post_id
stringlengths 5
7
| domain
stringclasses 69
values | upvote_ratio
float64 0.5
1
| history
stringlengths 11
39.7k
| c_root_id_A
stringlengths 7
7
| c_root_id_B
stringlengths 7
7
| created_at_utc_A
int64 1.27B
1.68B
| created_at_utc_B
int64 1.27B
1.68B
| score_A
int64 -644
43.5k
| score_B
int64 -2,846
43.5k
| human_ref_A
stringlengths 0
18k
| human_ref_B
stringlengths 0
13.6k
| labels
int64 0
1
| seconds_difference
float64 0
346M
| score_ratio
float64 -2,292
2.5M
| metadata_A
stringclasses 1
value | metadata_B
stringclasses 1
value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4baim | dd4en3a | 1,485,818,160 | 1,485,822,262 | 1 | 9 | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | Just write the story. Let it come from your gut (or wherever your words come from) and finish it. When you're done, and it's time to edit, then, in my opinion, I think you should worry about whether or not your bias/privilege is showing. Tolstoy wrote Anna Karenina. (Toni) Morrison wrote white and black men. Etc.,etc., ad infinitum. This is fiction. Our imaginations are boundless. Our imaginations are capable. I'm a black man and I write *all* races and *all* genders. I write *characters* that best suit the story. If I don't know something, I research. If I'm stumped, I ask someone who knows, or I let it alone. I don't quite know how to explain it, but there's something about your question that is slightly uncomfortable. I think it's well-intentioned, but I wonder about the person who needs to make a spectacle about asking such a thing. (Btw, if you're not making a spectacle, I apologize. I'm not here to insult.) In my opinion, you should just write it from your gut/heart/head/or wherever and finish it. When it's done, if you're still concerned, hire a woman editor...who is of the particular race that you're writing about. Good luck either way. More writing in the world is always a good thing. | 0 | 4,102 | 9 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4f7p2 | dd4ea2z | 1,485,822,978 | 1,485,821,811 | 12 | 6 | Is there anything preventing you from just writing the story as you would if the protagonist looked like you and then casually mentioning that it's a woman and non-white? I think you're already starting to go down the wrong path by thinking that someone from another race or gender is so foreign to you that you don't know how to write them. Unless your story will be detailing all the fun and glory that is menstruation and child birth, I'm curious as to what leads you to believe you'd run into any issues writing a character that wasn't male. Something else to consider is that there is no singular experience for any group of people. My life experiences as a intra-GenX/Gen Y black woman from the suburbs is going to be entirely different from another black woman born ten years earlier or later from some small town in the deep south. The odds are the more you attempt to research other genders/cultures/whatever in hopes of doing them justice, the more likely you are to incorporate stereotypes into your writing. Just write the character you wish to write. | Good luck. No matter what you do, somebody won't like it. :) | 1 | 1,167 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4atb9 | dd4f7p2 | 1,485,817,590 | 1,485,822,978 | 5 | 12 | Write a few scenes and then ask a woman of color to critique them. As a white, hetero, middle-aged male myself, I'm afraid that's the best I can suggest. | Is there anything preventing you from just writing the story as you would if the protagonist looked like you and then casually mentioning that it's a woman and non-white? I think you're already starting to go down the wrong path by thinking that someone from another race or gender is so foreign to you that you don't know how to write them. Unless your story will be detailing all the fun and glory that is menstruation and child birth, I'm curious as to what leads you to believe you'd run into any issues writing a character that wasn't male. Something else to consider is that there is no singular experience for any group of people. My life experiences as a intra-GenX/Gen Y black woman from the suburbs is going to be entirely different from another black woman born ten years earlier or later from some small town in the deep south. The odds are the more you attempt to research other genders/cultures/whatever in hopes of doing them justice, the more likely you are to incorporate stereotypes into your writing. Just write the character you wish to write. | 0 | 5,388 | 2.4 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4egeq | dd4f7p2 | 1,485,822,032 | 1,485,822,978 | 4 | 12 | You shouldn't run into any problems unless you're addressing specific issues or circumstances in which that person may have a different perspective based on their gender or race. For example, a woman at a bar cannot take it for granted that she can just get up and go to the restroom and leave her drink unattended. This is something that would not occur to me as a man. I would write your character as a person obviously, and then have it critiqued by a female of that race to see if any red flags jump out. Memoirs of a Geisha was written by a white man, so it can be done successfully. | Is there anything preventing you from just writing the story as you would if the protagonist looked like you and then casually mentioning that it's a woman and non-white? I think you're already starting to go down the wrong path by thinking that someone from another race or gender is so foreign to you that you don't know how to write them. Unless your story will be detailing all the fun and glory that is menstruation and child birth, I'm curious as to what leads you to believe you'd run into any issues writing a character that wasn't male. Something else to consider is that there is no singular experience for any group of people. My life experiences as a intra-GenX/Gen Y black woman from the suburbs is going to be entirely different from another black woman born ten years earlier or later from some small town in the deep south. The odds are the more you attempt to research other genders/cultures/whatever in hopes of doing them justice, the more likely you are to incorporate stereotypes into your writing. Just write the character you wish to write. | 0 | 946 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4f7p2 | dd4baim | 1,485,822,978 | 1,485,818,160 | 12 | 1 | Is there anything preventing you from just writing the story as you would if the protagonist looked like you and then casually mentioning that it's a woman and non-white? I think you're already starting to go down the wrong path by thinking that someone from another race or gender is so foreign to you that you don't know how to write them. Unless your story will be detailing all the fun and glory that is menstruation and child birth, I'm curious as to what leads you to believe you'd run into any issues writing a character that wasn't male. Something else to consider is that there is no singular experience for any group of people. My life experiences as a intra-GenX/Gen Y black woman from the suburbs is going to be entirely different from another black woman born ten years earlier or later from some small town in the deep south. The odds are the more you attempt to research other genders/cultures/whatever in hopes of doing them justice, the more likely you are to incorporate stereotypes into your writing. Just write the character you wish to write. | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | 1 | 4,818 | 12 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4atb9 | dd4ea2z | 1,485,817,590 | 1,485,821,811 | 5 | 6 | Write a few scenes and then ask a woman of color to critique them. As a white, hetero, middle-aged male myself, I'm afraid that's the best I can suggest. | Good luck. No matter what you do, somebody won't like it. :) | 0 | 4,221 | 1.2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4baim | dd4ea2z | 1,485,818,160 | 1,485,821,811 | 1 | 6 | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | Good luck. No matter what you do, somebody won't like it. :) | 0 | 3,651 | 6 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4egeq | dd4ngof | 1,485,822,032 | 1,485,833,250 | 4 | 5 | You shouldn't run into any problems unless you're addressing specific issues or circumstances in which that person may have a different perspective based on their gender or race. For example, a woman at a bar cannot take it for granted that she can just get up and go to the restroom and leave her drink unattended. This is something that would not occur to me as a man. I would write your character as a person obviously, and then have it critiqued by a female of that race to see if any red flags jump out. Memoirs of a Geisha was written by a white man, so it can be done successfully. | The best piece of advice, plot wise, for writing about a marginalized identity you aren't apart of is to avoid controversial social views within that community. For instance, if you wrote a story about a black woman who was conservative and how she felt rejected by the black community that would be overstepping your "line". Because that is basically a criticism of the black community that someone from the outside shouldn't be making. Same too if you choose to write a LGBT+ character down the line, the only book ive ever refunded on Amazon was from a straight woman who wrote a book talking about how awfully masc gays were treated in the queer community. The second I realized the main character (A masculine straight-acting gaybro [so original]) wasn't changing his attitude on this idea I got my 4.99 back. I have a couple other examples ive observed if you are interested in hearing more about what you should avoid entirely. | 0 | 11,218 | 1.25 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4ngof | dd4baim | 1,485,833,250 | 1,485,818,160 | 5 | 1 | The best piece of advice, plot wise, for writing about a marginalized identity you aren't apart of is to avoid controversial social views within that community. For instance, if you wrote a story about a black woman who was conservative and how she felt rejected by the black community that would be overstepping your "line". Because that is basically a criticism of the black community that someone from the outside shouldn't be making. Same too if you choose to write a LGBT+ character down the line, the only book ive ever refunded on Amazon was from a straight woman who wrote a book talking about how awfully masc gays were treated in the queer community. The second I realized the main character (A masculine straight-acting gaybro [so original]) wasn't changing his attitude on this idea I got my 4.99 back. I have a couple other examples ive observed if you are interested in hearing more about what you should avoid entirely. | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | 1 | 15,090 | 5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4ngof | dd4fq61 | 1,485,833,250 | 1,485,823,625 | 5 | 2 | The best piece of advice, plot wise, for writing about a marginalized identity you aren't apart of is to avoid controversial social views within that community. For instance, if you wrote a story about a black woman who was conservative and how she felt rejected by the black community that would be overstepping your "line". Because that is basically a criticism of the black community that someone from the outside shouldn't be making. Same too if you choose to write a LGBT+ character down the line, the only book ive ever refunded on Amazon was from a straight woman who wrote a book talking about how awfully masc gays were treated in the queer community. The second I realized the main character (A masculine straight-acting gaybro [so original]) wasn't changing his attitude on this idea I got my 4.99 back. I have a couple other examples ive observed if you are interested in hearing more about what you should avoid entirely. | I would recommend these PERSONAL tips for you: 1: a character´s core is it´s character. not gender, race, etc. Instead of thinking what would a woman/girl think, do, or say in a situation like this, try thinking what would my character think, do, or say. This is the first way to avoid stereotypes based upon sex, race, etc. 2: Study people! In my experience, basing characters on other existing character from books, movies, series can potentially create a distance to what a "real" human do, think, or say. This also helps you realize that stereotypes exist in all humans in variable degrees. If you´re afraid to include a stereotype because you´re socially conscious, then it´s basically just as bad as including stereotypes because you´re socially unconscious. DO I MAKE ANY SENSE??? 3: Write YOUR story, not a policy, idea, or movement´s story. There´s nothing wrong with writing main characters that´s very close to yourself. But if you want to write a story about a woman of color, because you feel a lack of diversity, I would recommend you not to do so. I would urge you to continue to write, and let characters flow naturally into your mind. 4: FIND IDEAS FOR CHARACTER WHERE YOU´VE NOT LOOKED BEFORE. I don´t know for sure, but it sounds like most of your main characters are based on yourself. Try looking somewhere else where you don´t usually look. Most of my character come from dreams when I sleep or drift off. One of my latest character came from a dream where I was swimming under a frozen lake, and there I met a red haired girl sleeping. I somehow knew I had to take her with me. I grabbed her, she woke up, and we rushed to the surface. then I woke up. Who´s that? what was she doing there? do I know her? what´s her name?.....you get the idea? ANYWAYS there´s are some of my tips Hope it helps. ykes! | 1 | 9,625 | 2.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4ngof | dd4igsr | 1,485,833,250 | 1,485,827,062 | 5 | 2 | The best piece of advice, plot wise, for writing about a marginalized identity you aren't apart of is to avoid controversial social views within that community. For instance, if you wrote a story about a black woman who was conservative and how she felt rejected by the black community that would be overstepping your "line". Because that is basically a criticism of the black community that someone from the outside shouldn't be making. Same too if you choose to write a LGBT+ character down the line, the only book ive ever refunded on Amazon was from a straight woman who wrote a book talking about how awfully masc gays were treated in the queer community. The second I realized the main character (A masculine straight-acting gaybro [so original]) wasn't changing his attitude on this idea I got my 4.99 back. I have a couple other examples ive observed if you are interested in hearing more about what you should avoid entirely. | Oooh, I have a resource for you: Writing With Color. It's an amazing place for things that seem simple, like describing people of color, and for complicated things—one example I can think of is not having Muslim characters practice magic. | 1 | 6,188 | 2.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4il6g | dd4ngof | 1,485,827,217 | 1,485,833,250 | 2 | 5 | Just finished reading a Sci-Fi novel where entire planets of people are described without once addressing the colour of their skin. Religion, gender, ethnicity, etcetera are only issues if you make them such. If they do not impact the story then leave them out. Each reader will make their own calls as to the missing details. As to writing what you don't know, research and beta-readers do wonders. Ask people if they can relate to the character that shares some identifying characteristics, as you have depicted them. | The best piece of advice, plot wise, for writing about a marginalized identity you aren't apart of is to avoid controversial social views within that community. For instance, if you wrote a story about a black woman who was conservative and how she felt rejected by the black community that would be overstepping your "line". Because that is basically a criticism of the black community that someone from the outside shouldn't be making. Same too if you choose to write a LGBT+ character down the line, the only book ive ever refunded on Amazon was from a straight woman who wrote a book talking about how awfully masc gays were treated in the queer community. The second I realized the main character (A masculine straight-acting gaybro [so original]) wasn't changing his attitude on this idea I got my 4.99 back. I have a couple other examples ive observed if you are interested in hearing more about what you should avoid entirely. | 0 | 6,033 | 2.