Have you ever thought about letting your characters do what they want?

[Muzuya]

I'm here to comment on my way of writing, I'm still starting, quite a beginner to tell the truth.

I never plan what the character is going to say or do, I just let the character choose.

I just stop paying attention to myself or something that has nothing to do with the story, I become the character, I think that gives me greater freedom when it comes to doing things.

Anyway, this can all be crap for you, if you want to ignore it, feel free.

But if you understand what I'm getting at and think it can work ... Why not try?

 

[High-in-the-skys]

I'm here to comment on my way of writing, I'm still starting, quite a beginner to tell the truth.

I never plan what the character is going to say or do, I just let the character choose.

I just stop paying attention to myself or something that has nothing to do with the story, I become the character, I think that gives me greater freedom when it comes to doing things.

Anyway, this can all be crap for you, if you want to ignore it, feel free.

But if you understand what I'm getting at and think it can work ... Why not try?

You got the good grasp.
In writing, you have to prevent your personality from spilling else you break your characters

I mean, if you don't stick to the character's persona, you would end up creating contradictory characteristics and that's bad writing. Unless you want a hypocritical person.

Imagine a tsundere that suddenly stops being a dere, does it make sense? If that's the point of character then your good to go but if you just want a tsundere, that's bad writing

 

[Nahrenne]

I'm here to comment on my way of writing, I'm still starting, quite a beginner to tell the truth.

I never plan what the character is going to say or do, I just let the character choose.

I just stop paying attention to myself or something that has nothing to do with the story, I become the character, I think that gives me greater freedom when it comes to doing things.

Anyway, this can all be crap for you, if you want to ignore it, feel free.

But if you understand what I'm getting at and think it can work ... Why not try?

I write what the character would say, how they would react to something, what they'd think. Though, I wonder if that's because I've done written roleplaying games, so I'm used to getting into the mindset of my characters.

As for planning, I would think of scenarios that would be likely to happen. I would then consider how the scene would unfold based on the characters in it. The rest, I just let it flow by writing as the characters. Sometimes that results in the scenario changing from my initial idea but that's fine.
(^-^)

I think a lot of writers do what you do, so don't consider it something crap. The way people do things for their stories are never crap, since it's their own style that helps them write.

Hope you do well with your stories!

*gives you many huggles*

\(^o^)/

X

 

[Spica66]

I defined my character clear and I keep imagine interactions between me and the character, just like an interview, to prevent them being voice of author. I think in big picture, we all plan in some degree, but with our characters in mind.

 

[PrincessFelicie]

You're doing it right. I once heard the writing tip that once your characters start doing something you didn't expect, that's when they've come alive. Let them guide themselves through your story. Like a tabletop GM, you can always nudge them back into the plan with unexpected obstacles.

 

[Jemini]

I'm here to comment on my way of writing, I'm still starting, quite a beginner to tell the truth.

I never plan what the character is going to say or do, I just let the character choose.

I just stop paying attention to myself or something that has nothing to do with the story, I become the character, I think that gives me greater freedom when it comes to doing things.

Anyway, this can all be crap for you, if you want to ignore it, feel free.

But if you understand what I'm getting at and think it can work ... Why not try?

This is the correct basic idea. Ultimately though, I have discovered that you are sorta fooling yourself if you think you can completely become your characters for the writing. You will still have moments where you need to stop and think whether or not what you just wrote is REALLY what your character would say or if you've managed to let your own personality seep in there for a moment. Gotta really watch out for that.

As for what I do, I usually set a goal that says "I want my characters to get here." As for how they actually manage to get to that destination, well, that's completely up to the character. As the author, my interference in the world is just to point to a spot on the map and say "character, go here." Then, the interesting character-driven part of the writing is the route they choose and the antics they get up to along the way, all of which are completely character driven and in the moment.

This is kinda the minimum level of outlining necessary to keep pantser-style writing from falling to it's greatest weakness, that is that pantsers often wind up meandering and loosing the thread of their plot. I am a pantser myself, and I have taken the outlining tip to heart in order to prevent my stories from falling apart.

