belles-library: carmina-solis:WHY DO CHARACTERS MATTER? I’m a big fan of characters, o
belles-library: carmina-solis: WHY DO CHARACTERS MATTER? I’m a big fan of characters, obviously. (That’s not even all of my characters. I have two BINDERS worth of character sheets.) But why? Surely other elements of story are just as important, like the plot, setting, tone, etc. And they are! But I think characters are the most important aspect of the story, for a few reasons: They are the lens through which we view everything else. Characters color the world we create. Sure, you might write a world guide, but largely, we see the world through the eyes of the characters, so they have to be good eyes to see through. (Even if they’re blind.) They can save a bad story. Not to say any of you have bad stories, but they can add something to a lackluster story that wouldn’t be there otherwise. Think about Bioshock Infinite. It’s one of my favorite games, even though the gameplay is okay and the story is convoluted at best. I praise it almost entirely for the relationship between Booker and Elizabeth. They make that game, and if the characters (especially Elizabeth) weren’t as memorable as they are, I doubt anyone would really care much about Bioshock’s failed prequel. The more complicated and intricate a character, the more you can do with your plot. If you have a flat character, you can’t make them act. They can’t do much except react to the plot happening around them. But a complex character with a good backstory and interesting motivation will interact with the world and change things in it, which is the basis of plot. HOW I MAKE MY CHARACTERS I’m going to walk you through my process, and hopefully do my best to make it easy for you to understand. Keep reading I never really considered character’s roles/archetypes so this post was really helpful!! This is a really interesting read for character roles. It really brings home the idea that side characters have a life outside the main character’s problems. I’ll definitely have to incorporate this into my own writing. -- source link
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