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4ngof | dd4jlve | 1,485,833,250 | 1,485,828,496 | 5 | 1 | The best piece of advice, plot wise, for writing about a marginalized identity you aren't apart of is to avoid controversial social views within that community. For instance, if you wrote a story about a black woman who was conservative and how she felt rejected by the black community that would be overstepping your "line". Because that is basically a criticism of the black community that someone from the outside shouldn't be making. Same too if you choose to write a LGBT+ character down the line, the only book ive ever refunded on Amazon was from a straight woman who wrote a book talking about how awfully masc gays were treated in the queer community. The second I realized the main character (A masculine straight-acting gaybro [so original]) wasn't changing his attitude on this idea I got my 4.99 back. I have a couple other examples ive observed if you are interested in hearing more about what you should avoid entirely. | Don't think about being mindful. Write the character, not the race. | 1 | 4,754 | 5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4egeq | dd4baim | 1,485,822,032 | 1,485,818,160 | 4 | 1 | You shouldn't run into any problems unless you're addressing specific issues or circumstances in which that person may have a different perspective based on their gender or race. For example, a woman at a bar cannot take it for granted that she can just get up and go to the restroom and leave her drink unattended. This is something that would not occur to me as a man. I would write your character as a person obviously, and then have it critiqued by a female of that race to see if any red flags jump out. Memoirs of a Geisha was written by a white man, so it can be done successfully. | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | 1 | 3,872 | 4 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4y7s7 | dd4baim | 1,485,852,043 | 1,485,818,160 | 3 | 1 | Here's the trick: write a character and forget his or her race. Hell, forget his or her gender for the time being. Unless you want your minority character to come up against challenges specific to his/her race or gender, none of that should matter. Let me put it this way. Denzel Washington owns any role he is in, right? He's been in a few movies that were very much about race, but most of his roles aren't. Pick one movie of his--say "Man on Fire," one of my favorites--and try to see where his race came into play. It didn't. Pick another one--say, "Training Day." I suppose his race came into play in that he had an in with the black and latino communities of LA in a way that a white guy couldn't, but that wasn't ever made apparent. Let's go again--Safe House. Here again, he's just a guy whose race does not matter. The point is, Washington is playing characters who do not depend on race to give them life. What the characters do and the worlds they are thrust into is what gives them life. You could do the same with someone like Tom Hanks. Change out Tom Hanks with a black actor and in most cases (other than when it would have been inaccurate, like Captain Phillips or Sully), it wouldn't have mattered. Unless you are trying to make a point about race (like Blazing Saddles), then don't make a point about race. The same is true about male and female, but to a lesser extent. If you're only writing a black woman as your main character to feel better about how inclusive you are, you're not doing yourself or anyone else any favors. | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | 1 | 33,883 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4y7s7 | dd4fq61 | 1,485,852,043 | 1,485,823,625 | 3 | 2 | Here's the trick: write a character and forget his or her race. Hell, forget his or her gender for the time being. Unless you want your minority character to come up against challenges specific to his/her race or gender, none of that should matter. Let me put it this way. Denzel Washington owns any role he is in, right? He's been in a few movies that were very much about race, but most of his roles aren't. Pick one movie of his--say "Man on Fire," one of my favorites--and try to see where his race came into play. It didn't. Pick another one--say, "Training Day." I suppose his race came into play in that he had an in with the black and latino communities of LA in a way that a white guy couldn't, but that wasn't ever made apparent. Let's go again--Safe House. Here again, he's just a guy whose race does not matter. The point is, Washington is playing characters who do not depend on race to give them life. What the characters do and the worlds they are thrust into is what gives them life. You could do the same with someone like Tom Hanks. Change out Tom Hanks with a black actor and in most cases (other than when it would have been inaccurate, like Captain Phillips or Sully), it wouldn't have mattered. Unless you are trying to make a point about race (like Blazing Saddles), then don't make a point about race. The same is true about male and female, but to a lesser extent. If you're only writing a black woman as your main character to feel better about how inclusive you are, you're not doing yourself or anyone else any favors. | I would recommend these PERSONAL tips for you: 1: a character´s core is it´s character. not gender, race, etc. Instead of thinking what would a woman/girl think, do, or say in a situation like this, try thinking what would my character think, do, or say. This is the first way to avoid stereotypes based upon sex, race, etc. 2: Study people! In my experience, basing characters on other existing character from books, movies, series can potentially create a distance to what a "real" human do, think, or say. This also helps you realize that stereotypes exist in all humans in variable degrees. If you´re afraid to include a stereotype because you´re socially conscious, then it´s basically just as bad as including stereotypes because you´re socially unconscious. DO I MAKE ANY SENSE??? 3: Write YOUR story, not a policy, idea, or movement´s story. There´s nothing wrong with writing main characters that´s very close to yourself. But if you want to write a story about a woman of color, because you feel a lack of diversity, I would recommend you not to do so. I would urge you to continue to write, and let characters flow naturally into your mind. 4: FIND IDEAS FOR CHARACTER WHERE YOU´VE NOT LOOKED BEFORE. I don´t know for sure, but it sounds like most of your main characters are based on yourself. Try looking somewhere else where you don´t usually look. Most of my character come from dreams when I sleep or drift off. One of my latest character came from a dream where I was swimming under a frozen lake, and there I met a red haired girl sleeping. I somehow knew I had to take her with me. I grabbed her, she woke up, and we rushed to the surface. then I woke up. Who´s that? what was she doing there? do I know her? what´s her name?.....you get the idea? ANYWAYS there´s are some of my tips Hope it helps. ykes! | 1 | 28,418 | 1.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4igsr | dd4y7s7 | 1,485,827,062 | 1,485,852,043 | 2 | 3 | Oooh, I have a resource for you: Writing With Color. It's an amazing place for things that seem simple, like describing people of color, and for complicated things—one example I can think of is not having Muslim characters practice magic. | Here's the trick: write a character and forget his or her race. Hell, forget his or her gender for the time being. Unless you want your minority character to come up against challenges specific to his/her race or gender, none of that should matter. Let me put it this way. Denzel Washington owns any role he is in, right? He's been in a few movies that were very much about race, but most of his roles aren't. Pick one movie of his--say "Man on Fire," one of my favorites--and try to see where his race came into play. It didn't. Pick another one--say, "Training Day." I suppose his race came into play in that he had an in with the black and latino communities of LA in a way that a white guy couldn't, but that wasn't ever made apparent. Let's go again--Safe House. Here again, he's just a guy whose race does not matter. The point is, Washington is playing characters who do not depend on race to give them life. What the characters do and the worlds they are thrust into is what gives them life. You could do the same with someone like Tom Hanks. Change out Tom Hanks with a black actor and in most cases (other than when it would have been inaccurate, like Captain Phillips or Sully), it wouldn't have mattered. Unless you are trying to make a point about race (like Blazing Saddles), then don't make a point about race. The same is true about male and female, but to a lesser extent. If you're only writing a black woman as your main character to feel better about how inclusive you are, you're not doing yourself or anyone else any favors. | 0 | 24,981 | 1.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4y7s7 | dd4il6g | 1,485,852,043 | 1,485,827,217 | 3 | 2 | Here's the trick: write a character and forget his or her race. Hell, forget his or her gender for the time being. Unless you want your minority character to come up against challenges specific to his/her race or gender, none of that should matter. Let me put it this way. Denzel Washington owns any role he is in, right? He's been in a few movies that were very much about race, but most of his roles aren't. Pick one movie of his--say "Man on Fire," one of my favorites--and try to see where his race came into play. It didn't. Pick another one--say, "Training Day." I suppose his race came into play in that he had an in with the black and latino communities of LA in a way that a white guy couldn't, but that wasn't ever made apparent. Let's go again--Safe House. Here again, he's just a guy whose race does not matter. The point is, Washington is playing characters who do not depend on race to give them life. What the characters do and the worlds they are thrust into is what gives them life. You could do the same with someone like Tom Hanks. Change out Tom Hanks with a black actor and in most cases (other than when it would have been inaccurate, like Captain Phillips or Sully), it wouldn't have mattered. Unless you are trying to make a point about race (like Blazing Saddles), then don't make a point about race. The same is true about male and female, but to a lesser extent. If you're only writing a black woman as your main character to feel better about how inclusive you are, you're not doing yourself or anyone else any favors. | Just finished reading a Sci-Fi novel where entire planets of people are described without once addressing the colour of their skin. Religion, gender, ethnicity, etcetera are only issues if you make them such. If they do not impact the story then leave them out. Each reader will make their own calls as to the missing details. As to writing what you don't know, research and beta-readers do wonders. Ask people if they can relate to the character that shares some identifying characteristics, as you have depicted them. | 1 | 24,826 | 1.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4y7s7 | dd4jlve | 1,485,852,043 | 1,485,828,496 | 3 | 1 | Here's the trick: write a character and forget his or her race. Hell, forget his or her gender for the time being. Unless you want your minority character to come up against challenges specific to his/her race or gender, none of that should matter. Let me put it this way. Denzel Washington owns any role he is in, right? He's been in a few movies that were very much about race, but most of his roles aren't. Pick one movie of his--say "Man on Fire," one of my favorites--and try to see where his race came into play. It didn't. Pick another one--say, "Training Day." I suppose his race came into play in that he had an in with the black and latino communities of LA in a way that a white guy couldn't, but that wasn't ever made apparent. Let's go again--Safe House. Here again, he's just a guy whose race does not matter. The point is, Washington is playing characters who do not depend on race to give them life. What the characters do and the worlds they are thrust into is what gives them life. You could do the same with someone like Tom Hanks. Change out Tom Hanks with a black actor and in most cases (other than when it would have been inaccurate, like Captain Phillips or Sully), it wouldn't have mattered. Unless you are trying to make a point about race (like Blazing Saddles), then don't make a point about race. The same is true about male and female, but to a lesser extent. If you're only writing a black woman as your main character to feel better about how inclusive you are, you're not doing yourself or anyone else any favors. | Don't think about being mindful. Write the character, not the race. | 1 | 23,547 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4pdct | dd4y7s7 | 1,485,835,655 | 1,485,852,043 | 1 | 3 | as a non racist i dont care or even notice the race of the character im reading or writing they all act the same anyway | Here's the trick: write a character and forget his or her race. Hell, forget his or her gender for the time being. Unless you want your minority character to come up against challenges specific to his/her race or gender, none of that should matter. Let me put it this way. Denzel Washington owns any role he is in, right? He's been in a few movies that were very much about race, but most of his roles aren't. Pick one movie of his--say "Man on Fire," one of my favorites--and try to see where his race came into play. It didn't. Pick another one--say, "Training Day." I suppose his race came into play in that he had an in with the black and latino communities of LA in a way that a white guy couldn't, but that wasn't ever made apparent. Let's go again--Safe House. Here again, he's just a guy whose race does not matter. The point is, Washington is playing characters who do not depend on race to give them life. What the characters do and the worlds they are thrust into is what gives them life. You could do the same with someone like Tom Hanks. Change out Tom Hanks with a black actor and in most cases (other than when it would have been inaccurate, like Captain Phillips or Sully), it wouldn't have mattered. Unless you are trying to make a point about race (like Blazing Saddles), then don't make a point about race. The same is true about male and female, but to a lesser extent. If you're only writing a black woman as your main character to feel better about how inclusive you are, you're not doing yourself or anyone else any favors. | 0 | 16,388 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd5exts | dd4baim | 1,485,882,367 | 1,485,818,160 | 3 | 1 | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | 1 | 64,207 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4fq61 | dd5exts | 1,485,823,625 | 1,485,882,367 | 2 | 3 | I would recommend these PERSONAL tips for you: 1: a character´s core is it´s character. not gender, race, etc. Instead of thinking what would a woman/girl think, do, or say in a situation like this, try thinking what would my character think, do, or say. This is the first way to avoid stereotypes based upon sex, race, etc. 2: Study people! In my experience, basing characters on other existing character from books, movies, series can potentially create a distance to what a "real" human do, think, or say. This also helps you realize that stereotypes exist in all humans in variable degrees. If you´re afraid to include a stereotype because you´re socially conscious, then it´s basically just as bad as including stereotypes because you´re socially unconscious. DO I MAKE ANY SENSE??? 3: Write YOUR story, not a policy, idea, or movement´s story. There´s nothing wrong with writing main characters that´s very close to yourself. But if you want to write a story about a woman of color, because you feel a lack of diversity, I would recommend you not to do so. I would urge you to continue to write, and let characters flow naturally into your mind. 4: FIND IDEAS FOR CHARACTER WHERE YOU´VE NOT LOOKED BEFORE. I don´t know for sure, but it sounds like most of your main characters are based on yourself. Try looking somewhere else where you don´t usually look. Most of my character come from dreams when I sleep or drift off. One of my latest character came from a dream where I was swimming under a frozen lake, and there I met a red haired girl sleeping. I somehow knew I had to take her with me. I grabbed her, she woke up, and we rushed to the surface. then I woke up. Who´s that? what was she doing there? do I know her? what´s her name?.....you get the idea? ANYWAYS there´s are some of my tips Hope it helps. ykes! | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | 0 | 58,742 | 1.