I posted interview-style, but with Morgyn this time (based on them by the third story).
'I do love those who are passionate, even if it is about something I have absolutely no knowledge of. I appreciate when others are willing to defend those who are not able to defend themselves, and those with a sense of humour.'
- What does your character dislike in other people?
'If there is something far too frequent in this world, it is people who do a terrible job of parenting. On top of that, I cannot stand cowardice; if you cannot pick a fight with someone 'your own size' then do not bother. On top of that...poor manners. Is it too much to ask for a sliver of decorum?'
- How does your character normally deal with confrontation?
'As a teenager, I would always think that I was right, that I was better than everyone- it seems nowadays that is not true, so I try to be as humble as possible in the face of confrontation. Sometimes it can be upsetting or enraging, but I have to learn to take a step back and reflect on what is being said. Of course, if you are confronting me in an attempt to endanger someone I care about, then I have little issue giving you exactly what you deserve...'
- What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?
'As I said- I despise poor manners. In the magic academy, there is far too much of it- people not wiping their feet on the doormat, dirt under the fingernails, not washing cutlery and plates properly in the canteen...and do not get me started on the bathrooms! It all makes me nauseous just thinking about it.'
- In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?
'It depends on the person, and what is being said. With my old mentor, she was always kind and constructive and wanted me to be the best I could be. However, many others have thrown all kinds of terrible accusations at me. I try not to think about them.'
@Kellogg_J_Kellogg That’s a good goal to set! Are you going to add more descriptions to your future chapters to get in the practice?
@MonaSolstraale Small steps and taking it one step at a time is very important, yes. I’ve fallen into the trap of trying to do too many things at once too, or setting a goal that was so big I didn’t know where to start.
@SnowBnuuy I’ve always been very impressed with writers who can give all of their characters different “voices”, both in first and third person. It’s hard to stay consistent with it and so easy to break immersion or slip up. You really have to know how the character thinks and talks both.
@GlacierSnow Ooooh good luck! CC creation seems like a very difficult thing to get right. If you keep up with it, I wonder what kind of things you’ll have made by the end of the year!
@haneul Those questions look pretty good. It’s always a good thing to take a step back and see how your chapter fits in with the rest of the story. When you’re writing a novel you can look back on it later and make changes if it doesn’t fit the rest, but as simlit is a post-as-you-write type of storytelling (normally), we need to think about coherence beforehand.
@HermioneSims Practice makes perfect there 😁 the more you read and write, the better your English will get, and your storytelling skills will improve at the same time. It’s doubly handy. Best of luck to you 😊
@MoonlightGraham Oooh, that’s a familiar pitfall. It’s so easy to hyperfocus on something and only want to do that, only to burn yourself out really early too. I fell into that trap myself a couple of times over the years. Still do, sometimes. Having a co-writer or other person to motivate you helps loads, though 😊 I hope you and your daughter can stick to it! And though you can always improve in the visual department, it’s important to recognise your own style too, yes.
Whew, that was a lot. I’ll return to answer @SnowBnuuy ‘s question later 😁
Arthur: “It’s hard to answer ‘no’ to that question when you’re the Crown Prince. Money and material belongings come with the territory.”
Morgana: “Naturally. They’re tools. Use them for your own benefit or against someone else. Money and material belongings hold sway over many people. Wit and guile can deal with whoever is left.”
Gawain: “Not really. I like that we’re able to eat and have a roof over our head. I don’t need anything else.”
Guinevere: “I… need money to buy food. I don’t really wear expensive clothing or jewellery. If you have more than you can carry in a basket, you can’t take it with you when you leave.”
- If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?
Arthur: “That depends on the situation. The question is black-and-white, but the world is not. Tragedies can befall people through no fault of their own... but I am not always blameless.”
Morgana: “I might not have caused it. But if I let it happen without a fight, I deserved it.”
Gawain: “That… really depends on what happened, right? I don’t think anyone deserves bad things to happen to them… unless they are bad people.”
Guinevere: “I… don’t know. It’s probably my fault.”
- What does your character like in other people?
