: Re: What should I do if I can't properly formulate the personality of one of my characters in my novel? In my novel, my protagonist joins a team with four other characters to go on a quest.

Perhaps it would help for you to list what your character is not.

Try to think of traits she doesn't have. What professional skills does she lack? Is she not a fighter, not a tech, not a magician?

Is she not a leader? Is she not a peacemaker? Is she not clever? Is she not attractive, or sexy? Is she not a good liar? Is she intelligent enough, but not creative? Or vice versa? Is she not careful? Is she not emotional? Is she not respectful of authority?

There are many more things to NOT be than there things TO be, but every thing she is NOT narrows down what she IS.

In the end, you don't have to have a character profile, you can work with an anti-profile: Here are the things she will not do, and her actions will be consistent with that.

Personally I don't use character profiles. I know many people that I can predict their actions, without putting exactly what I know into words, except for very specific things like Josh hates salads or Kyle likes action movies. Lana will go thirsty for hours before drinking water, she will only drink something flavored.

These are not "traits", exactly, just what they like or enjoy, what they don't like, specific types of things that make them upset, or laugh, or bore them to tears.

Work with that, and don't try to generalize it. You will get a sense of her without labeling what she is.

Load Full (0)

: A thought: To me (though not necessarily to you) the language subplot is about being immersed in a foreign-to-self place and slowly learning to cope with, and then perhaps embrace, that place.

@Holmes449

Load Full 0 Comments

: How to enter a self published book into Russian library My late father wrote a book in Russian. He self published it, and registered it with the USA Library of Congress. I tried twice to

@Holmes449

Load Full 2 Comments

: Similar to what has already been said, but I'd say do what they do in long-running television series. In Law and Order, they have mostly single episodes dealing with a new criminal. Same

@Holmes449

Load Full 0 Comments

: Is it possible for one to be a good editor but a bad writer or vice versa? If so, how? Intuitively, it would seem like being skilled in one automatically entails being skilled in the other.

: Re: What should I do if I can't properly formulate the personality of one of my characters in my novel? In my novel, my protagonist joins a team with four other characters to go on a quest.

More posts by @Holmes449

: A thought: To me (though not necessarily to you) the language subplot is about being immersed in a foreign-to-self place and slowly learning to cope with, and then perhaps embrace, that place.

: How to enter a self published book into Russian library My late father wrote a book in Russian. He self published it, and registered it with the USA Library of Congress. I tried twice to

: Similar to what has already been said, but I'd say do what they do in long-running television series. In Law and Order, they have mostly single episodes dealing with a new criminal. Same

: Is it possible for one to be a good editor but a bad writer or vice versa? If so, how? Intuitively, it would seem like being skilled in one automatically entails being skilled in the other.

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top