Today, 25/4/18, is the next instalment of this series of posts; Writing Advice Wednesday, where my advice to new writers will be shared once every two weeks.
It is important to remember that my opinions are not law in any way, shape, or form! Not everyone has the same experiences as I do in this field but it is valuable to share opinions on topics to try and help others!
So what is today's topic for Writing Advice Wednesday? How do I build characters?
Today I will be informing you of one of my most extensive methods of character building. It is a tactic I have used multiple times. This method is character RP!
It sounds daft, I'm sure. But if you happen to know other writers, you have a chance to maybe find a new RP partner!
I used to RP back in college, throwing characters into scenarios I would have never considered to put these characters in. But there they were, my innocent Christian pacifist was having to throw her beliefs aside for the sake of self-preservation! It was an immensely clever tactic to test how a character would react to stimuli that you yourself wouldn't have necessarily considered. But my old partners all happened to retire from the site we used due to their own personal lives taking over. I later did the same.
It was only two months ago that I returned to the world of RP on discord with my friend and coursemate Skylark. She and I have a server in which we RP our characters in several AU's, none of which, are technically canon. Although, we acknowledge our original thread to be the canon storyline for these characters.
We have developed our characters by putting them in social situations they otherwise wouldn't be written into. For example, Sky's three main RP characters, Sol, Sab and Jack are all LIVING UNDER ONE ROOF in a scenario she likes to call the "Bro's AU". Expanding from there, I am working with the AU in which my character Gary, is not only a substance abuser, he is actively physically abusive toward his wife and kids. Putting these characters in the same town has resulted in several black eyes.
Our RP style as a pair is rather extensive. In the space of two months, we have written a total of four days worth of events. In larger RPs that would be regarded as immensely quick pace but considering this is only between the two of us, we are taking a very long time. Not that there's a problem with that. Except when you have already planned the fact that your characters will be doing things in weeks and months in the future within that universe. Hell, we joked that the wedding between two of my characters will probably take place after our graduation from university in 2019!
Now, what benefits are there in building characters via RP?
1) Like I have previously stated, writing characters in RP environments allows the writer to put the character in a scenario which they otherwise would not find themselves in within the constraints of their canon universe.
2) Due to RPs being spontaneous, for you cannot see what the other party is writing ((unless you are like me and Sky and just sit there with discord open during lectures, and typing replies during class on our laptops when our lecturers, inevitably, go off on tangents. As we sit together in class, there is an option to glance at the screen for an inclination as to what will happen next)) you tend to learn things about your characters that you otherwise wouldn't have thought to ask.
For example:
I never considered why my character, Michaelis, was so determined to avoid losing his inheritance until after he discussed his dreams with Sol. Turns out he wants to start a non-profit. Who would have guessed? Certainly not me!
3) Due to RPs existing within their own pocket dimensions, you get to use these worlds to flesh out potential tidbits of backstory you could use for the original canon your characters derived from.
For example:
I intend to add the more proof to demonstrate that Gary was a selfish and corrupt man: he was addicted to narcotics, was physically abusive to his wife and kids, and actively cheated on his wife with women he'd pick up at bars in the city. This would make hus quest for redemption both noble and futile in the eyes of the reader, which was what I wanted. I, otherwise, wouldn't have considered infidelity to justify why Gary was such an unlikable character!
It is important to remember that my opinions are not law in any way, shape, or form! Not everyone has the same experiences as I do in this field but it is valuable to share opinions on topics to try and help others!
So what is today's topic for Writing Advice Wednesday? How do I build characters?
Today I will be informing you of one of my most extensive methods of character building. It is a tactic I have used multiple times. This method is character RP!
It sounds daft, I'm sure. But if you happen to know other writers, you have a chance to maybe find a new RP partner!
I used to RP back in college, throwing characters into scenarios I would have never considered to put these characters in. But there they were, my innocent Christian pacifist was having to throw her beliefs aside for the sake of self-preservation! It was an immensely clever tactic to test how a character would react to stimuli that you yourself wouldn't have necessarily considered. But my old partners all happened to retire from the site we used due to their own personal lives taking over. I later did the same.
It was only two months ago that I returned to the world of RP on discord with my friend and coursemate Skylark. She and I have a server in which we RP our characters in several AU's, none of which, are technically canon. Although, we acknowledge our original thread to be the canon storyline for these characters.
We have developed our characters by putting them in social situations they otherwise wouldn't be written into. For example, Sky's three main RP characters, Sol, Sab and Jack are all LIVING UNDER ONE ROOF in a scenario she likes to call the "Bro's AU". Expanding from there, I am working with the AU in which my character Gary, is not only a substance abuser, he is actively physically abusive toward his wife and kids. Putting these characters in the same town has resulted in several black eyes.
Our RP style as a pair is rather extensive. In the space of two months, we have written a total of four days worth of events. In larger RPs that would be regarded as immensely quick pace but considering this is only between the two of us, we are taking a very long time. Not that there's a problem with that. Except when you have already planned the fact that your characters will be doing things in weeks and months in the future within that universe. Hell, we joked that the wedding between two of my characters will probably take place after our graduation from university in 2019!
Now, what benefits are there in building characters via RP?
1) Like I have previously stated, writing characters in RP environments allows the writer to put the character in a scenario which they otherwise would not find themselves in within the constraints of their canon universe.
2) Due to RPs being spontaneous, for you cannot see what the other party is writing ((unless you are like me and Sky and just sit there with discord open during lectures, and typing replies during class on our laptops when our lecturers, inevitably, go off on tangents. As we sit together in class, there is an option to glance at the screen for an inclination as to what will happen next)) you tend to learn things about your characters that you otherwise wouldn't have thought to ask.
For example:
I never considered why my character, Michaelis, was so determined to avoid losing his inheritance until after he discussed his dreams with Sol. Turns out he wants to start a non-profit. Who would have guessed? Certainly not me!
3) Due to RPs existing within their own pocket dimensions, you get to use these worlds to flesh out potential tidbits of backstory you could use for the original canon your characters derived from.
For example:
I intend to add the more proof to demonstrate that Gary was a selfish and corrupt man: he was addicted to narcotics, was physically abusive to his wife and kids, and actively cheated on his wife with women he'd pick up at bars in the city. This would make hus quest for redemption both noble and futile in the eyes of the reader, which was what I wanted. I, otherwise, wouldn't have considered infidelity to justify why Gary was such an unlikable character!
Thank you for reading!
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra
- Imogen. L. Smiley
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