Arthur: “Loyalty and trustworthiness. I have a large weight on my shoulders and very few people that I can truly trust. They mean the world to me.”
Morgana: “I want them to be real.”
Gawain: “I like it when someone is a good person. Like Arthur.”
Guinevere: “I like people that are confident and kind. Like A… um, like… like Sarah.”
- What does your character dislike in other people?
Arthur: “Disloyalty. I despise people that break promises and cannot be trusted.”
Morgana: “Dishonesty.”
Gawain: “I hate people like Agravaine. People that don’t care who they hurt.”
Guinevere: “I don’t like it when people are angry. Or shouting. Or hurting others.”
- How does your character normally deal with confrontation?
Arthur: “See the other side. Try to find a compromise. If there is none, I’ll stand by what I think is best.”
Morgana: “Break their argument. If they won’t bend, break them.”
Gawain: “I help who is right. It’s not hard.”
Guinevere: “I’m not good at confrontations.”
I have too many characters to even attempt this, but reading everyone else's is fun!
Do you want to learn to write characters better? Be able to write more exciting action scenes? Use pictures more? Less? Learn to edit them (better)?
i woud like to come up with new storylines. since its a story i've worked on since 2015 its hard but i promised ayden my second generation heir i would finish his familys story before strting a new one a few of you have read posts about how stubborn he can be, ayden also guilts me if i write something he disagrees with but if try and do another story the save breaks.
i'm looking through the questions now but to avoid spam i might answer one or 2 every few houes.
I admire the very structured approach to the material
I consider what it is that is blocking me from responding.....
I think it's impossible for me to answer those questions and it dawns on me that it's because I'm much more unstructured in my starting point.
I think my three main sims characters (+ Trix) have some pretty different personalities. At least they have it in my optics, so I hope others can see it too.
At the same time, I reserve the right to let them surprise me because I do not know all the answers in advance. I like it that way. I love when random Sims suddenly cross their path and they evolve in an unforeseen direction. It reflects life as I have come to know it.
It is when I begin to examine these relationships or reactions they evoke in my characters that new history emerges in my head.
My writing process is quite intuitive and dialectical in relation to my main characters.
That's probably the best answer I can come up with.
sometime you just let them take over. i decied to do this with parties. my sim was divoced so i gave her a dog. the next day i sent her to a party and left the room she came back pregnant. which shcked me cause shes not like that .
I do not allow my Sims quite so unlimited freedom.
oh i used to be more controlling. but i had to give them a little freedom cause if you read one of the other posts here been trying to finish the story since 2015. so i gave them more freedom cause its hard yo come up wiyj ideas after 5 yrs.
I agree that having them behave autonomously is fun. I've experienced a Sim getting pregnant when I wasn't paying attention as well. If that's what they want, it's generally okay with me. But at the same time, it's hard to have a story if there's no direction and no set plot. So I try to sort out the whys and the hows after the fact to give their actions some coherence.
@SnowBnuuy Good character questions!
Since I haven't shared my story online, here's a picture of the two main characters so you can see who I'm talking about. They're roommates. Reuben is a detective (and a vampire) and Ion is an alien who was sent to "Human World Alpha" to study humans. The cat is his bodyguard.
None of my characters are totally honest people, so an interview would likely not yield truthful results. I will sum up.
Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?
Reuben - Not exactly preoccupied with money or material possessions, but struggling to make ends meet is the reason he took on a roommate. He definitely has some money worries.
Ion - Does not fully understand money or have a good sense of what things are likely to cost. On his planet all needs and expenses of the Amalgamation members are covered by the Amalgamation. So he's still kind of getting used to the idea of having to pay for stuff.
If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?
This is a tough one. They both kind of do both things simultaneously. But Ion will apologize. Reuben has a tough time with that.
What does your character like in other people?
Reuben - Mostly that they keep quiet, stay out of his way, cooperate with his investigations, and otherwise mind their own business.
Ion - Ion likes people who are friendly and don't mind being asked a lot of questions about humans.
What does your character dislike in other people?