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd5exts | dd4igsr | 1,485,882,367 | 1,485,827,062 | 3 | 2 | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | Oooh, I have a resource for you: Writing With Color. It's an amazing place for things that seem simple, like describing people of color, and for complicated things—one example I can think of is not having Muslim characters practice magic. | 1 | 55,305 | 1.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd5exts | dd4il6g | 1,485,882,367 | 1,485,827,217 | 3 | 2 | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | Just finished reading a Sci-Fi novel where entire planets of people are described without once addressing the colour of their skin. Religion, gender, ethnicity, etcetera are only issues if you make them such. If they do not impact the story then leave them out. Each reader will make their own calls as to the missing details. As to writing what you don't know, research and beta-readers do wonders. Ask people if they can relate to the character that shares some identifying characteristics, as you have depicted them. | 1 | 55,150 | 1.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd5exts | dd54kim | 1,485,882,367 | 1,485,868,956 | 3 | 2 | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | I would advise reading a few books written by women for women (or genre romance with female pen names, because even if the actual authors are male, they tend to have got it right or they wouldn't be published) just to get a sense of some of the differences. There may not be so many differences as you think. But I think it's wise to be cautious. I recently wrote a male protagonist for the first time. One male beta reader found my male too shy/beta - he was supposed to be quite shy and beta, but it's possible I took it too far that way. However another male reader found the character plausible, as did a female reader. So it's hard to say. Readers and reviewers will always have their own opinions. The biggest single mistake I see male writers get wrong about females is how we think and view and feel our own bodies. Sure - there's always going to be some female jumping up and down claiming she genuinely likes to jiggle her breasts in the mirror and think about the feel of her "34DD cups in her silk bra" while she's in a business meeting. But she's probably an outlier. Don't disregard genre romance as a very useful source of research. Remember that is it not just written by "low skill"/"low brow" authors, nor is it read solely by housewives of low education. Many highly educated women read it, many highly talented men and women write it. It's often stigmatised on here, but the sheer success and commercial power of the genre should win admiration not contempt. It will give you some insight into how many women view themselves, and their aspirations when it comes to relationships. | 1 | 13,411 | 1.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd5exts | dd581o9 | 1,485,882,367 | 1,485,874,220 | 3 | 2 | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | Start watching some Anita Sarkeesian: she is going to cover every single pitfall you could possibly imagine as a male trying to create female characters. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61 Then read female characters written by females! You'll start seeing misogynistic examples everywhere in our current media. Once you can see it in others work then you might be able to see it in your own. Once you've got some kind of vocabulary or idea about what your own pitfalls would be, go talk to some women about it. Also, show some women your writing that will be honest with you, and point out where you've made "male obliviousness" mistakes. I'm a guy that feminists often take an immediate dislike to upon first impression (my s/o is a feminist). When I write I don't input any of my male gaze crap into my writing. However, one of my guy friends who is extremely vocal about misogny often forgets everything he believes in the second he starts putting letters on a page, and I often find myself having to point out some of the misogynistic blind spots in his writing. I think it's great that you want to address this in yourself. Often just being concerned about it is enough, but sometimes it isn't -per my example above. Just make sure it doesn't end up on the page. | 1 | 8,147 | 1.5 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd5exts | dd4jlve | 1,485,882,367 | 1,485,828,496 | 3 | 1 | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | Don't think about being mindful. Write the character, not the race. | 1 | 53,871 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd5exts | dd4pdct | 1,485,882,367 | 1,485,835,655 | 3 | 1 | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | as a non racist i dont care or even notice the race of the character im reading or writing they all act the same anyway | 1 | 46,712 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4zxoa | dd5exts | 1,485,857,194 | 1,485,882,367 | 1 | 3 | The first and only thing you need to watch out for is the belief that there are things you "need to watch out for" when writing a character that is in some superficial way different from you. The only thing that matters is writing a believable, compelling human being, and that isn't any easier or harder when creating a lady person with more melanin than you in their skin than it is when writing a white-as-sour-cream trouser-snake-owner. The human heart is the same no matter what wrapping it's in, and the same goes for the heart of a character. | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | 0 | 25,173 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd5exts | dd514ar | 1,485,882,367 | 1,485,860,886 | 3 | 1 | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… I like how George was once asked about how he does to write such great female characters and he replied saying that he always considered them human beings... so... yes, stop thinking you write about white dude. You write about persons. | 1 | 21,481 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd5exts | dd54jt3 | 1,485,882,367 | 1,485,868,922 | 3 | 1 | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | If you're just writing a fast plot driven story - skin colour is not definitive to character, because there's (hopefully) more urgent problems requiring your character's attention. So, if your basic premise is to write a non-white character, just write your story and when your describing them note that their skin is brown. That's it. If you're writing brooding character based lit fiction - skin colour can influence how that character is perceived, and we're social creatures so that factor will have an effect. I'm a black guy, and I'm from a country where 0.2% are black. I stand out. I get stared at by kids. I get fetishised, and approached by people who expect me to act like a stereotype because they have no other reference points than what they see in the media. As a kid, I experienced one country's culture at home and another country's culture as soon as I left the front door. Did growing up in this environment shape me? Of course it did, and if you're writing a serious novel about a character with those experiences and pretending they're not a factor at all in how they behave, your character is going to have an inner life as deep as a bathroom sink, and may even come across as you fear, and like I see so often: tokenistic. Read some books about black characters by black authors where the plot isn't based on the character's race - and you'll pick it up. (I'm using the term black, non-white non-male is literally everyone but same rules apply for whatever person you choose to write as) | 1 | 13,445 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd5exts | dd580zf | 1,485,882,367 | 1,485,874,195 | 3 | 1 | > Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. No. Don't be silly. Despite what you may have heard in your liberal arts degree, the world does not comprise evil sexist racist white men on one side and poor oppressed coloured people on the other. There is some terrible fiction out there certainly. I generally loathe seeing women in Hollywood films because I don't identify with them at all. If you want to write a "strong female character" (or indeed any "strong X character"), make it a strong character who is female or X. That's a character with backstory, motivation, gifts and flaws who also happens to be female or X. Strong doesn't necessarily mean that she waves a sword around and swears at her male boss. | Study and research the environment that she grew up in. What class? What country? What part of the country? What language and dialect was spoken in her neighbourhood? What year/generation? What is her experience? A millennial black woman in upper-class London is going to be totally different than a black woman in 1820s Chicago slums. What is her physical type? Does she have any challenges or disabilities? What are her talents? What is her family situation? Does she have a job or career? As well as reading knowledge-based articles, look for personal stories shared by women in similar circumstances. They will help you to get a feel for her to build a character with depth and a 'real' feel. | 1 | 8,172 | 3 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4fq61 | dd4baim | 1,485,823,625 | 1,485,818,160 | 2 | 1 | I would recommend these PERSONAL tips for you: 1: a character´s core is it´s character. not gender, race, etc. Instead of thinking what would a woman/girl think, do, or say in a situation like this, try thinking what would my character think, do, or say. This is the first way to avoid stereotypes based upon sex, race, etc. 2: Study people! In my experience, basing characters on other existing character from books, movies, series can potentially create a distance to what a "real" human do, think, or say. This also helps you realize that stereotypes exist in all humans in variable degrees. If you´re afraid to include a stereotype because you´re socially conscious, then it´s basically just as bad as including stereotypes because you´re socially unconscious. DO I MAKE ANY SENSE??? 3: Write YOUR story, not a policy, idea, or movement´s story. There´s nothing wrong with writing main characters that´s very close to yourself. But if you want to write a story about a woman of color, because you feel a lack of diversity, I would recommend you not to do so. I would urge you to continue to write, and let characters flow naturally into your mind. 4: FIND IDEAS FOR CHARACTER WHERE YOU´VE NOT LOOKED BEFORE. I don´t know for sure, but it sounds like most of your main characters are based on yourself. Try looking somewhere else where you don´t usually look. Most of my character come from dreams when I sleep or drift off. One of my latest character came from a dream where I was swimming under a frozen lake, and there I met a red haired girl sleeping. I somehow knew I had to take her with me. I grabbed her, she woke up, and we rushed to the surface. then I woke up. Who´s that? what was she doing there? do I know her? what´s her name?.....you get the idea? ANYWAYS there´s are some of my tips Hope it helps. ykes! | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | 1 | 5,465 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4baim | dd4igsr | 1,485,818,160 | 1,485,827,062 | 1 | 2 | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | Oooh, I have a resource for you: Writing With Color. It's an amazing place for things that seem simple, like describing people of color, and for complicated things—one example I can think of is not having Muslim characters practice magic. | 0 | 8,902 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4baim | dd4il6g | 1,485,818,160 | 1,485,827,217 | 1 | 2 | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | Just finished reading a Sci-Fi novel where entire planets of people are described without once addressing the colour of their skin. Religion, gender, ethnicity, etcetera are only issues if you make them such. If they do not impact the story then leave them out. Each reader will make their own calls as to the missing details. As to writing what you don't know, research and beta-readers do wonders. Ask people if they can relate to the character that shares some identifying characteristics, as you have depicted them. | 0 | 9,057 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4baim | dd54kim | 1,485,818,160 | 1,485,868,956 | 1 | 2 | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | I would advise reading a few books written by women for women (or genre romance with female pen names, because even if the actual authors are male, they tend to have got it right or they wouldn't be published) just to get a sense of some of the differences. There may not be so many differences as you think. But I think it's wise to be cautious. I recently wrote a male protagonist for the first time. One male beta reader found my male too shy/beta - he was supposed to be quite shy and beta, but it's possible I took it too far that way. However another male reader found the character plausible, as did a female reader. So it's hard to say. Readers and reviewers will always have their own opinions. The biggest single mistake I see male writers get wrong about females is how we think and view and feel our own bodies. Sure - there's always going to be some female jumping up and down claiming she genuinely likes to jiggle her breasts in the mirror and think about the feel of her "34DD cups in her silk bra" while she's in a business meeting. But she's probably an outlier. Don't disregard genre romance as a very useful source of research. Remember that is it not just written by "low skill"/"low brow" authors, nor is it read solely by housewives of low education. Many highly educated women read it, many highly talented men and women write it. It's often stigmatised on here, but the sheer success and commercial power of the genre should win admiration not contempt. It will give you some insight into how many women view themselves, and their aspirations when it comes to relationships. | 0 | 50,796 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd581o9 | dd4baim | 1,485,874,220 | 1,485,818,160 | 2 | 1 | Start watching some Anita Sarkeesian: she is going to cover every single pitfall you could possibly imagine as a male trying to create female characters. