Put yourself into their shoes, ask why are they acting like they do, what they want to achieve with their actions, and how they feel about it.
I believe you must first ask who they are and what they want to achieve in life (motivation). Once you know the answer to that you'll always know what their actions will be and how they will react in any situation.
With sims you can use their traits as a guide if you want. For example if you have an ambitious and evil sim, they will likely betray their co-workers and friends to get a promotion, while ambitious and good sim would find another way to get the promotion that doesn't involve a betrayal.
Hi @DeafSimmer I'm not very familiar with your newest story yet, and probably don't have much to add to the great tips you've already received, but just for consideration:
I've come up with the idea of a mastermind controlling his actions and causing him to act out.
One thing to remember here is that that's technically just shifting the villain role onto someone else, so you may want to consider what the mastermind is seeking to achieve. Obviously this can be a vicious cycle so you don't need to follow the thread ad infinitum or explain the motivations of every being in your universe - we rarely get an explanation from everyone IRL either - but just something to think about
@DeafSimmer You know, the sole fact that you're thinking about this stuff in the first place means you're on the right track
I thought of one more thing that may be helpful, though of course, it's completely possible you're already doing this - in which case just ignore me But if you're not, try to have think about what your antagonists' "positive" traits are, and vice versa, what your protagonists' "negative" traits are. Everyone has both, so making sure your protagonist has flaws and that your antagonist has some good qualities will automatically give them a bit more dimension, and another layer of how they might react in a situation.
I like writing, but sometimes I feel like my characters are too one-dimensional to be relatable or for readers to connect with them. Oh, and I think my antagonists are too cliched. What are some good ways to make deep, three-dimensional characters?
To throw in my two cents, I think writing characters can be improved by realising two things:
1. People never change
and
2. People change.
I'm sure you've heard of both those things before.
People have innate tendencies that they never lose, be it impatience or kindness or laziness. These are like settings they default to. See me- incredibly impatient since birth. I like to think I've matured over the years, but that impatience never really went away.
For sims, this can be their cas traits, which gives you a nice guide on their default state.
These traits are like 'rules' of how this character behaves, for example if a character is kind, they will be kind to everyone they meet. Of course, rules can have exceptions- a character can be kind to everyone, except that one person that did her wrong.
Which brings me to:
People change. When things happen to/around a person, it makes impacts on them. Some impacts last longer than others. Some impacts last forever. Who a person is today is made of those things that never change, shaped by things that happened to them. So in that above example, the character was kind to everyone, until that changed. Someone boy broke their heart, so now she is kind to everyone else, except that one boy.
If the situation was drastic, the change can be more drastic too. For example, if the breakup was particularly nasty, the character may be kind to everyone else, except that one boy, and all people that remind her of that boy. Of course it will take a very big situation to change that trait altogether.
I find it interesting to see how a character goes from point A to point B. When I see a particularly messed up character, I always wonder why they are the way they are. Thinking up reasons for how a character came to be (you know, their backstory) can be a fun character building exercise!
Recently, it feels as though my story is going nowhere. After Ragnar was put in a prison, the conflict seems to be resolved too soon. Also, I've considered rewriting the story or scrapping it. It seems like the story has gotten boring, and probably lost the original vision. I'm not sure what to do with it.
Hey there's no need to scrap the whole thing! You can always retcon a bit and continue off from where you think it deviated from your original plan. I find it easier to write if I have at least the next story arc planned so maybe a minor rewrite can lead to better writing?
Alternatively you've hinted at Ragnor being broken out of jail- why don't you use that to course correct the plot back to where you want it to go?
@BlackUndecimber Maybe I won't scrap the whole thing, but create the final arc for my story instead. I think my block is a slight result of the "Sagging Middle Syndrome" that writers sometimes go through.
Sometimes, if you want to keep the story going but the current arc seems to be resolved, you can introduce something new--this could be by introducing new characters, new challenges or conflicts, new decisions that need to be made, new life circumstances, situations, or changes, or by having your characters move or visit someplace new!
@DeafSimmer how to avoid "Sagging Middle Syndrome"
If you have the beginning (A) and the ending of a story (B), your middle is a result of both. Ideally, B is significantly different than A, at least in a few points (If not, you do not have B and need a different approach than this one).
So, you'll have to decide which are the significant changes to B compared to A, and then think of steps that make the progress A -> B happen. That is your middle part.