Reuben - Pretty much anything that gets on his nerves (which is a very long list)
Ion - People being rude to him when he's confused about human customs
How does your character normally deal with confrontation?
Reuben - Badly.
Ion - Tries to calm people down. He's a tele-empath (like others of his species) and he feels the emotions of others around him directly, so conflicts can get pretty painful for him.
What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?
Reuben - Is a vampire. He knows exactly what happened to him after he died. And, yes. It scares him. But he won't admit it.
Ion - [I haven't developed this aspect of Ion's homeworld yet, so I'm not sure... something about fungi maybe...?
What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?
Reuben - (edited for forum guidelines
Ion - Hard to say. Everything he sees on this planet is new to him, and he's very open-minded about most of it.
In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?
Reuben - Defensive and condescending, but secretly self-loathing
Ion - Willing to improve, but not always comprehending exactly what improvement is expected
I do it a bit differently than the question method (though the interviews are fun), and am still trying to solidify my thoughts. After reflecting on what appeals to me about character development, I think the most satisfying part is choosing a few core traits and then fleshing out the character to explain how those relate to each other, so that they feel like a coherent person while still giving the reader the satisfaction of being able to predict the character's feelings and actions.
The comic I have now is a spinoff of the main storyline, but just the first chapter required ("required"---I DON'T KNOW WHY I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HELP) 10 new named characters in addition to 9 main characters from the main story. This was my strategy for the new folks:
- Establish the character's role in the main narrative
- Establish for the reader, as quickly as possible, how they can expect the character to behave in the scenes immediately following
- Choose a core personality trait
- Choose a core value
- Choose a skill
- Based on the core trait and value, establish the character's immediate and long-term motivation
- Think of ways the core personality trait, value, skill, and motivation interact, then use your insight to build on those four things. This is the core of the whole process, and what makes the characters feel more real.
- Solidify character's group membership, based on nationality, interests, geographical location, and
- Use group membership/values/personality/etc. to give the character recognizable dialogue and speech patterns
And that's how we get people like neuroatypical Cambodian-American lesbian Sherlock Holmes helping run a secret spy ring out of an art gallery.
Also, and especially if it's a main character, I want their traits to clash in interesting ways. Like my main man looks like an affluent public figure who cares about his social standing, but is naturally hedonistic and a risk-taker. His behavior changes drastically depending on which aspect of his personality dominates at the time.
Chapter 2? More new characters! Chapter 3? Even more new characters! Yay!!! Then it slows down a bit. Ugh, I love making characters.
Haunted: Picture Oscar Wilde dating Willy Wonka, also Oscar Wilde is still dead
i do try and keep the parts i staered with in 2015 but when i stated the last time i had found the orginal benders and one of the kids aged too soon. when i found them he was older than his older siblings so i had to skip over a lot.
This is a lot. Out of curiosity, how long are your chapters or stories? It seems like it would take many words and much research to get all of that across. Do your characters stay as you initially design them or is there some flexibility as the story develops?
The work I'm referring to is a comic, and the first chapter will be ~84 pages. The main story is---I don't even remember, 200k+ words? 300k+? Over two novels worth.
But when it comes to characterization, I don't throw a ton of exposition at the reader. I let my notes about each character inform the way they talk, act, and feel, and only directly reference a characters' features if it's necessary for the story. That way, they feel more real and readers get the "ohhh, of COURSE character A would do that, of COURSE" epiphany when they put the pieces together themselves.
Ok, so I do go overboard on research (e.g. studying the native languages/cultures of my immigrant/ESL protagonists, and one time it took 10 hours to write a single character's dialogue in a chapter that maybe 5 people read), but it's much more important to have empathy and a strong understanding of cause and effect.
They absolutely develop over time! But there's always clear logic behind what prompted the changes. Funny thing, all characters in the main story do develop absolutely from scratch because I thought characters acting on their own and gaining a personality over time was the coolest part of SimLit. And they're great at driving the story themselves!