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61 Then read female characters written by females! You'll start seeing misogynistic examples everywhere in our current media. Once you can see it in others work then you might be able to see it in your own. Once you've got some kind of vocabulary or idea about what your own pitfalls would be, go talk to some women about it. Also, show some women your writing that will be honest with you, and point out where you've made "male obliviousness" mistakes. I'm a guy that feminists often take an immediate dislike to upon first impression (my s/o is a feminist). When I write I don't input any of my male gaze crap into my writing. However, one of my guy friends who is extremely vocal about misogny often forgets everything he believes in the second he starts putting letters on a page, and I often find myself having to point out some of the misogynistic blind spots in his writing. I think it's great that you want to address this in yourself. Often just being concerned about it is enough, but sometimes it isn't -per my example above. Just make sure it doesn't end up on the page. | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” GRRM had a pretty great quote about how he accomplishes this that I think is relevant and absolutely a repost I believe the same can be applied to every race and gender. Some more practical advice just in general as far as being a writer is concerned would be to talk to the kind of people you want to inhabit your world. If you wanted to write a story about what its like to be a person of color, talk to some people of color. Don't interrogate them! Just talk to them like you would any of your friends or acquaintances. Get to know them. Understand their fears, wants and desires as character motivations are far more important than the color of their skin or what is between their legs and character motivations are what we, as readers, identify with above and beyond the physical traits of a given character. The same would apply if you wanted to write a story about train conductors or astronauts... I don't identify with Florention Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera because I am of Latin descent (I am not latino) but because of what motivates him to act the way he does, in this case, his love for Fermina. | 1 | 56,060 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd54kim | dd4jlve | 1,485,868,956 | 1,485,828,496 | 2 | 1 | I would advise reading a few books written by women for women (or genre romance with female pen names, because even if the actual authors are male, they tend to have got it right or they wouldn't be published) just to get a sense of some of the differences. There may not be so many differences as you think. But I think it's wise to be cautious. I recently wrote a male protagonist for the first time. One male beta reader found my male too shy/beta - he was supposed to be quite shy and beta, but it's possible I took it too far that way. However another male reader found the character plausible, as did a female reader. So it's hard to say. Readers and reviewers will always have their own opinions. The biggest single mistake I see male writers get wrong about females is how we think and view and feel our own bodies. Sure - there's always going to be some female jumping up and down claiming she genuinely likes to jiggle her breasts in the mirror and think about the feel of her "34DD cups in her silk bra" while she's in a business meeting. But she's probably an outlier. Don't disregard genre romance as a very useful source of research. Remember that is it not just written by "low skill"/"low brow" authors, nor is it read solely by housewives of low education. Many highly educated women read it, many highly talented men and women write it. It's often stigmatised on here, but the sheer success and commercial power of the genre should win admiration not contempt. It will give you some insight into how many women view themselves, and their aspirations when it comes to relationships. | Don't think about being mindful. Write the character, not the race. | 1 | 40,460 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd54kim | dd4pdct | 1,485,868,956 | 1,485,835,655 | 2 | 1 | I would advise reading a few books written by women for women (or genre romance with female pen names, because even if the actual authors are male, they tend to have got it right or they wouldn't be published) just to get a sense of some of the differences. There may not be so many differences as you think. But I think it's wise to be cautious. I recently wrote a male protagonist for the first time. One male beta reader found my male too shy/beta - he was supposed to be quite shy and beta, but it's possible I took it too far that way. However another male reader found the character plausible, as did a female reader. So it's hard to say. Readers and reviewers will always have their own opinions. The biggest single mistake I see male writers get wrong about females is how we think and view and feel our own bodies. Sure - there's always going to be some female jumping up and down claiming she genuinely likes to jiggle her breasts in the mirror and think about the feel of her "34DD cups in her silk bra" while she's in a business meeting. But she's probably an outlier. Don't disregard genre romance as a very useful source of research. Remember that is it not just written by "low skill"/"low brow" authors, nor is it read solely by housewives of low education. Many highly educated women read it, many highly talented men and women write it. It's often stigmatised on here, but the sheer success and commercial power of the genre should win admiration not contempt. It will give you some insight into how many women view themselves, and their aspirations when it comes to relationships. | as a non racist i dont care or even notice the race of the character im reading or writing they all act the same anyway | 1 | 33,301 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4zxoa | dd54kim | 1,485,857,194 | 1,485,868,956 | 1 | 2 | The first and only thing you need to watch out for is the belief that there are things you "need to watch out for" when writing a character that is in some superficial way different from you. The only thing that matters is writing a believable, compelling human being, and that isn't any easier or harder when creating a lady person with more melanin than you in their skin than it is when writing a white-as-sour-cream trouser-snake-owner. The human heart is the same no matter what wrapping it's in, and the same goes for the heart of a character. | I would advise reading a few books written by women for women (or genre romance with female pen names, because even if the actual authors are male, they tend to have got it right or they wouldn't be published) just to get a sense of some of the differences. There may not be so many differences as you think. But I think it's wise to be cautious. I recently wrote a male protagonist for the first time. One male beta reader found my male too shy/beta - he was supposed to be quite shy and beta, but it's possible I took it too far that way. However another male reader found the character plausible, as did a female reader. So it's hard to say. Readers and reviewers will always have their own opinions. The biggest single mistake I see male writers get wrong about females is how we think and view and feel our own bodies. Sure - there's always going to be some female jumping up and down claiming she genuinely likes to jiggle her breasts in the mirror and think about the feel of her "34DD cups in her silk bra" while she's in a business meeting. But she's probably an outlier. Don't disregard genre romance as a very useful source of research. Remember that is it not just written by "low skill"/"low brow" authors, nor is it read solely by housewives of low education. Many highly educated women read it, many highly talented men and women write it. It's often stigmatised on here, but the sheer success and commercial power of the genre should win admiration not contempt. It will give you some insight into how many women view themselves, and their aspirations when it comes to relationships. | 0 | 11,762 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd54kim | dd514ar | 1,485,868,956 | 1,485,860,886 | 2 | 1 | I would advise reading a few books written by women for women (or genre romance with female pen names, because even if the actual authors are male, they tend to have got it right or they wouldn't be published) just to get a sense of some of the differences. There may not be so many differences as you think. But I think it's wise to be cautious. I recently wrote a male protagonist for the first time. One male beta reader found my male too shy/beta - he was supposed to be quite shy and beta, but it's possible I took it too far that way. However another male reader found the character plausible, as did a female reader. So it's hard to say. Readers and reviewers will always have their own opinions. The biggest single mistake I see male writers get wrong about females is how we think and view and feel our own bodies. Sure - there's always going to be some female jumping up and down claiming she genuinely likes to jiggle her breasts in the mirror and think about the feel of her "34DD cups in her silk bra" while she's in a business meeting. But she's probably an outlier. Don't disregard genre romance as a very useful source of research. Remember that is it not just written by "low skill"/"low brow" authors, nor is it read solely by housewives of low education. Many highly educated women read it, many highly talented men and women write it. It's often stigmatised on here, but the sheer success and commercial power of the genre should win admiration not contempt. It will give you some insight into how many women view themselves, and their aspirations when it comes to relationships. | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… I like how George was once asked about how he does to write such great female characters and he replied saying that he always considered them human beings... so... yes, stop thinking you write about white dude. You write about persons. | 1 | 8,070 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd54jt3 | dd54kim | 1,485,868,922 | 1,485,868,956 | 1 | 2 | If you're just writing a fast plot driven story - skin colour is not definitive to character, because there's (hopefully) more urgent problems requiring your character's attention. So, if your basic premise is to write a non-white character, just write your story and when your describing them note that their skin is brown. That's it. If you're writing brooding character based lit fiction - skin colour can influence how that character is perceived, and we're social creatures so that factor will have an effect. I'm a black guy, and I'm from a country where 0.2% are black. I stand out. I get stared at by kids. I get fetishised, and approached by people who expect me to act like a stereotype because they have no other reference points than what they see in the media. As a kid, I experienced one country's culture at home and another country's culture as soon as I left the front door. Did growing up in this environment shape me? Of course it did, and if you're writing a serious novel about a character with those experiences and pretending they're not a factor at all in how they behave, your character is going to have an inner life as deep as a bathroom sink, and may even come across as you fear, and like I see so often: tokenistic. Read some books about black characters by black authors where the plot isn't based on the character's race - and you'll pick it up. (I'm using the term black, non-white non-male is literally everyone but same rules apply for whatever person you choose to write as) | I would advise reading a few books written by women for women (or genre romance with female pen names, because even if the actual authors are male, they tend to have got it right or they wouldn't be published) just to get a sense of some of the differences. There may not be so many differences as you think. But I think it's wise to be cautious. I recently wrote a male protagonist for the first time. One male beta reader found my male too shy/beta - he was supposed to be quite shy and beta, but it's possible I took it too far that way. However another male reader found the character plausible, as did a female reader. So it's hard to say. Readers and reviewers will always have their own opinions. The biggest single mistake I see male writers get wrong about females is how we think and view and feel our own bodies. Sure - there's always going to be some female jumping up and down claiming she genuinely likes to jiggle her breasts in the mirror and think about the feel of her "34DD cups in her silk bra" while she's in a business meeting. But she's probably an outlier. Don't disregard genre romance as a very useful source of research. Remember that is it not just written by "low skill"/"low brow" authors, nor is it read solely by housewives of low education. Many highly educated women read it, many highly talented men and women write it. It's often stigmatised on here, but the sheer success and commercial power of the genre should win admiration not contempt. It will give you some insight into how many women view themselves, and their aspirations when it comes to relationships. | 0 | 34 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4jlve | dd581o9 | 1,485,828,496 | 1,485,874,220 | 1 | 2 | Don't think about being mindful. Write the character, not the race. | Start watching some Anita Sarkeesian: she is going to cover every single pitfall you could possibly imagine as a male trying to create female characters. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61 Then read female characters written by females! You'll start seeing misogynistic examples everywhere in our current media. Once you can see it in others work then you might be able to see it in your own. Once you've got some kind of vocabulary or idea about what your own pitfalls would be, go talk to some women about it. Also, show some women your writing that will be honest with you, and point out where you've made "male obliviousness" mistakes. I'm a guy that feminists often take an immediate dislike to upon first impression (my s/o is a feminist). When I write I don't input any of my male gaze crap into my writing. However, one of my guy friends who is extremely vocal about misogny often forgets everything he believes in the second he starts putting letters on a page, and I often find myself having to point out some of the misogynistic blind spots in his writing. I think it's great that you want to address this in yourself. Often just being concerned about it is enough, but sometimes it isn't -per my example above. Just make sure it doesn't end up on the page. | 0 | 45,724 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd4pdct | dd581o9 | 1,485,835,655 | 1,485,874,220 | 1 | 2 | as a non racist i dont care or even notice the race of the character im reading or writing they all act the same anyway | Start watching some Anita Sarkeesian: she is going to cover every single pitfall you could possibly imagine as a male trying to create female characters. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61 Then read female characters written by females! You'll start seeing misogynistic examples everywhere in our current media. Once you can see it in others work then you might be able to see it in your own. Once you've got some kind of vocabulary or idea about what your own pitfalls would be, go talk to some women about it. Also, show some women your writing that will be honest with you, and point out where you've made "male obliviousness" mistakes. I'm a guy that feminists often take an immediate dislike to upon first impression (my s/o is a feminist). When I write I don't input any of my male gaze crap into my writing. However, one of my guy friends who is extremely vocal about misogny often forgets everything he believes in the second he starts putting letters on a page, and I often find myself having to point out some of the misogynistic blind spots in his writing. I think it's great that you want to address this in yourself. Often just being concerned about it is enough, but sometimes it isn't -per my example above. Just make sure it doesn't end up on the page. | 0 | 38,565 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd581o9 | dd4zxoa | 1,485,874,220 | 1,485,857,194 | 2 | 1 | Start watching some Anita Sarkeesian: she is going to cover every single pitfall you could possibly imagine as a male trying to create female characters. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61 Then read female characters written by females! You'll start seeing misogynistic examples everywhere in our current media. Once you can see it in others work then you might be able to see it in your own. Once you've got some kind of vocabulary or idea about what your own pitfalls would be, go talk to some women about it. Also, show some women your writing that will be honest with you, and point out where you've made "male obliviousness" mistakes. I'm a guy that feminists often take an immediate dislike to upon first impression (my s/o is a feminist). When I write I don't input any of my male gaze crap into my writing. However, one of my guy friends who is extremely vocal about misogny often forgets everything he believes in the second he starts putting letters on a page, and I often find myself having to point out some of the misogynistic blind spots in his writing. I think it's great that you want to address this in yourself. Often just being concerned about it is enough, but sometimes it isn't -per my example above. Just make sure it doesn't end up on the page. | The first and only thing you need to watch out for is the belief that there are things you "need to watch out for" when writing a character that is in some superficial way different from you. The only thing that matters is writing a believable, compelling human being, and that isn't any easier or harder when creating a lady person with more melanin than you in their skin than it is when writing a white-as-sour-cream trouser-snake-owner. The human heart is the same no matter what wrapping it's in, and the same goes for the heart of a character. | 1 | 17,026 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd514ar | dd581o9 | 1,485,860,886 | 1,485,874,220 | 1 | 2 | >I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… I like how George was once asked about how he does to write such great female characters and he replied saying that he always considered them human beings... so... yes, stop thinking you write about white dude. You write about persons. | Start watching some Anita Sarkeesian: she is going to cover every single pitfall you could possibly imagine as a male trying to create female characters. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61 Then read female characters written by females! You'll start seeing misogynistic examples everywhere in our current media. Once you can see it in others work then you might be able to see it in your own. Once you've got some kind of vocabulary or idea about what your own pitfalls would be, go talk to some women about it. Also, show some women your writing that will be honest with you, and point out where you've made "male obliviousness" mistakes. I'm a guy that feminists often take an immediate dislike to upon first impression (my s/o is a feminist). When I write I don't input any of my male gaze crap into my writing. However, one of my guy friends who is extremely vocal about misogny often forgets everything he believes in the second he starts putting letters on a page, and I often find myself having to point out some of the misogynistic blind spots in his writing. I think it's great that you want to address this in yourself. Often just being concerned about it is enough, but sometimes it isn't -per my example above. Just make sure it doesn't end up on the page. | 0 | 13,334 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd581o9 | dd54jt3 | 1,485,874,220 | 1,485,868,922 | 2 | 1 | Start watching some Anita Sarkeesian: she is going to cover every single pitfall you could possibly imagine as a male trying to create female characters. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61 Then read female characters written by females! You'll start seeing misogynistic examples everywhere in our current media. Once you can see it in others work then you might be able to see it in your own. Once you've got some kind of vocabulary or idea about what your own pitfalls would be, go talk to some women about it. Also, show some women your writing that will be honest with you, and point out where you've made "male obliviousness" mistakes. I'm a guy that feminists often take an immediate dislike to upon first impression (my s/o is a feminist). When I write I don't input any of my male gaze crap into my writing. However, one of my guy friends who is extremely vocal about misogny often forgets everything he believes in the second he starts putting letters on a page, and I often find myself having to point out some of the misogynistic blind spots in his writing. I think it's great that you want to address this in yourself. Often just being concerned about it is enough, but sometimes it isn't -per my example above. Just make sure it doesn't end up on the page. | If you're just writing a fast plot driven story - skin colour is not definitive to character, because there's (hopefully) more urgent problems requiring your character's attention. So, if your basic premise is to write a non-white character, just write your story and when your describing them note that their skin is brown. That's it. If you're writing brooding character based lit fiction - skin colour can influence how that character is perceived, and we're social creatures so that factor will have an effect. I'm a black guy, and I'm from a country where 0.2% are black. I stand out. I get stared at by kids. I get fetishised, and approached by people who expect me to act like a stereotype because they have no other reference points than what they see in the media. As a kid, I experienced one country's culture at home and another country's culture as soon as I left the front door. Did growing up in this environment shape me? Of course it did, and if you're writing a serious novel about a character with those experiences and pretending they're not a factor at all in how they behave, your character is going to have an inner life as deep as a bathroom sink, and may even come across as you fear, and like I see so often: tokenistic. Read some books about black characters by black authors where the plot isn't based on the character's race - and you'll pick it up. (I'm using the term black, non-white non-male is literally everyone but same rules apply for whatever person you choose to write as) | 1 | 5,298 | 2 | ||
5r492p | writing_train | 0.65 | I'm a white dude that is tired of writing about white dudes... What do I need to be mindful of as I start a new project with a non-white woman as my protagonist? Lately, I’ve been growing more aware of the fact that I naturally gravitate towards writing stories with a white male as the protagonist. I’m not a really seasoned writer, but I’m actually starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that it is so hard for me to actually write anything other than a guy (who is usually white in my mind’s eye) as the main character in my stories. I finally decided that enough is enough… I’m going to write a spec screenplay with a non-white girl as the main protagonist. The only issue with this is that I honestly don’t know what to expect, how to start, or, most importantly, what to watch out for as I write. I’ll be careful as I write a character that is different from myself, of course, but I just feel very under-educated when it comes to moving my writing forward while being socially conscious. I’ve heard about the Bechdel Test, but I’m not really sure that that’s the problem I’ll be facing… I understand that writing a woman in a story is different from writing a man, and I certainly wouldn’t write a woman as a sex object or someone that can only accomplish anything if they have the help of a dude. I’m more worried about the less obvious forms of sexism and stereotyping that I might unknowingly use during the writing process. I know that lots of people credit George Martin for writing “great female characters,” but most of the girls I’ve talked to aren’t usually aware of the way their nipples feel against their blouses… It’s easy to write what we know, but I’m of the opinion that writing what we don’t know is difficult, but much more important sometimes. Has anyone else come across this problem? Am I the only white dude that wants to write a good character that isn’t a stereotype or unknowingly sexist? Surely I can’t be the only guy that wants to tackle this problem instead of settling into an ethnocentric, male gaze for the rest of my days. Hopefully my question and situation is clear from that block of text… | dd580zf | dd581o9 | 1,485,874,195 | 1,485,874,220 | 1 | 2 | Study and research the environment that she grew up in. What class? What country? What part of the country? What language and dialect was spoken in her neighbourhood? What year/generation? What is her experience? A millennial black woman in upper-class London is going to be totally different than a black woman in 1820s Chicago slums. What is her physical type? Does she have any challenges or disabilities? What are her talents? What is her family situation? Does she have a job or career? As well as reading knowledge-based articles, look for personal stories shared by women in similar circumstances. They will help you to get a feel for her to build a character with depth and a 'real' feel. | Start watching some Anita Sarkeesian: she is going to cover every single pitfall you could possibly imagine as a male trying to create female characters. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61 Then read female characters written by females! You'll start seeing misogynistic examples everywhere in our current media. Once you can see it in others work then you might be able to see it in your own. Once you've got some kind of vocabulary or idea about what your own pitfalls would be, go talk to some women about it. Also, show some women your writing that will be honest with you, and point out where you've made "male obliviousness" mistakes. I'm a guy that feminists often take an immediate dislike to upon first impression (my s/o is a feminist). When I write I don't input any of my male gaze crap into my writing. However, one of my guy friends who is extremely vocal about misogny often forgets everything he believes in the second he starts putting letters on a page, and I often find myself having to point out some of the misogynistic blind spots in his writing. I think it's great that you want to address this in yourself. Often just being concerned about it is enough, but sometimes it isn't -per my example above. Just make sure it doesn't end up on the page. | 0 | 25 | 2 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hrhy82c | hri84w1 | 1,641,481,418 | 1,641,485,266 | 5 | 7 | Here’s what I did when I’m developing my protagonist (although I haven’t published anything, so feel free to take my advice or not). Think of the qualities you like to see in a protagonist, both the good and bad ones. For instance, maybe your protagonist is smart and a good fighter, but tends to act first and think later. Or maybe the reason she’s so good at fighting is because she constantly pushes herself to be the best, to the point that she’s beating herself up over any mistake she makes (major or not). This could tie into her childhood, perhaps living with strict parents who wanted what’s best for their kid(s), and didn’t consider their child’s mental health while doing so. Give your protagonist internal struggles alongside outside struggles. | You could take the easy way out and make it her story instead | 0 | 3,848 | 1.4 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hrhykd1 | hri84w1 | 1,641,481,558 | 1,641,485,266 | 3 | 7 | Btw I like your premise! Greek mythology is my favorite mythology, and I am considering writing a story about Greek mythology also. | You could take the easy way out and make it her story instead | 0 | 3,708 | 2.333333 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hri7ehg | hri84w1 | 1,641,484,991 | 1,641,485,266 | 2 | 7 | From some of my notes that help me think through characters. * 5 Deaths a Hero Can Experience: 1. Of desires for things they need 2. Of pride, an Achilles heel; cathartic 3. Of dreams, either in the end or beginning to be resurrected 4. Of loved ones 5. Of body, either triumphantly or sacrificing, and then we must see supporting characters deal with the loss * The Freudian Trio of their Id (uncoordinated, instinctual actions and reactions), Superego (conscious and ideal self), and Ego (rational, problem-solving mediator between the unrealistic Id and over-idealistic Superego) * The problems/situations must hurt, and then get worse * Enneagrams | You could take the easy way out and make it her story instead | 0 | 275 | 3.5 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hrhykd1 | hrj5igc | 1,641,481,558 | 1,641,497,493 | 3 | 4 | Btw I like your premise! Greek mythology is my favorite mythology, and I am considering writing a story about Greek mythology also. | The protagonist should be a foil to the antagonist. They should have not just conflicting, but diametrically opposed views of the world. A tyrant antagonist who believes the masses must be led for their own good would be opposed by a freedom loving protagonist who believes everyone must be free to make their own choices, for good or ill. If you can't at least articulate your antagonist's opposing ideas in the way someone who believes them would, I'm afraid you've done worse than make a protagonist your antagonist. You will be unable to form a compelling conflict, because one side is going to clearly written as wrong. I would start there. What type of belief system is completely opposed to your antagonist's values? The deeper and more nuanced your understanding of this, the better you can form the characters and conflict. | 0 | 15,935 | 1.333333 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hrikyvp | hrj5igc | 1,641,490,013 | 1,641,497,493 | 3 | 4 | I start with my protagonist, on the grounds that the protagonist is what draws the readers (and myself) into the story. Also, if all goes well, the readers will still like the protagonist when it’s time for the sequel, while the villain will be too dead for this. If I were in your position, I’d belatedly come up with a series hero without much reference to the villain du jour, as if you were developing Odysseus not in response to the Cyclops alone, but also Circe and the trip to the underworld and Penelope as well. | The protagonist should be a foil to the antagonist. They should have not just conflicting, but diametrically opposed views of the world. A tyrant antagonist who believes the masses must be led for their own good would be opposed by a freedom loving protagonist who believes everyone must be free to make their own choices, for good or ill. If you can't at least articulate your antagonist's opposing ideas in the way someone who believes them would, I'm afraid you've done worse than make a protagonist your antagonist. You will be unable to form a compelling conflict, because one side is going to clearly written as wrong. I would start there. What type of belief system is completely opposed to your antagonist's values? The deeper and more nuanced your understanding of this, the better you can form the characters and conflict. | 0 | 7,480 | 1.333333 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hrj5igc | hril5mp | 1,641,497,493 | 1,641,490,082 | 4 | 3 | The protagonist should be a foil to the antagonist. They should have not just conflicting, but diametrically opposed views of the world. A tyrant antagonist who believes the masses must be led for their own good would be opposed by a freedom loving protagonist who believes everyone must be free to make their own choices, for good or ill. If you can't at least articulate your antagonist's opposing ideas in the way someone who believes them would, I'm afraid you've done worse than make a protagonist your antagonist. You will be unable to form a compelling conflict, because one side is going to clearly written as wrong. I would start there. What type of belief system is completely opposed to your antagonist's values? The deeper and more nuanced your understanding of this, the better you can form the characters and conflict. | Sounds like either: a) Your antagonist is your protagonist, or b) You need to spend the same time, effort, and love on the protagonist until they're as lifelike and engaging for you. (Make sure you give them the same agency you gave the antagonist!) | 1 | 7,411 | 1.333333 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hrixwul | hrj5igc | 1,641,494,701 | 1,641,497,493 | 3 | 4 | One thing you could try is to reverse their roles for the time being, and try to think of characterization that would naturally create conflict with your current antagonist. Basically, if you were using your antagonist as your protagonist (not saying that as a permanent thing, mind you, but rather as a mental exercise), what character traits and/or motivations would you expect to see in their antagonist? What would drive your current antagonist to stand against a character? You'd mentioned your current antagonist is charismatic and cunning. Someone with those traits likely is used to commanding the respect of people, and likes to be in control of any situation they're in. Maybe your protagonist has a bit of a wit, and drew her ire by an offhand comment? Maybe your protagonist was an unplanned variable who unknowingly ruined one of her schemes? Those are just a few examples based off of the description you gave there, so you'd likely come up with better options for what would drive your antagonist to oppose them. Basically, just as your protagonist has their reasons to oppose the antagonist, so too does the antagonist have a reason to oppose the protagonist. Try to hone in on some of those reasons, then use that as a base of sorts for your protagonist. | The protagonist should be a foil to the antagonist. They should have not just conflicting, but diametrically opposed views of the world. A tyrant antagonist who believes the masses must be led for their own good would be opposed by a freedom loving protagonist who believes everyone must be free to make their own choices, for good or ill. If you can't at least articulate your antagonist's opposing ideas in the way someone who believes them would, I'm afraid you've done worse than make a protagonist your antagonist. You will be unable to form a compelling conflict, because one side is going to clearly written as wrong. I would start there. What