An example:
A: Mary Sue is a lovely, friendly girl that likes everyone
B: Mary Sue is mistrusting and bitter and hates everyone
How do we get from A to B? Obv some things have happened that made Mary Sue lose her trust in humanity. Those things happen gradually. For example, first she could have discovered her boyfriend cheated on her. To make it a story, she could have been suspicious first, but maybe her friends even called her paranoid. But then she finds final proof! Cheater-boyfriend had a love letter in his jacket - and it's not Mary Sue who wrote it. -> She lost trust in him, and feels also proven that her instinct, despite the contradiction from her friends, was actually correct!
Okay we need more because one cheat alone should normally not be enough to make someone bitter. Let's continue.
So Mary Sue got her final proof, and she's going to her best friend to pour her heart out. They have a sweet conversation, Mary Sue's bff is understanding, maybe she's even apologizing. BUT THEN. Mary Sue discovers the same letter paper on her bff's desk that the love letter was written on... her bff betrayed her!! Backstabbing b***!
Mary Sue runs home, disappointed in everyone around her, and questioning everything ever said to her. Only when she arrives home, the police greets her and escort her parents, who have always been sweet and supportive of her, because they were government spies.
Now who can Mary Sue still trust?
We've arrived at B.
Now this was just a short example, but that's basically a whole story, beginning, middle and end.
If you feel like your story is a little short, then maybe it is - no one has to write epic tomes! Short stories can be more powerful than long ones, as they usually concentrate on the most important.
If you feel like your story is sagging and you need more content before you start the final arc, try to find the events that may lead to the beginning of the final arc. And if you are already there, then you do not need to add more middle - just get to the parts that excite you!
There will be more stories to write than just this one
@DeafSimmer how to avoid "Sagging Middle Syndrome"
If you have the beginning (A) and the ending of a story (B), your middle is a result of both. Ideally, B is significantly different than A, at least in a few points (If not, you do not have B and need a different approach than this one).
So, you'll have to decide which are the significant changes to B compared to A, and then think of steps that make the progress A -> B happen. That is your middle part.
An example:
A: Mary Sue is a lovely, friendly girl that likes everyone
B: Mary Sue is mistrusting and bitter and hates everyone
How do we get from A to B? Obv some things have happened that made Mary Sue lose her trust in humanity. Those things happen gradually. For example, first she could have discovered her boyfriend cheated on her. To make it a story, she could have been suspicious first, but maybe her friends even called her paranoid. But then she finds final proof! Cheater-boyfriend had a love letter in his jacket - and it's not Mary Sue who wrote it. -> She lost trust in him, and feels also proven that her instinct, despite the contradiction from her friends, was actually correct!
Okay we need more because one cheat alone should normally not be enough to make someone bitter. Let's continue.
So Mary Sue got her final proof, and she's going to her best friend to pour her heart out. They have a sweet conversation, Mary Sue's bff is understanding, maybe she's even apologizing. BUT THEN. Mary Sue discovers the same letter paper on her bff's desk that the love letter was written on... her bff betrayed her!! Backstabbing b***!
Mary Sue runs home, disappointed in everyone around her, and questioning everything ever said to her. Only when she arrives home, the police greets her and escort her parents, who have always been sweet and supportive of her, because they were government spies.
Now who can Mary Sue still trust?
We've arrived at B.
Now this was just a short example, but that's basically a whole story, beginning, middle and end.
If you feel like your story is a little short, then maybe it is - no one has to write epic tomes! Short stories can be more powerful than long ones, as they usually concentrate on the most important.
If you feel like your story is sagging and you need more content before you start the final arc, try to find the events that may lead to the beginning of the final arc. And if you are already there, then you do not need to add more middle - just get to the parts that excite you!
There will be more stories to write than just this one
Alright this might be a long one...it has to do with the death of someone once in the simming community but isn't really about her at all. And I'm bummed out but dealing with it the best I can. While I'll use our lost comrade's name (Pam) there is another player in this who will go under a pseudonym just in case it turns out that she doesn't want to be part of this community at all anymore (we'll go with Stella).
So before Pam passed away, she was an admin on another sims forum that I am a moderator on and still am. Stella was also a moderator with me for a few years, but hadn't been on the site for a while and was removed from the team for inactivity. I doubt it was due to any drama/hard feelings/etc. and it sounded like Stella was ready to move on with her life. Though I probably annoyed her a lot in a way no mod ever could. Anyways, one of the first thoughts that crossed my head was getting the news of Pam's death to inactive forum members. Which is kind of weird, but there are a lot of people with fond memories of her. I wouldn't bother just anyone but as an admin, Pam worked closely with us moderators. Stella isn't the only ex-moderator I thought of but she might be the easiest to contact and that's where I need advice from more "normal" people.