Haunted: Picture Oscar Wilde dating Willy Wonka, also Oscar Wilde is still dead
I actually don't develop my characters in a structured or purposeful way, especially not in advance. I've tried doing that before several times, and for me it results in fake characters who refuse to come to life for me. I have to let the characters develop themselves as I write the story. This is the reason I end up doing so much rewriting, because half way through I'll finally be like "Oh that's who he is!" and have to go back through the story and make sure everything fits.
I was only able to answer these questions now because I've written thirty-two chapters with these characters already. And honestly, some of my answers I'm not totally sure about, I'm sort of guessing. The story is meant to be a long slow burn (which is what I like) so there will be a lot more development to come.
So I'm curious, as an addition to this character discussion: What kind of process do all of you have for developing your characters or allowing them to autonomously develop? And are you happy with how well this process works for you? Some of you have already mentioned it, but I'm curious what others do.
My natural writing style is subtle, nuanced, and slow (i.e., boring), and I think I'd be writing a 100% tragedy if my Sims didn't have a bit of oddness or flair to their personalities. My Sims also aren't particularly relatable or likeable, so I try to make it fun by exaggerating things and being satirical. I love history and studied it for years and did other things with it, so ironically, I keep nationalities and real-life history out of my game as much as possible because I don't want my Sims to be restrained in that way, so my Sims don't have any nationalities associated with them even though it's not a challenge to tell which cultures influence them the most.
To get to the point, my characters are developed through gameplay. I play the game and my characters develop. Because I am so slow about it, I have months and months to think about what in-game actions may mean before I post things publicly. I have fun with it. But I also put in some effort/thought. I try not to get too precious about things, but I will rewrite infinitely 2-22 times to get something to an okay level. As a side effect, I think my Sims are also starting to develop something similar to a brand identity with their attention-seeking ostentatious behavior. I call it a legacy, but that's because "legacy" is a term that people are familiar with—I can't decide if it's off-putting or not, but I shamelessly don't follow any legacy rules. I don't even have heirs, but my Sims have a family so...
@SnowBnuuy How can someone notice that? Your characters are diverse and don't seem recycled at all.
@Dollyllama108 Thanks for the response. 200k to 300k is very long. Wow. I'll have to spend some time on Catastrophe Theory. I can imagine you researched a lot of different things and not just that dialogue—that's another reason why I write in third person and don't have nationalities in my game. It already takes me forever.
‘ What kind of process do all of you have for developing your characters or allowing them to autonomously develop? And are you happy with how well this process works for you?’
Autonomously speaking: Sometimes spontaneous is the way to go, and sometimes that’s what I do- let the traits, Lifestyles and Sentiments give me ideas for characters and their relationships with others. If I really have no pre-conceived ideas, I randomise traits and go from there to get possible ideas for the character’s personality. Doing that also helps me try and make people varied in personality since I end up with combinations of traits I wouldn’t normally think to write.
If I already have ideas for traits, I write them all down as a sort of spillage of thoughts and then go through them and pick out the bits I want to keep for the character. Sometimes I’ll think of personality traits that ‘go against’ the other characters to add variety as well as possible conflict; one of these characters in my series is Willow, who is much more careful with her magic and more concerned about its potential misuse than a lot of the other characters are. She ends up in a fair few debates and arguments with the Mischief and Untamed casters over the matter.
Then it’s a case of thinking about a character’s identity, background, childhood and so on, and how that might shape their perception of the world, of themselves, and their perception of other people. If I have to do research here then I will, to ensure a level of accuracy, and that I’m not accidentally doing something super-stereotypical or incredibly unrealistic.
Then it’s thinking about their short/long-term goals in life, their fears and their flaws, and how these flaws might inhibit them from achieving their goal. For example, in TSAHF Morgyn’s biggest flaw is their arrogance, and it gets in the way pretty often/ both of themselves and of other people.
I’ll add more later if I can think of anything, but this is more or less the process for me. If mostly works for me, but the drawback for the latter is I have a habit of recycling ideas and archetypes. So I have to try and make sure that even with characters in similar situations, they all have something that separates them and makes them different.
I’ll try and elaborate a bit after work!