type of belief system is completely opposed to your antagonist's values? The deeper and more nuanced your understanding of this, the better you can form the characters and conflict. | 0 | 2,792 | 1.333333 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hrj5igc | hri7ehg | 1,641,497,493 | 1,641,484,991 | 4 | 2 | The protagonist should be a foil to the antagonist. They should have not just conflicting, but diametrically opposed views of the world. A tyrant antagonist who believes the masses must be led for their own good would be opposed by a freedom loving protagonist who believes everyone must be free to make their own choices, for good or ill. If you can't at least articulate your antagonist's opposing ideas in the way someone who believes them would, I'm afraid you've done worse than make a protagonist your antagonist. You will be unable to form a compelling conflict, because one side is going to clearly written as wrong. I would start there. What type of belief system is completely opposed to your antagonist's values? The deeper and more nuanced your understanding of this, the better you can form the characters and conflict. | From some of my notes that help me think through characters. * 5 Deaths a Hero Can Experience: 1. Of desires for things they need 2. Of pride, an Achilles heel; cathartic 3. Of dreams, either in the end or beginning to be resurrected 4. Of loved ones 5. Of body, either triumphantly or sacrificing, and then we must see supporting characters deal with the loss * The Freudian Trio of their Id (uncoordinated, instinctual actions and reactions), Superego (conscious and ideal self), and Ego (rational, problem-solving mediator between the unrealistic Id and over-idealistic Superego) * The problems/situations must hurt, and then get worse * Enneagrams | 1 | 12,502 | 2 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hrj5igc | hriiqol | 1,641,497,493 | 1,641,489,185 | 4 | 2 | The protagonist should be a foil to the antagonist. They should have not just conflicting, but diametrically opposed views of the world. A tyrant antagonist who believes the masses must be led for their own good would be opposed by a freedom loving protagonist who believes everyone must be free to make their own choices, for good or ill. If you can't at least articulate your antagonist's opposing ideas in the way someone who believes them would, I'm afraid you've done worse than make a protagonist your antagonist. You will be unable to form a compelling conflict, because one side is going to clearly written as wrong. I would start there. What type of belief system is completely opposed to your antagonist's values? The deeper and more nuanced your understanding of this, the better you can form the characters and conflict. | Think: What is my protagonist's want? What does the protagonist need to learn? What conflicts will help them realize this? Here is a link to help explain further. This video is awesome 😎 It's really helped my writing! https://youtu.be/Zci-54NbeMo | 1 | 8,308 | 2 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hri7ehg | hrikyvp | 1,641,484,991 | 1,641,490,013 | 2 | 3 | From some of my notes that help me think through characters. * 5 Deaths a Hero Can Experience: 1. Of desires for things they need 2. Of pride, an Achilles heel; cathartic 3. Of dreams, either in the end or beginning to be resurrected 4. Of loved ones 5. Of body, either triumphantly or sacrificing, and then we must see supporting characters deal with the loss * The Freudian Trio of their Id (uncoordinated, instinctual actions and reactions), Superego (conscious and ideal self), and Ego (rational, problem-solving mediator between the unrealistic Id and over-idealistic Superego) * The problems/situations must hurt, and then get worse * Enneagrams | I start with my protagonist, on the grounds that the protagonist is what draws the readers (and myself) into the story. Also, if all goes well, the readers will still like the protagonist when it’s time for the sequel, while the villain will be too dead for this. If I were in your position, I’d belatedly come up with a series hero without much reference to the villain du jour, as if you were developing Odysseus not in response to the Cyclops alone, but also Circe and the trip to the underworld and Penelope as well. | 0 | 5,022 | 1.5 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hriiqol | hrikyvp | 1,641,489,185 | 1,641,490,013 | 2 | 3 | Think: What is my protagonist's want? What does the protagonist need to learn? What conflicts will help them realize this? Here is a link to help explain further. This video is awesome 😎 It's really helped my writing! https://youtu.be/Zci-54NbeMo | I start with my protagonist, on the grounds that the protagonist is what draws the readers (and myself) into the story. Also, if all goes well, the readers will still like the protagonist when it’s time for the sequel, while the villain will be too dead for this. If I were in your position, I’d belatedly come up with a series hero without much reference to the villain du jour, as if you were developing Odysseus not in response to the Cyclops alone, but also Circe and the trip to the underworld and Penelope as well. | 0 | 828 | 1.5 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hri7ehg | hril5mp | 1,641,484,991 | 1,641,490,082 | 2 | 3 | From some of my notes that help me think through characters. * 5 Deaths a Hero Can Experience: 1. Of desires for things they need 2. Of pride, an Achilles heel; cathartic 3. Of dreams, either in the end or beginning to be resurrected 4. Of loved ones 5. Of body, either triumphantly or sacrificing, and then we must see supporting characters deal with the loss * The Freudian Trio of their Id (uncoordinated, instinctual actions and reactions), Superego (conscious and ideal self), and Ego (rational, problem-solving mediator between the unrealistic Id and over-idealistic Superego) * The problems/situations must hurt, and then get worse * Enneagrams | Sounds like either: a) Your antagonist is your protagonist, or b) You need to spend the same time, effort, and love on the protagonist until they're as lifelike and engaging for you. (Make sure you give them the same agency you gave the antagonist!) | 0 | 5,091 | 1.5 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hril5mp | hriiqol | 1,641,490,082 | 1,641,489,185 | 3 | 2 | Sounds like either: a) Your antagonist is your protagonist, or b) You need to spend the same time, effort, and love on the protagonist until they're as lifelike and engaging for you. (Make sure you give them the same agency you gave the antagonist!) | Think: What is my protagonist's want? What does the protagonist need to learn? What conflicts will help them realize this? Here is a link to help explain further. This video is awesome 😎 It's really helped my writing! https://youtu.be/Zci-54NbeMo | 1 | 897 | 1.5 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hri7ehg | hrixwul | 1,641,484,991 | 1,641,494,701 | 2 | 3 | From some of my notes that help me think through characters. * 5 Deaths a Hero Can Experience: 1. Of desires for things they need 2. Of pride, an Achilles heel; cathartic 3. Of dreams, either in the end or beginning to be resurrected 4. Of loved ones 5. Of body, either triumphantly or sacrificing, and then we must see supporting characters deal with the loss * The Freudian Trio of their Id (uncoordinated, instinctual actions and reactions), Superego (conscious and ideal self), and Ego (rational, problem-solving mediator between the unrealistic Id and over-idealistic Superego) * The problems/situations must hurt, and then get worse * Enneagrams | One thing you could try is to reverse their roles for the time being, and try to think of characterization that would naturally create conflict with your current antagonist. Basically, if you were using your antagonist as your protagonist (not saying that as a permanent thing, mind you, but rather as a mental exercise), what character traits and/or motivations would you expect to see in their antagonist? What would drive your current antagonist to stand against a character? You'd mentioned your current antagonist is charismatic and cunning. Someone with those traits likely is used to commanding the respect of people, and likes to be in control of any situation they're in. Maybe your protagonist has a bit of a wit, and drew her ire by an offhand comment? Maybe your protagonist was an unplanned variable who unknowingly ruined one of her schemes? Those are just a few examples based off of the description you gave there, so you'd likely come up with better options for what would drive your antagonist to oppose them. Basically, just as your protagonist has their reasons to oppose the antagonist, so too does the antagonist have a reason to oppose the protagonist. Try to hone in on some of those reasons, then use that as a base of sorts for your protagonist. | 0 | 9,710 | 1.5 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hriiqol | hrixwul | 1,641,489,185 | 1,641,494,701 | 2 | 3 | Think: What is my protagonist's want? What does the protagonist need to learn? What conflicts will help them realize this? Here is a link to help explain further. This video is awesome 😎 It's really helped my writing! https://youtu.be/Zci-54NbeMo | One thing you could try is to reverse their roles for the time being, and try to think of characterization that would naturally create conflict with your current antagonist. Basically, if you were using your antagonist as your protagonist (not saying that as a permanent thing, mind you, but rather as a mental exercise), what character traits and/or motivations would you expect to see in their antagonist? What would drive your current antagonist to stand against a character? You'd mentioned your current antagonist is charismatic and cunning. Someone with those traits likely is used to commanding the respect of people, and likes to be in control of any situation they're in. Maybe your protagonist has a bit of a wit, and drew her ire by an offhand comment? Maybe your protagonist was an unplanned variable who unknowingly ruined one of her schemes? Those are just a few examples based off of the description you gave there, so you'd likely come up with better options for what would drive your antagonist to oppose them. Basically, just as your protagonist has their reasons to oppose the antagonist, so too does the antagonist have a reason to oppose the protagonist. Try to hone in on some of those reasons, then use that as a base of sorts for your protagonist. | 0 | 5,516 | 1.5 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hri7ehg | hrjgf7q | 1,641,484,991 | 1,641,501,489 | 2 | 3 | From some of my notes that help me think through characters. * 5 Deaths a Hero Can Experience: 1. Of desires for things they need 2. Of pride, an Achilles heel; cathartic 3. Of dreams, either in the end or beginning to be resurrected 4. Of loved ones 5. Of body, either triumphantly or sacrificing, and then we must see supporting characters deal with the loss * The Freudian Trio of their Id (uncoordinated, instinctual actions and reactions), Superego (conscious and ideal self), and Ego (rational, problem-solving mediator between the unrealistic Id and over-idealistic Superego) * The problems/situations must hurt, and then get worse * Enneagrams | > and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. Your protagonist also needs to drive their plot forward. They also have to make decisions that shape the story. Early in the story, those decisions will probably be wrong. But they'll still need to make them. Their poor choices probably spring from a misperception of themselves or their situation. What event in their past caused their misunderstanding? How does the event still haunt them? What traits did it cause that still pull them in the wrong direction? What pattern of action does it cause them to take? | 0 | 16,498 | 1.5 | ||
rxfrby | writing_train | 0.89 | I need help with my protagonist Hi there, any help would be appreciated. I started writing my book last year, the basic premise is the Greek gods come back and it doesn’t end well (it’s a lot more interesting but for the sake of brevity and because I’m dead tired, I’ll leave it at that). I saw somewhere a long time ago that you should write your antagonist first, because they are the catalyst for the plot. So that’s what I did. I’ve crafted the antagonist and I’m obsessed with her. She’s charismatic and cunning, and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. I’m now stuck on the protagonist. She’s nowhere near as interesting and I’m not obsessively thinking about her like I am the antagonist. The protagonist is important, I’ve worked out her general role, but I’m struggling to write her and become at all infatuated with her. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do with your protagonist? I’d appreciate any advice. I’ve got two weeks off from tomorrow and I’m planning to make a big dent in my book. I think it would be smoother if I knew what I was doing with my protagonist! | hrjgf7q | hriiqol | 1,641,501,489 | 1,641,489,185 | 3 | 2 | > and I have mapped out how she drives the plot. Your protagonist also needs to drive their plot forward. They also have to make decisions that shape the story. Early in the story, those decisions will probably be wrong. But they'll still need to make them. Their poor choices probably spring from a misperception of themselves or their situation. What event in their past caused their misunderstanding? How does the event still haunt them? What traits did it cause that still pull them in the wrong direction? What pattern of action does it cause them to take? | Think: What is my protagonist's want? What does the protagonist need to learn? What conflicts will help them realize this? Here is a link to help explain further. This video is awesome 😎 It's really helped my writing! https://youtu.be/Zci-54NbeMo | 1 | 12,304 | 1.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iom2h74 | ioly9mp | 1,663,293,669 | 1,663,291,805 | 33 | 7 | A thing I like to do is basically detailing how each of your characters would do a certain thing My favorite are: 1. Opening a beer 2. parking the car/bike/ect 3. Ordering food Trust me, it can help | Use your imagination. Then you write and rewrite. | 1 | 1,864 | 4.714286 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iom2h74 | iolyqei | 1,663,293,669 | 1,663,292,009 | 33 | 2 | A thing I like to do is basically detailing how each of your characters would do a certain thing My favorite are: 1. Opening a beer 2. parking the car/bike/ect 3. Ordering food Trust me, it can help | Hhm. You don't ask like your an amateur. You've written things before? And this is a new venture? What you're wanting to do is a little bit on the advanced side. Or, more like, not easily done. Especially when you want to splice different genres together. I don't do mysteries. They seem like too much work. And my life's been a little bit too difficult to even try. But I've been told that the best way to do one is to work in reverse. Start with the ending and work toward that beginning. And you're also wanting to make this character driven? Hrm. Thinking about it, that might actually make it work easier. Sort of. Maybe? Work in reverse. Who did it? And who wouldn't? And you can work on their personalities that sort of way. Moving forward to who actually would. | 1 | 1,660 | 16.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iom6jkv | ioly9mp | 1,663,295,497 | 1,663,291,805 | 21 | 7 | Rick Riordan has a little.character sheet he says he's done and it's helped with a few of my characters. https://rickriordan.com/about/advice-for-writers/ He has alot of good advice here but the character sheets are under "How to Develop Chatacters" | Use your imagination. Then you write and rewrite. | 1 | 3,692 | 3 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iom6jkv | iolyqei | 1,663,295,497 | 1,663,292,009 | 21 | 2 | Rick Riordan has a little.character sheet he says he's done and it's helped with a few of my characters. https://rickriordan.com/about/advice-for-writers/ He has alot of good advice here but the character sheets are under "How to Develop Chatacters" | Hhm. You don't ask like your an amateur. You've written things before? And this is a new venture? What you're wanting to do is a little bit on the advanced side. Or, more like, not easily done. Especially when you want to splice different genres together. I don't do mysteries. They seem like too much work. And my life's been a little bit too difficult to even try. But I've been told that the best way to do one is to work in reverse. Start with the ending and work toward that beginning. And you're also wanting to make this character driven? Hrm. Thinking about it, that might actually make it work easier. Sort of. Maybe? Work in reverse. Who did it? And who wouldn't? And you can work on their personalities that sort of way. Moving forward to who actually would. | 1 | 3,488 | 10.