 

[Businesssn]

I'm here to comment on my way of writing, I'm still starting, quite a beginner to tell the truth.

I never plan what the character is going to say or do, I just let the character choose.

I just stop paying attention to myself or something that has nothing to do with the story, I become the character, I think that gives me greater freedom when it comes to doing things.

Anyway, this can all be crap for you, if you want to ignore it, feel free.

But if you understand what I'm getting at and think it can work ... Why not try?

Pretty much yes

 

[Agentt]

I'm here to comment on my way of writing, I'm still starting, quite a beginner to tell the truth.

I never plan what the character is going to say or do, I just let the character choose.

I just stop paying attention to myself or something that has nothing to do with the story, I become the character, I think that gives me greater freedom when it comes to doing things.

Anyway, this can all be crap for you, if you want to ignore it, feel free.

But if you understand what I'm getting at and think it can work ... Why not try?

I believe that is the thought process of all the authors here. You don't want your character to be unnatural, he has to be a living bieng. But also this may create problems if your character has different views than you. He may then just seem like a dumb hypocrite. This may also be a problem if you are writing about situations you haven't dealt yourself before. Eg, well..dying. or getting betrayed.

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

Wait, you can control your own characters?

I thought you basically write them off based on the senario your placed in. Did i just release a yandere into my novel and thought my character is safe? Either I'm such a good yandere tamer or my character had one hell of a good luck. I don't even think of the plot they are placed in and just made it out based on my character's situation.

 

[NotaNuffian]

I based my main characters off of myself and see things my way. Only issue is that when I try to write other characters with other personalities, I follow certain archetypes, some I don't really know while others I don't like.

 

[Businesssn]

Basing characters of yourself is easy (I did that kinda with Basil) but they also have to have a unique personality.

My character is pretty much based on me playing as just talking to myself. (He is just lazy but not lazy, chill but not chill.
pretty much his personality changes depending on the person he talks to)

 

[Muzuya]

Você tem um bom domínio.
Ao escrever, você tem que evitar que sua personalidade transborde, senão você quebra seus personagens

Quer dizer, se você não se ater à persona do personagem, acabará criando características contraditórias e isso é uma escrita ruim. A menos que você queira uma pessoa hipócrita.

Imagine um tsundere que de repente deixa de ser um dere, isso faz sentido? Se esse é o ponto do personagem, então é bom ir, mas se você só quer um tsundere, isso é péssimo

Sim o que eu Yes, what I say, if you live the character will work, for example, a tsundere, become a tsundere for a moment, imagine that you are that character!

 

[Muzuya]

Você tem um bom domínio.
Ao escrever, você tem que evitar que sua personalidade transborde, senão você quebra seus personagens

Quer dizer, se você não se ater à persona do personagem, acabará criando características contraditórias e isso é uma escrita ruim. A menos que você queira uma pessoa hipócrita.

Imagine um tsundere que de repente deixa de ser um dere, isso faz sentido? Se esse é o ponto do personagem, então é bom ir, mas se você só quer um tsundere, isso é péssimo

Sim o que eu Yes, what I say, if you live the character will work, for example, a tsundere, become a tsundere for a moment, imagine that you are the one

I write what the character would say, how they would react to something, what they'd think. Though, I wonder if that's because I've done written roleplaying games, so I'm used to getting into the mindset of my characters.

As for planning, I would think of scenarios that would be likely to happen. I would then consider how the scene would unfold based on the characters in it. The rest, I just let it flow by writing as the characters. Sometimes that results in the scenario changing from my initial idea but that's fine.
(^-^)

I think a lot of writers do what you do, so don't consider it something crap. The way people do things for their stories are never crap, since it's their own style that helps them write.

Hope you do well with your stories!

*gives you many huggles*

\(^o^)/

X

Thank you, I also wish you all the best!

 

[Muzuya]

I based my main characters off of myself and see things my way. Only issue is that when I try to write other characters with other personalities, I follow certain archetypes, some I don't really know while others I don't like.

