A question for any writers on this site.

I suppose this is a little off topic, but I wanted help from people I could trust. I've decided to write a book. It's going to be about a group of survivors after an apocalyptic event that melts reality itself. It will take place in a dystopian world very different from ours. I've got a general idea of where the book will go, but right now to write any more I am in desperate need of character ideas, but I don't want to use any classic character archetypes that I've seen over and over again. So far I have one good character, and all my other ideas have been to poor quality for me to include them. Writers, how do you come up with character ideas?

 

I gather my main characters from bits of myself or what I would want to be. Other important characters I mix up using the important people in my life and so on. So I just use every trait of personality that I see "Hmm... That person looked like a murderer. I know he's nice, though, because he treated his daughter like the most wonderful miracle in the world. Yaay I'll use that in a story!!" "Wow that girl sure is bitchy in the bitchiest way possible. My story will have a character like her." "Aws, that guy has this sweet little snort of laughter whenever he smiles. My character will, too!"

 

I think of how the storyline goes and which character traits would be essential in the main plot. Along the way as I write I will include more characters as necessary, or alter the existing characters if needed.

 

My characters come from all over the place. Most of my well developed ones came from being obsessed with certain fandoms and making 'fan characters' before they became their own thing. Or they come from real life inspiration. And they'll always surprise you; characters I've had for 10 years still shock me with information I never knew.

 

Usually my characters come from a basic idea, either of some quirk they have or even just a concept ("wow, what if there was a guy who had a deep set phobia of bananas?" "This woman always wears the same cardigan day after day") Once I develop them,
I give them a name and I try to figure out who they are.

 

I start with a few basic traits, and then develop a history for them, making them more complex, like real people. None of us are unaffected by our past, and it all forms complex layers that makes a character both relatable and realistic. Additionally, make sure you understand your characters well, so that they can react appropriately to the various conflicts in the book, rather than reacting how you would, or how they might if they didn't have emotional baggage.

 

Excellent advice, as mentioned above.

Me, personally, it depends. If I'm struck with some random inspiration, I'll try to remember to jot it down, and flesh it out. But if I'm brain storming, I tend to think up various stereotypes and traits. From these, I look to incorporate various personalities.

For example, I'll take the stereotypical cocky bastard. Instead of making them a totally asinine jerk, I'll throw in some sympathetic factor. I'll put something, like a disease, into their design, which explains away their reason for the arrogant personality. It won't justify it, because in doing so, you lose complexity. But I want the reader to be as divided and unsure, of what to think, because it provides a better glimpse into the diversity of life. The cocky bastard becomes cocky, because it is to compensate for a flaw, something they could never admit to possessing, because it would ground them into a despairing uselessness. In trying to abide by this self-imposed code, the cocky bastard represents humanity, in the sense, we like to defy the odds. The only problem is, he's still a disliked character.

I find making the most unlikable character, capable of being related to, adds to a story. It's easy to make a villain not liked, but it's kind of simplistic convenience. No one wants a carbon copy vanilla hero, because there is no back and forth room to wiggle with concepts, such as morality, pride, honor, fear, love, purpose, and so on and so forth.

I've found by trying to totally avoid the cliche stock of characters, I was only making things more difficult. The trick isn't to have a fresh character, it's having a fresh take on something as a whole. This way you have a sort of road map, but you can still design how the road is going to look.

 

The characters i use have personality traits of people around me like friends or family. It makes it easier to see what kind of desicions would be made and how they would react I understand that not everyone will do this but if you can relate to the character in some small way should make the characters feel more real to the reader.

 

I form my characters based in a few things
Some of my friends, my dreams, or an aspect of my personality

 

First, one important rule about writing in general: every writer does things in the way that works the best for that specific writer.

I personally cannot recall any character I've really liked that was fully developed before the project commenced. At most, I have a general idea of who they are and what importance they play. And they just of develop from there. Sometimes characters appear from nowhere, too. Sometimes it can be quite surprising the life they take. Last November, I wrote a short novel for National Novel Writing Month. One of the characters was basically created to form a back story to add some foundation to the plot. She had, I thought, a very basic job to do. She'd appear just long enough to drop dead of a heart attack, and create all sorts of problems for her family in doing so. But...she ended up one of the most important characters in the whole novel, and appeared in many scenes that took place in the past. (The main action is the present. But it has one stretch talking about the 1980s, and numerous small chunks that go back to the 1950s.)

 

Sometimes the characters I create are modeled after someone I know. Although when I do that, it's usually only partly modeled. In my NaNoWriMo novel, one character was probably quite close to my mother in a number of ways. But I also was conscious of that, and made some things different.

And other times, the character is out of thin air.