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iom6941 | iom6jkv | 1,663,295,362 | 1,663,295,497 | 2 | 21 | I like the araki character sheet https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YFuF_axMwsuI4S_TURurnbvOqX81uaphMq_GRM0XDvk/edit?usp=drivesdk | Rick Riordan has a little.character sheet he says he's done and it's helped with a few of my characters. https://rickriordan.com/about/advice-for-writers/ He has alot of good advice here but the character sheets are under "How to Develop Chatacters" | 0 | 135 | 10.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioly9mp | iom7on6 | 1,663,291,805 | 1,663,296,016 | 7 | 13 | Use your imagination. Then you write and rewrite. | Things that help me find my characters include - character bios but please don’t just put in basic info like family, friends age etc. Also do backstory, personality, likes, dislikes, and at least 3 fun facts or something. Then add to this I take a lot of inspiration from life, so if I read a new book or eat a new food, watch a new movie, and it reminds me of my character I add it to the bio, even if you don’t want to name drop certain foods or books, you can still say “ooh I know now my character would like black and white noir films having watched one!” - making playlists for the character to get a sense of there overall vibe and listen to it while writing for them music says a lot about a person. - live with your characters get to know them as a friend if you want to create a deep enriching character think to yourself “how do they talk?” “What would they say to me if i was in the room?” “What would they think about the place I live?” I don’t want to sound ‘weird’ but for me at least it really helps to imagine my character are real and wonder how they would react to the world around me, and then once I know how they would do that they can start to feel more real. - careful people observation, again don’t be a creep but one of the things that never fails to help me create or add to characters and make them feel more real is by throwing in a few traits from people I’ve met before in class, at work, or my friends. An example is I knew a person in my French class in highschool who was a real character could speak fast fluent French, rambled vividly about books, and said one of their parlor tricks was also knowing latin fluently. I thought Gee, that would make for a real character in a book, so I took some of it, and put it in a character. (Don’t self insert people though to do this right you gotta take little traits form multiple people and such, to make a well rounded character) - give them an equal amount of strengths and weakness skills and flaws, interests hobbies etc make them well rounded. - and finally never use them as objects, or props in a scene they should fully react to everything and be given the same respect and attention in every scene you would give to any real person in real life. - also in my humble opinion just because your writing a mystery it should not change how your view your character, characters are people and people regardless of their story or identities still have everything listed above, the only thing that you may want to think about is how character focused your story is, which will dictate how much of your character needs to be on the page. (But even if less is needed it’s still good to know the above things about your character for reference so even when giving less your still able to give a good sense of character, because you know the full picture even if the Audience only gets a snapshot of it.) This might be very rambled and make zero sense but I hope it helps. :) | 0 | 4,211 | 1.857143 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iom7on6 | iolyqei | 1,663,296,016 | 1,663,292,009 | 13 | 2 | Things that help me find my characters include - character bios but please don’t just put in basic info like family, friends age etc. Also do backstory, personality, likes, dislikes, and at least 3 fun facts or something. Then add to this I take a lot of inspiration from life, so if I read a new book or eat a new food, watch a new movie, and it reminds me of my character I add it to the bio, even if you don’t want to name drop certain foods or books, you can still say “ooh I know now my character would like black and white noir films having watched one!” - making playlists for the character to get a sense of there overall vibe and listen to it while writing for them music says a lot about a person. - live with your characters get to know them as a friend if you want to create a deep enriching character think to yourself “how do they talk?” “What would they say to me if i was in the room?” “What would they think about the place I live?” I don’t want to sound ‘weird’ but for me at least it really helps to imagine my character are real and wonder how they would react to the world around me, and then once I know how they would do that they can start to feel more real. - careful people observation, again don’t be a creep but one of the things that never fails to help me create or add to characters and make them feel more real is by throwing in a few traits from people I’ve met before in class, at work, or my friends. An example is I knew a person in my French class in highschool who was a real character could speak fast fluent French, rambled vividly about books, and said one of their parlor tricks was also knowing latin fluently. I thought Gee, that would make for a real character in a book, so I took some of it, and put it in a character. (Don’t self insert people though to do this right you gotta take little traits form multiple people and such, to make a well rounded character) - give them an equal amount of strengths and weakness skills and flaws, interests hobbies etc make them well rounded. - and finally never use them as objects, or props in a scene they should fully react to everything and be given the same respect and attention in every scene you would give to any real person in real life. - also in my humble opinion just because your writing a mystery it should not change how your view your character, characters are people and people regardless of their story or identities still have everything listed above, the only thing that you may want to think about is how character focused your story is, which will dictate how much of your character needs to be on the page. (But even if less is needed it’s still good to know the above things about your character for reference so even when giving less your still able to give a good sense of character, because you know the full picture even if the Audience only gets a snapshot of it.) This might be very rambled and make zero sense but I hope it helps. :) | Hhm. You don't ask like your an amateur. You've written things before? And this is a new venture? What you're wanting to do is a little bit on the advanced side. Or, more like, not easily done. Especially when you want to splice different genres together. I don't do mysteries. They seem like too much work. And my life's been a little bit too difficult to even try. But I've been told that the best way to do one is to work in reverse. Start with the ending and work toward that beginning. And you're also wanting to make this character driven? Hrm. Thinking about it, that might actually make it work easier. Sort of. Maybe? Work in reverse. Who did it? And who wouldn't? And you can work on their personalities that sort of way. Moving forward to who actually would. | 1 | 4,007 | 6.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iom6941 | iom7on6 | 1,663,295,362 | 1,663,296,016 | 2 | 13 | I like the araki character sheet https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YFuF_axMwsuI4S_TURurnbvOqX81uaphMq_GRM0XDvk/edit?usp=drivesdk | Things that help me find my characters include - character bios but please don’t just put in basic info like family, friends age etc. Also do backstory, personality, likes, dislikes, and at least 3 fun facts or something. Then add to this I take a lot of inspiration from life, so if I read a new book or eat a new food, watch a new movie, and it reminds me of my character I add it to the bio, even if you don’t want to name drop certain foods or books, you can still say “ooh I know now my character would like black and white noir films having watched one!” - making playlists for the character to get a sense of there overall vibe and listen to it while writing for them music says a lot about a person. - live with your characters get to know them as a friend if you want to create a deep enriching character think to yourself “how do they talk?” “What would they say to me if i was in the room?” “What would they think about the place I live?” I don’t want to sound ‘weird’ but for me at least it really helps to imagine my character are real and wonder how they would react to the world around me, and then once I know how they would do that they can start to feel more real. - careful people observation, again don’t be a creep but one of the things that never fails to help me create or add to characters and make them feel more real is by throwing in a few traits from people I’ve met before in class, at work, or my friends. An example is I knew a person in my French class in highschool who was a real character could speak fast fluent French, rambled vividly about books, and said one of their parlor tricks was also knowing latin fluently. I thought Gee, that would make for a real character in a book, so I took some of it, and put it in a character. (Don’t self insert people though to do this right you gotta take little traits form multiple people and such, to make a well rounded character) - give them an equal amount of strengths and weakness skills and flaws, interests hobbies etc make them well rounded. - and finally never use them as objects, or props in a scene they should fully react to everything and be given the same respect and attention in every scene you would give to any real person in real life. - also in my humble opinion just because your writing a mystery it should not change how your view your character, characters are people and people regardless of their story or identities still have everything listed above, the only thing that you may want to think about is how character focused your story is, which will dictate how much of your character needs to be on the page. (But even if less is needed it’s still good to know the above things about your character for reference so even when giving less your still able to give a good sense of character, because you know the full picture even if the Audience only gets a snapshot of it.) This might be very rambled and make zero sense but I hope it helps. :) | 0 | 654 | 6.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iomqsd7 | ioonrfe | 1,663,307,211 | 1,663,346,090 | 5 | 7 | Have you tried looking under the couch cushions? | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | 0 | 38,879 | 1.4 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iondneo | ioonrfe | 1,663,325,326 | 1,663,346,090 | 5 | 7 | They're under the bed | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | 0 | 20,764 | 1.4 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | iondvy8 | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,325,483 | 7 | 5 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | Where was the last place you remember having them? Just kidding. For me characters facilitate the story so I try to understand who would be there in that story I'm writing. Then the perspective I try to cultivate is "me if" as in my characters perspective is my own if I were a woman who was trying to escape from prison etc. This is a really nifty thing because it helps you avoid objectifying or making characters shallow or trite. you make sure their inner life is as deep as your own if written. So I think who is there right now, how did they get there and I follow the thread from that point. | 1 | 20,607 | 1.4 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | ionrw4d | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,333,213 | 7 | 3 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | Personally I prepare a list of questions (or look some up online) and “interview” my characters: as in answer them as my character. It’s a pretty fun exercise and it usually comes with a few surprises :) | 1 | 12,877 | 2.333333 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | ioo1106 | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,337,203 | 7 | 3 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | Take them on dates. Walk with them through a new neighborhood. Get them out of the story and engage with them as characters in the life around you. Know them and they will show themselves more plainly in my experience | 1 | 8,887 | 2.333333 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iolyqei | ioonrfe | 1,663,292,009 | 1,663,346,090 | 2 | 7 | Hhm. You don't ask like your an amateur. You've written things before? And this is a new venture? What you're wanting to do is a little bit on the advanced side. Or, more like, not easily done. Especially when you want to splice different genres together. I don't do mysteries. They seem like too much work. And my life's been a little bit too difficult to even try. But I've been told that the best way to do one is to work in reverse. Start with the ending and work toward that beginning. And you're also wanting to make this character driven? Hrm. Thinking about it, that might actually make it work easier. Sort of. Maybe? Work in reverse. Who did it? And who wouldn't? And you can work on their personalities that sort of way. Moving forward to who actually would. | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | 0 | 54,081 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iom6941 | ioonrfe | 1,663,295,362 | 1,663,346,090 | 2 | 7 | I like the araki character sheet https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YFuF_axMwsuI4S_TURurnbvOqX81uaphMq_GRM0XDvk/edit?usp=drivesdk | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | 0 | 50,728 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | iomfptn | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,300,102 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | Other than this Ted Ed https://youtu.be/98pNh3LtV8c I'd say if your characters stick in your head for days or even months to years- those are the characters you want. That's how I got my main character on top of just daydreaming. The setting may give you some hints, it helps to know what you need. You mentioned needing their personalities before writing their interactions, but what if writing them GAVE you their personalities? It isn't a silver bullet, but I've heard it work for some people. You could research people if you're unsure if you ask me. I'd also say to ask yourself what makes others interesting to you, then write them like that. I'm not saying this is required- It's just my experience and opinions (other than the video.) Take it with a grain of salt. | 1 | 45,988 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | iompjbj | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,306,344 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | Interview them with open ended questions. Non-talkers get the ax. Bring on the loquacious beasts. | 1 | 39,746 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | iomwqsd | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,311,667 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | You don't, they find you; sometimes in a dark alleyway as they run away laughing with your wallet. Try writing an exploratory scene for them, just 2k words or so. Not a scene in your story, because then you have all the extra concerns of plot and development, etc. Just something to meet them, start getting some traction. A setting so low stakes and dead simple to the point it's almost boring: catching the morning train, grabbing a cup of coffee, getting a pair of shoes. These could all be written very differently depending on your characters' type, background, attitude. Even just how their day is going or how they react to stress (train late, rude barista, shoes are out of price range). Writing's a bit like a performing