About a year ago I wanted to contact Stella for a different, non-sims thing related to a hobby of hers. While she was pretty sparing with the personal info she gave out to others, it was easy to find her thanks to that hobby and a way to contact her too. I asked for advice privately from other friends but then chickened out of the idea altogether. This isn't my last resort yet but I'm wondering if it's worth risking looking like an obsessed creep just to deliver some sad news. My other options are less creepy but less sure to reach her: using the email associated with her forum account (she has to be aware we can see anyone's email address but there's no guarantee she still uses it) or trying to befriend her on Origin (no idea if she's still a gamer and Origin's friend and chat features are down for me on multiple devices which is FANTASTIC).
I know death has happened before in the community so have any of you had to deal with spreading the news like this? Or is community word-of-mouth usually a lot better?
@InfraGreen I popped onto the thread and just happened to see your post here and I hope I can be of some help in the situation.
This isn't my last resort yet but I'm wondering if it's worth risking looking like an obsessed creep just to deliver some sad news.
^I guess my question would be, how close was Stella to Pam? Like, really close or just casual forum friend close?
If she was really close to Pam, I would find the best possible way to reach her, even if you might come off as stalkerish. Just say something like, "I know you two were close and I just wanted to make sure you heard the news since you've been away," or something along those lines. (But then again, I would guess that if she was that close to Pam she may have already heard through word of mouth...)
If they were just casual forum friends, then I would simply go with emailing her the information and hope that she sees it sooner rather than later.
I know death has happened before in the community so have any of you had to deal with spreading the news like this? Or is community word-of-mouth usually a lot better?
^I've never had to inform anyone of that kind of news before, but I do remember about a year or two ago a very well known and loved person from the simming community here on this forum passed away and I don't believe anyone went and informed people here about it personally, they just did a beautiful "in memoriam" post about their passing. That's how I, and many others, found out. I think that was easier for them to do. So I guess in that case...word of mouth is better.
I dunno, it's certainly a sticky situation to find yourself in, but that's the best advice I could come up with. I hope it helps. Good luck.
@emorrill: hey I appreciate whatever anyone has to say! I think Stella saw Pam as a friend or maybe even someone to admire? For me it was a little more like a boss/employee relationship albeit with a boss you tend to get along with. I'm not the best gauge of these things and am usually wrong. I'll sleep on it (because I have to it is LATE)
Not the Sims forum and I didn't have to contact anyone. But a cheerful and happy RPer on Hogwarts online died sometime in 2019. Everyone was heart broken when they died.
Not the Sims forum and I didn't have to contact anyone. But a cheerful and happy RPer on Hogwarts online died sometime in 2019. Everyone was heart broken when they died.
@MadameLee: it's hard in any community and worse when unexpected (not so the case right now but I've been slapped in the face with the worst death announcements before)
I hopefully made an intake appointment with someone from the DSO for this coming Thursday. When I know my parents will be out. I would have discussed it with my case manager yesterday but he never called. I don't like having to go behind my back but I'm a bit tired of my parents either finding excuses or me having to constantly tell them a psyche assessment is for more than just mental purposes. Also, I'm ticked off that if I was living alone (or at least with a roommate)- I could have my own web camera and funding could have provided me with certain streaming services (Netflix/Disney+). Is this what Dumbledore means about "What is right and what is easy?"
I'm glad you got to deliver the news @InfraGreen even though I am sorry for your loss.
I hope this doesn't sound insensitive but you mind telling me how you found out that she passed? I'm constantly terrified that people I lost contact with online might have passed away and I will just never know.
@Julyvee94: I still moderate that forum and there was a message sent out to all mods and then a public thread posted for all. I cannot speak for Pam but she had long-term health problems and most likely had planned out how the news of her passing would go out. It definitely proves that fear even more in a way because not everyone has the foresight for that or a platform like a forum (most of us aren't running forums after all). I worry about some of the random sims players I grew to love who were smart and never left a breadcrumb trail to their personal lives, especially in the time of Covid.
Update: contacted my old co-mod and I'm glad I did it. It wasn't as awkward as web sleuthing + passing the news of death could be.
Oh, that's so good. I've been thinking of a response... but others provided better responses, and it sounds like it worked out well. I was going to say something like, the act of notifying the co-mod is a thoughtful act of kindness, more than a responsibility or duty, so it's really the gesture of the action that matters, and you're free to do so in the way that feels comfortable to you.