 

I like to start with looks first.
Nothing spectacular, just face and general body type.
I move on to a name next, something original but conceivable in whatever time period or genre the character's in.
I start to figure out history, family, their role in the storyline, and I fill in things like their sexuality and gender identity while I'm at it. I also like to put myself in their position, like what would I do if a zombie attacked a family member as they walked out of the grocery store, or what would I do if I suddenly found myself spooning with the girl I liked at a sleep-over, but she only liked me as a friend? (This approach only works with characters much similar to yourself.)
I then fill in the little things, like what sort of food they like, if they like video games or not, if they like pop or heavy metal, and if they like this person vs this person as a friend.
I have a little folder dedicated to the book I am writing right now on my computer, and it contains the outline, the actual book, and the character descriptions, where I write this all down.
Also, I haven't done this, but it's an idea, try asking people on here what their reaction in a certain situation (I.E. their house being overrun by the undead) would be, and get their answers. Whichever one the majority of people answer is the one you should base your character's reaction off of.
BTW I have 43 pages done in my book. I am currently on chapter five. I'm guessing it's going to be very, very long. I am going to write at least ten chapters, but I have a feeling I'll have over twenty-five.

---------- Post added 5th Jul 2014 at 07:07 AM ----------

Also, if you guys want to friend me (We might form an ARMY of writers ) and chat with me about writing, you can.

 

I have another writing question, this time about narrators. Do you think it would be too difficult to pull of for me to make the narrator have psychosis? The thought processes of the character would be very scrambled, and it would force the reader to make their own sense of what was real and what isn't. Her visions will play a big role in the story, and I thought it would make sense for the reader to be able to experience them first hand. The main problems I see with it though is that it would be very tough to write a cohesive plot line, and it would be even harder to get the readers to relate to the narrator.

 

It's possible. It takes some skill, but it isn't impossible. I haven't actually read the book in question, but there are books in which the narrator is unreliable - A Clockwork Orange for example. If you choose to go down that route, make sure you know the character's illness very, very well. Alternatively, you might decide to do it in third person, though admittedly it would lose some of the impact.

 

Since you have come up with a plot first, design your characters around that. Your protagonist will have both strengths and weaknesses of course, and the best action will mean that the antagonist (either a single person, group, or some more abstract opposing force) will attack them in their weaknesses.

I'll use Life of Pi as an example since it's deliberately sparse [spoilers to follow]. Pi's strengths are introspection, inventiveness, and a calm nature. His weakness is excessive dependence on his family, as well as a very justified fear of the tiger, Richard Parker, exaggerated by his trust in his dad after a childhood demonstration. Such is why it's a good conflict to have him stuck on the lifeboat with only the tiger for company. In handling his situation, he uses his strengths to deal with the stress brought on by the pressure on his weaknesses. When he finally overcomes his struggle, we see how far he's developed as a character and the lessons he's learned.

Point being, don't baby your characters. That's how you get Mary Sues. Find out what hurts them and use that to push them to the breaking point. Then you find out who they really are.

 

What i did for my book that i'm writing is: base them off of real people that i know, and expand more on their character. i've chosen these characters since i know their chemistry works well and that it can be expanded on. You can thicken the plot even more once you have the character traits and personalities down.

 

All of the advice given is great, so there's not really much to add. What I do personally is to pick a personality trait and expand from there. It's also interesting to choose opposite or conflicting traits for example: an introvert that loves to socialize. So, how does an introvert socializes, what are the difficulties he must face to be able to do what he loves, which is socializing and making friends.

Another thing I do is to pick cliche type characters and twist them in a way that people will find them interesting. Obviously you can also start all of it from a physical trait, like for example: he haves a scar on his leg. From that trait you can create a back story as to why he haves said scar, how it happened? How did it affect his physical abilities? Is he disgusted by it? Does he like showing it, or does he keep it hidden? And from that simple thing you can begin to construct the character.

One last bit that I found very interesting is to interview the character. Ask him questions and answer them with the characters voice. For example: How does he feel if he got first place on a competition? Does he like animals, if he does, which one and why? How does he think people view him? How does he view himself? What does he like to do on a friday night? Does he have friends? What are his views concerning love? and a lot of other questions. Just remember to use his voice, like, if the character is sarcastic, then his answers will be sarcastic too.

I hope this helps. I'm also trying to flesh out some of my characters. If humans are hard to create, imagine creating a complete mythology and gods with personalities (I'm working on a novel like that xD).

 

It's possible. I have read books in which the narration is difficult to follow. In fact by adding a flaw such as that, the readers might be able to relate to the narrator more, or at least sympathise with them, because in real life no one can really live smoothly and flawlessly.

 

If you want some of the most original characters in your story, base them off of the people you know; you can't get any more original than that. Think of your family, friends, and celebrity figures, and try to come up with a characters that's based off of one or more of these people.