art; helps to warm up a bit before you start. Do your scales, improv a bit, invite the muses in. | 1 | 34,423 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iomxxj8 | ioonrfe | 1,663,312,606 | 1,663,346,090 | 2 | 7 | That is a HUGE part of what makes a second draft a second draft, in my opinion. Characters are born out of values and motivation, novelty, metaphor, or at times, convenience. But what they become depends entirely on how the story plays out. When you right through the first draft, how would a person with those generic traits that you've added consciously, blended with a history that you write for them (use mood or recent events to portray their emotional states,) respond in such and such scenario. You do your best to make an authentic portrayal of how that person would act. They may be buggy on the first draft. But by the time you get to the end of the book you've: thrown all kinds of new stimuli at them, got them to introduce themselves to other characters, developed inside jokes, explored their different emotional states, etc. All in all the character should have been completed. The humor typically comes in by happenstance if you keep an open mind as you write, and that humor will follow them back to the beginning of the book through your second draft. This is my process, and I hope it helps! | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | 0 | 33,484 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | ion7297 | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,320,331 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | I use notion to make character boards Full of pictures, music, quotes and whatever that suits the character. Along with all the little facts I need to remember like eye color, different memories they might have. I get a lot of stuff from Pinterest, TikTok and spotify | 1 | 25,759 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | ion837b | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,321,190 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | I usually create everything about my characters. Their past, sexuality, personality, likes, dislikes, any possible scars or other medical issues. Even if they do not play a role in the story. It helps a lot when you know everything about your character. Might also help if you write diary entries as the characters. Or write one scene in every POV to figure out who talks like what. | 1 | 24,900 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ionacge | ioonrfe | 1,663,322,955 | 1,663,346,090 | 2 | 7 | Try filling out this questionnaire | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | 0 | 23,135 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | iondfn1 | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,325,178 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | I just random things, like the story is just something that is poorly written, but I keep pouring out words, I keep pouring them out, then once I can't get anything else, I start organizing, etc. But if that doesn't work I also try to plan for each chapter, ok this character is going to do this, then the next character is going to do that, then this will happen to them, making them to turn to the villain, etc. | 1 | 20,912 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ionh2xe | ioonrfe | 1,663,327,551 | 1,663,346,090 | 2 | 7 | Start with what you do know about them, be it their job or their tendency toward snarkiness. What kinds of situations and choices might have brought somebody to that point? What did they see, hear or feel? Who from their past influenced it? What other personality traits might emerge from that combination of circumstances? Like maybe they’re an architect. That means they’re probably creative but also diligent. So during the story they’d probably be the ones to come up with big ideas but also plan them out and see them through. Maybe they were from the country but their parent used to take them on trips to the big city, where they were awed by the scale and variety of the buildings. Maybe that means they were quite close to this parent as a child, but would have had to break away at some point to attend school. What were the parent’s motivations for taking them into the city? Was the parent impulsive? Going there for work? Looking for a fun way to escape an unsatisfactory life for a day? Obsessed with a certain kind of food or entertainment you can only get there (Stage plays? Great pizza?) If they lived in the country, were there other kids around, or was this parent their closest friend? What were their social skills like at school? Did they move past any awkwardness? Most of the time these things don’t make it into the story, but knowing them helps you decide how your character will act and react, which makes them rich and real. | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | 0 | 18,539 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | ionh7if | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,327,628 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | Seven characters is a lot, try to see if you can merge any of them as it’s very hard to keep track of and develop seven characters for both the author and the reader | 1 | 18,462 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ionkdas | ioonrfe | 1,663,329,438 | 1,663,346,090 | 2 | 7 | I start with setting, and sometimes the themes I'm trying to represent. Then I write my characters around that. | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | 0 | 16,652 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | ionnid8 | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,331,081 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | Live your characters. What do they feel? Why? Who or what challenges them? We all have obstacles. Remember theme integration. What object fuels them? Even if they were an apathetic or nihilistic character, or one meant to remain flat, a piece the reader/viewer will attach in their memory to the individual. In world building you’ll keep “finding” as much as you choose to look. | 1 | 15,009 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | ionof2k | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,331,541 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | I’ve always found that writing a few shorts stories from the characters view point helps define who they are, how they speak. Its always helpful to have someone in the demographic, if you know one, read the story. Valuable feedback on wether the character feels/sounds genuine. But what do I know, I’m too much of a perfectionist to think my work is any good. | 1 | 14,549 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ionp7g1 | ioonrfe | 1,663,331,937 | 1,663,346,090 | 2 | 7 | My method is infering what you don't know from what you do. Do you know what happens in the plot? Then ask yourself - what decisions would make that plot happen? Then ask what kind of people would make those desicions and boom - you have a rough character type. What other personality traits would this type of character have? What habits that type of character would develop? And just go on like this and you get a full character personality (although, there were a bunch of times, when character changed mid-writing). | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | 0 | 14,153 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | ionxgi7 | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,335,702 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | Though I would fully develop a character's backstory before writing, sometimes, you don't know or fully understand a character *until* you begin writing them. It sounds like you have a lot of the pre-work done, so I'd suggest you begin writing, even if you don't have a completely clear vision of your character. Putting the what you have on the page will show you what works and what doesn't. Sometimes, the characters will want to do something different than what you want them to do. Go with your instincts as you're composing them. By the time you're out of the first part of the story and into the middle, hopefully your characters will have taken on a life of their own. They will be the ones guiding the story more than the author at that point. Your characters will feel more alive if you let them do what they want, rather than you forcing them into every situation. | 1 | 10,388 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | ioonrfe | ioo1w0c | 1,663,346,090 | 1,663,337,558 | 7 | 2 | Personalities, I find, have a foundation (background, history, culture, demographics), angle (perspective, priority system, tools & lenses for viewing the world, the 'default approaches'), and things they want & don't want... goals. So if I have an older sister character, showing her in the past, and she's part of a mystery story, I have a few goals: to fill out the above, to lay groundwork for who she becomes, to tie into the story and its themes, and likely to show and build relationships between characters (such as her and her protagonist younger sister). So, typically by the time I get to a side character, the story has already laid hooks. Their parents are utterly useless, the protagonist had to grow up fast, they had to learn to game systems like school (because their parents were so useless), and that's how she became a plucky mystery solver at 15. *This* character? We know she faced the same difficulties, she may have inklings about things before the downturn that the MC doesn't, and, to keep it interesting, we change her coping mechanisms. Main character became hyper-self-sufficient, sarcastic, and freewheeling, and maybe the older sister we're designing here went passive- withdrawing from the world, embarrassed (this could even be a motivation for MC to go the opposite direction, seeing how withdrawal from things diminished her sister) -- and maybe she turned around and found partying and boys as an escape and a way out of that withdrawn state. Probably moving through some bad relationships, giving her heart to too many. So we have some background (already pre-established, since we established the MC's - parental relationship, relationships to school and the town), we have an angle for viewing the world (withdrawn, unless she forces herself to go all-in on the boys and partying and falling in love with the wrong people, probably falls back to being withdrawn and depressed after any breakup), and goals - self-sufficiency and true love. We can expand on these things or connect them - if she's more naturally withdrawn and quiet but forces herself to be loud and outgoing because it's the only way she's not alone, she might see 'true love' as someone who doesn't love her as just a partier. That could be flavor for a breakup- where she secretly wants 'netflix and chill' to actually be something tranquil like netflix and relaxing with someone's company. Then, to tie it into the story, we have a character that's going to parties, a little disconnected from the usual partygoer in attitude, maybe taking in more or different details, maybe drinking a little less than everyone else. She's moving around at night, going to and from the parties. This is someone very much in a position to see and hear things. A couple years ago, we see her getting into the party scene, she sees and hears something relevant to the mystery... and that's a very good outline for a character-based chapter, covering the lead-up, character development, and then the incident and her handling of it. Tie in a final line, final thought, maybe hard-cut to present, her saying something to her younger sister The Protagonist, and you're good. There's other details to include here and work out on the fly, to add nuance. Rather than assuming or going to your default, consider things like how she's withdrawn- is she someone who dwells hard on the past and past events, morose and withdrawn, is she anxious or is she bitter? Is she emotionally closed off, or is she feeling everything acutely? I'd leave a lot of those questions for the writing of the chapter, to see what falls into place, but it's worth keeping them in mind. | Numerous books, videos, classes, etc. Ignore the long list of questions a character answers, get to the heart of who each character is, and WHY. Find the internal conflict relevant to their part of the story, give them a want that conflicts with their need, and move on to the next character. Seven is a lot. Eliminating one or two as POV characters will simplify this AND if you do it right, increase mystery. IMHO the best mysteries are single POV; I find most multi-POV writers don't develop their characters well enough for my taste, not that this ought to sway you at all, just a side note about why multiple characters can fail for some readers. | 1 | 8,532 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iomfl3r | iolyqei | 1,663,300,025 | 1,663,292,009 | 7 | 2 | If you want to write in present day about a character who’s 18, then describe someone you know or have been in contact with. That’s as real as it gets! | Hhm. You don't ask like your an amateur. You've written things before? And this is a new venture? What you're wanting to do is a little bit on the advanced side. Or, more like, not easily done. Especially when you want to splice different genres together. I don't do mysteries. They seem like too much work. And my life's been a little bit too difficult to even try. But I've been told that the best way to do one is to work in reverse. Start with the ending and work toward that beginning. And you're also wanting to make this character driven? Hrm. Thinking about it, that might actually make it work easier. Sort of. Maybe? Work in reverse. Who did it? And who wouldn't? And you can work on their personalities that sort of way. Moving forward to who actually would. | 1 | 8,016 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iomfl3r | iom6941 | 1,663,300,025 | 1,663,295,362 | 7 | 2 | If you want to write in present day about a character who’s 18, then describe someone you know or have been in contact with. That’s as real as it gets! | I like the araki character sheet https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YFuF_axMwsuI4S_TURurnbvOqX81uaphMq_GRM0XDvk/edit?usp=drivesdk | 1 | 4,663 | 3.5 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iomqsd7 | ion5h2m | 1,663,307,211 | 1,663,318,984 | 5 | 7 | Have you tried looking under the couch cushions? | A fun thing to do is creating a 'tierlist' of the characters when asked certain questions example: When seeing a hurt child cry: -> this person would help the child -> this person would laugh at the child -> this person would cry with the child -> this person would walk away slowly -> this person would ect. ect. ect... You can let your creativity loose :)) | 0 | 11,773 | 1.4 | ||
xfdlbl | writing_train | 0.94 | How do I "find" my characters? I'm working on a mystery novel these days, and I have seven characters that I want to do shifting points of view/narration between. I have a broad idea of the mystery and conflict at hand, and how the characters will interact with that conflict, but I don't feel like I know the characters well enough to start writing out what happens in the actual chapters. For example, for one of the chapters, I want to write from the point of view of the main character's older sister, but a couple of years in the past (essentially a 15-year-old girl), but I'm not entirely sure how to write in that POV. In other words, I think I need to find the personalities of my characters before I start writing out their interactions in close detail. Any advice on how to go about this? | iomqsd7 | iolyqei | 1,663,307,211 | 1,663,292,009 | 5 | 2 | Have you tried looking under the couch cushions? | Hhm. You don't ask like your an amateur. You've written things before? And this is a new venture? What you're wanting to do is a little bit on the advanced side. Or, more like, not easily done. Especially when you want to splice different genres together. I don't do mysteries. They seem like too much work. And my life's been a little bit too difficult to even try. But I've been told that the best way to do one is to work in reverse. Start with the ending and work toward that beginning. And you're also wanting to make this character driven? Hrm. Thinking about it, that might actually make it work easier. Sort of. Maybe? Work in reverse. Who did it? And who wouldn't? And you can work on their personalities that sort of way. Moving forward to who actually would. | 1 | 15,202 | 2.5 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.