But it sounds like everything worked out. One thing about these challenging times, and the way that grief softens us, is that it can bring us together and extend moments where kind gestures occur to us.
I hopefully made an intake appointment with someone from the DSO for this coming Thursday. When I know my parents will be out. I would have discussed it with my case manager yesterday but he never called. I don't like having to go behind my back but I'm a bit tired of my parents either finding excuses or me having to constantly tell them a psyche assessment is for more than just mental purposes. Also, I'm ticked off that if I was living alone (or at least with a roommate)- I could have my own web camera and funding could have provided me with certain streaming services (Netflix/Disney+). Is this what Dumbledore means about "What is right and what is easy?"
Hi, @MadameLee ! Glad to hear that it looks like there's some development with that appointment. Hope it all goes well.
I like that quotation by Dumbledore.... sometimes, what's right is also easy, and sometimes, it's extra challenging, I find.
Comments
I believe you must first ask who they are and what they want to achieve in life (motivation). Once you know the answer to that you'll always know what their actions will be and how they will react in any situation.
With sims you can use their traits as a guide if you want. For example if you have an ambitious and evil sim, they will likely betray their co-workers and friends to get a promotion, while ambitious and good sim would find another way to get the promotion that doesn't involve a betrayal.
HEFFNER LEGACY│Simblr│Heffner Legacy Discussion │ Origin ID: Maladi
One thing to remember here is that that's technically just shifting the villain role onto someone else, so you may want to consider what the mastermind is seeking to achieve. Obviously this can be a vicious cycle so you don't need to follow the thread ad infinitum or explain the motivations of every being in your universe - we rarely get an explanation from everyone IRL either - but just something to think about
Story Blog | Forum Discussion
I thought of one more thing that may be helpful, though of course, it's completely possible you're already doing this - in which case just ignore me
Story Blog | Forum Discussion
To throw in my two cents, I think writing characters can be improved by realising two things:
1. People never change
and
2. People change.
I'm sure you've heard of both those things before.
People have innate tendencies that they never lose, be it impatience or kindness or laziness. These are like settings they default to. See me- incredibly impatient since birth. I like to think I've matured over the years, but that impatience never really went away.
For sims, this can be their cas traits, which gives you a nice guide on their default state.
These traits are like 'rules' of how this character behaves, for example if a character is kind, they will be kind to everyone they meet. Of course, rules can have exceptions- a character can be kind to everyone, except that one person that did her wrong.
Which brings me to:
People change. When things happen to/around a person, it makes impacts on them. Some impacts last longer than others. Some impacts last forever. Who a person is today is made of those things that never change, shaped by things that happened to them. So in that above example, the character was kind to everyone, until that changed. Someone boy broke their heart, so now she is kind to everyone else, except that one boy.
If the situation was drastic, the change can be more drastic too. For example, if the breakup was particularly nasty, the character may be kind to everyone else, except that one boy, and all people that remind her of that boy. Of course it will take a very big situation to change that trait altogether.
I find it interesting to see how a character goes from point A to point B. When I see a particularly messed up character, I always wonder why they are the way they are. Thinking up reasons for how a character came to be (you know, their backstory) can be a fun character building exercise!
Winter's Alchemy | Britechester After Dark - Forum thread
Hey there's no need to scrap the whole thing! You can always retcon a bit and continue off from where you think it deviated from your original plan. I find it easier to write if I have at least the next story arc planned so maybe a minor rewrite can lead to better writing?
Alternatively you've hinted at Ragnor being broken out of jail- why don't you use that to course correct the plot back to where you want it to go?
Winter's Alchemy | Britechester After Dark - Forum thread
Sometimes, if you want to keep the story going but the current arc seems to be resolved, you can introduce something new--this could be by introducing new characters, new challenges or conflicts, new decisions that need to be made, new life circumstances, situations, or changes, or by having your characters move or visit someplace new!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
If you have the beginning (A) and the ending of a story (B), your middle is a result of both. Ideally, B is significantly different than A, at least in a few points (If not, you do not have B and need a different approach than this one).
So, you'll have to decide which are the significant changes to B compared to A, and then think of steps that make the progress A -> B happen. That is your middle part.
An example:
A: Mary Sue is a lovely, friendly girl that likes everyone
B: Mary Sue is mistrusting and bitter and hates everyone
How do we get from A to B? Obv some things have happened that made Mary Sue lose her trust in humanity. Those things happen gradually. For example, first she could have discovered her boyfriend cheated on her. To make it a story, she could have been suspicious first, but maybe her friends even called her paranoid. But then she finds final proof! Cheater-boyfriend had a love letter in his jacket - and it's not Mary Sue who wrote it. -> She lost trust in him, and feels also proven that her instinct, despite the contradiction from her friends, was actually correct!