Think like that, a villain, what you would not want your worst enemy to do to you (in this case the main character) so write!

 

[Muzuya]

Basear seus personagens é fácil (eu fiz isso meio que com Basil), mas eles também precisam ter uma personalidade única.

Meu personagem é basicamente baseado em eu jogar apenas falando comigo mesmo. (Ele é apenas preguiçoso, mas não é preguiçoso, relaxa, mas não relaxa.
praticamente sua personalidade muda dependendo da pessoa com quem fala)

I think the following, what makes us authors is to be able to experience each character and their situation, to live the emotion he is feeling at the moment, when my character is angry, believe it or not, I also get angry haha

 

[BenJepheneT]

I'm here to comment on my way of writing, I'm still starting, quite a beginner to tell the truth.

I never plan what the character is going to say or do, I just let the character choose.

I just stop paying attention to myself or something that has nothing to do with the story, I become the character, I think that gives me greater freedom when it comes to doing things.

Anyway, this can all be crap for you, if you want to ignore it, feel free.

But if you understand what I'm getting at and think it can work ... Why not try?

I'm gonna come off as a little snobby here but my opinion is that if you have to "control" your character to do something, it's probably not a well-written character.

If it's a plot-driven story, then yeah, it can be forgiven, but in any other scenarios, if you have to physically come up with something for your character to say and do ACCORDING to the scenario at hand, the character's probably not well fleshed out enough.

It's as @ArcadiaBlade said. You write a scenario and set your characters free to react. If you've built your characters well, you don't need to dictate what they'll do next. By then, they should have motivations, personalities, a theme, a goal, and a role to fit within the story. Whatever they do should serve those criterias. You'll instantly know how they'll react. Instead, you're gonna be trying your best to NUDGE them towards the direction of your story that makes sense within the context of your story.

If you build your characters well, you won't be the puppet master in the puppet show. You'll be an architect for a water slide. Your characters will be the water current that sends your story across. You just have to make sure the story gets directed into the main pool.

 

[Muzuya]

Vou parecer um pouco esnobe aqui, mas minha opinião é que se você tem que "controlar" seu personagem para fazer algo, provavelmente não é um personagem bem escrito.

Se for uma história guiada pelo enredo, então sim, pode ser perdoado, mas em qualquer outro cenário, se você tiver que fisicamente inventar algo para seu personagem dizer e fazer DE ACORDO com o cenário em questão, o personagem provavelmente não está bem desenvolvido o suficiente.

It's as @ArcadiaBlade said. You write a scenario and set your characters free to react. If you've built your characters well, you don't need to dictate what they'll do next. By then, they should have motivations, personalities, a theme, a goal, and a role to fit within the story. Whatever they do should serve those criterias. You'll instantly know how they'll react. Instead, you're gonna be trying your best to NUDGE them towards the direction of your story that makes sense within the context of your story.

If you build your characters well, you won't be the puppet master in the puppet show. You'll be an architect for a water slide. Your characters will be the water current that sends your story across. You just have to make sure the story gets directed into the main pool.

Great point, I think I'm going the right way if I see it from your point of view.

 

[Flashwolf96]

I'm of the personal opinion that writing plot is made up of two key components:

-What you want to happen as the author.

-What is most likely to happen based on what characters you're working with, their current knowledge, and whatever other factors are at play at any given moment.

What all writers should strive for is to find the proper balance between these two components.

 

[AmnerisTenjo]

If I let my characters chose what they did all the time, they'd all go on vacation and nothing bad would ever happen to them

 

[Deleted member 49654]

I'm here to comment on my way of writing, I'm still starting, quite a beginner to tell the truth.

I never plan what the character is going to say or do, I just let the character choose.

I just stop paying attention to myself or something that has nothing to do with the story, I become the character, I think that gives me greater freedom when it comes to doing things.

Anyway, this can all be crap for you, if you want to ignore it, feel free.

But if you understand what I'm getting at and think it can work ... Why not try?

Yup, I do something similar. The story is developing parallel to my writing. I don't know what exactly will happen in the next chapter until I start writing it. xD