Character Development & Inspiration!

[Charlotte Owens]

Written Kitten isn't really... character development specific, but it's a good way to reward yourself for getting through a difficult reply and I recommend it wherever I can

This. Is. One. Of. The. Best. Websites. Ever.

I love cats so much!!!!!!! I'm definitely going to use this EVERY time I write even when I don't even need the motivation. Thank you for linking this Rowan, I will forever be motivated to write now

 

[Evelyn Manning]

This is awesome! Thanks! If I find something to add I will post.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Aahh Cyndi, Donna, those are amazing!! (Especially the title generator XD and the hobbies!!) And Donna you reminded me of that list of careers in HP that's floating around somewhere. I'll add everything to the table soon!!

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Ok so this isn't really character development OR inspiration, but:

http://titlecapitalization.com/

This is a useful tool if the English rules for capitalizing words in titles confuse anyone besides me

 

[Monty Pendleton]

I literally just last night was wondering whether It and Is would be capitalised in a title, ahhaha. That's an awesome tool!!

 

[Nicolas King]

Ok so this isn't really character development OR inspiration, but:

http://titlecapitalization.com/

Apparently, I essentially follow the Chicago format for titles.
Be careful with that, though, it might not recognize when something is another part of speech.
As a test, I wrote: "The Little Red Hat Sat on a Monkey's behind What's Up?! "
It's recognizing "behind" as a preposition and not capitalizing it, when in this case it's a noun.
So that tool + some common sense = title sanity!

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

.... welp, I sort of understand what you're saying there


I'm playing my 'English is my second language' card if I ever mess up we have different rules ok

 

[Monty Pendleton]

I found this character flaw index on TVtropes the other day, and it's AMAZING for finding flaws for your characters!! Some are not really appropriate/applicable and others would need modifying for the magical world but it's definitely worth checking out and gave me some ideas just reading over it! I've seen character flaw lists before but none get so brilliantly specific as these:

Moral Myopia: Regularly does horrible things to other people, but gets offended when it's them who gets wronged.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: Someone who uses good ends to justify evil means.

Enraged by Idiocy: Can't cope with idiots.

Innocently Insensitive: Unknowingly offensive.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Prone to vocal stupidity or self-incrimination.

Inferiority Superiority Complex: Uses arrogance to mask low self-esteem.


I LOVE it

 

[Aine Thompson]

I'm resurrecting a really old thread because I was wanting to post something similar but checking if we had something like it already and indeed we do!

I was inspired a bit by Sarah mentioning using tarot for character development and I wanted to open a bit more of a discussion about character development ideas and suggestions for refining characters. So, general question I suppose: does anyone have any suggestions or want to share their methods for detailing their characters a little more? Or anyone struggling with bringing ideas to life, feeling a lack of inspiration?

For my part, I am very much not a visual person. I struggle with finding PBs, aesthetic boards/pinterest do not work for me at all. I also find that sometimes I'll start with the basis of an existing character to jump from or an idea and a lot of the time I find they fall flat/aren't fully realized/I feel I am not really able to connect with them. On the other hand, Aine came from a place of general frustration and bitterness and is semi-autobiographical so I found her really easy to turn into a real human being.

Though I'm not saying channel your general frustrations with the world into a character because it's probably unhealthy...

I guess my own general suggestions for character development are:

1. make characters for you, because you feel you want to play them;
2. let your characters be flawed - teenage years are miserable and people will make mistakes, embrace it - it doesn't mean they're inherently bad people; and
3. take and run with little details that come to you. I find that sometimes I just get struck with tiny little details that help a character feel more alive, like, "oh yeah this character is a big fan of [xyz]" or "this character has a shellfish allergy". Often these have no real bearing on their actual long term goals or dreams, it just helps flesh them out more.

Other note, if anyone wants to bounce character ideas around or is feeling a little stuck feel free to share or if you're wanting constructive criticism feel free to message me.