Okay we need more because one cheat alone should normally not be enough to make someone bitter. Let's continue.
So Mary Sue got her final proof, and she's going to her best friend to pour her heart out. They have a sweet conversation, Mary Sue's bff is understanding, maybe she's even apologizing. BUT THEN. Mary Sue discovers the same letter paper on her bff's desk that the love letter was written on... her bff betrayed her!! Backstabbing b***!
Mary Sue runs home, disappointed in everyone around her, and questioning everything ever said to her. Only when she arrives home, the police greets her and escort her parents, who have always been sweet and supportive of her, because they were government spies.
Now who can Mary Sue still trust?
We've arrived at B.
Now this was just a short example, but that's basically a whole story, beginning, middle and end.
If you feel like your story is a little short, then maybe it is - no one has to write epic tomes! Short stories can be more powerful than long ones, as they usually concentrate on the most important.
If you feel like your story is sagging and you need more content before you start the final arc, try to find the events that may lead to the beginning of the final arc. And if you are already there, then you do not need to add more middle - just get to the parts that excite you!
There will be more stories to write than just this one
story | discussion | tumblr
sagging middle syndrome. not sure what that is.
So before Pam passed away, she was an admin on another sims forum that I am a moderator on and still am. Stella was also a moderator with me for a few years, but hadn't been on the site for a while and was removed from the team for inactivity. I doubt it was due to any drama/hard feelings/etc. and it sounded like Stella was ready to move on with her life. Though I probably annoyed her a lot in a way no mod ever could.
About a year ago I wanted to contact Stella for a different, non-sims thing related to a hobby of hers. While she was pretty sparing with the personal info she gave out to others, it was easy to find her thanks to that hobby and a way to contact her too. I asked for advice privately from other friends but then chickened out of the idea altogether. This isn't my last resort yet but I'm wondering if it's worth risking looking like an obsessed creep just to deliver some sad news. My other options are less creepy but less sure to reach her: using the email associated with her forum account (she has to be aware we can see anyone's email address but there's no guarantee she still uses it) or trying to befriend her on Origin (no idea if she's still a gamer and Origin's friend and chat features are down for me on multiple devices which is FANTASTIC).
I know death has happened before in the community so have any of you had to deal with spreading the news like this? Or is community word-of-mouth usually a lot better?
outrun / blog / tunglr
^I guess my question would be, how close was Stella to Pam? Like, really close or just casual forum friend close?
If she was really close to Pam, I would find the best possible way to reach her, even if you might come off as stalkerish. Just say something like, "I know you two were close and I just wanted to make sure you heard the news since you've been away," or something along those lines. (But then again, I would guess that if she was that close to Pam she may have already heard through word of mouth...)
If they were just casual forum friends, then I would simply go with emailing her the information and hope that she sees it sooner rather than later.
^I've never had to inform anyone of that kind of news before, but I do remember about a year or two ago a very well known and loved person from the simming community here on this forum passed away and I don't believe anyone went and informed people here about it personally, they just did a beautiful "in memoriam" post about their passing. That's how I, and many others, found out. I think that was easier for them to do. So I guess in that case...word of mouth is better.
I dunno, it's certainly a sticky situation to find yourself in, but that's the best advice I could come up with. I hope it helps.
outrun / blog / tunglr
I hope you can figure it all out.
@MadameLee: it's hard in any community and worse when unexpected (not so the case right now but I've been slapped in the face with the worst death announcements before)
outrun / blog / tunglr
outrun / blog / tunglr
I hope this doesn't sound insensitive but you mind telling me how you found out that she passed? I'm constantly terrified that people I lost contact with online might have passed away and I will just never know.
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Origin ID: Julyvee94
outrun / blog / tunglr
Oh, that's so good. I've been thinking of a response... but others provided better responses, and it sounds like it worked out well. I was going to say something like, the act of notifying the co-mod is a thoughtful act of kindness, more than a responsibility or duty, so it's really the gesture of the action that matters, and you're free to do so in the way that feels comfortable to you.
But it sounds like everything worked out. One thing about these challenging times, and the way that grief softens us, is that it can bring us together and extend moments where kind gestures occur to us.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Hi, @MadameLee ! Glad to hear that it looks like there's some development with that appointment. Hope it all goes well.
I like that quotation by Dumbledore.... sometimes, what's right is also easy, and sometimes, it's extra challenging, I find.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!