Post by Jack'Aran on Nov 15, 2011 11:32:13 GMT -5
Character Concepts in literature and fictional writing
I'm glad you're able to read this because frankly, not enough writers take the time to understand this information.
The following information isn't popular and we as writers don't enjoy this but, it's reality folks.
Character Growth Inside RP
Character types:
Protagonist - The hero, personality, growth, and development
Antagonist - The reason for the hero to be motivated.
Foil - Contrasting character to the hero, usually complete opposite.
Dynamic - A character that usually has a few personality traits.
Static - A character that doesn't change and has a "default" reaction
Stock - A stereotyped character, simply put.
Round - A fully developed character that is realistic, mood swings, changing personality based on different moments, etc.
This really bugs me that so many RPers fall short of understanding this.
In fictional writing, you should not make your character a "round" character because of the price of having such a character is a lack of story. Allow me to explain this...
Jurassic Park (the movie) is an excellent example of fictional writing.
Alan Grant starts the movie loving Dinosaurs and a dislike for kids. A dramatic event takes place in his life where he is exposed to dinosaurs trying to eat him and his opinion changes to where he likes children and dislikes Dinosaurs.
THIS is the transition you need to have when you make character changes. Your character has to have some middle ground or middle point to which the character goes from an A personality into a B personality.
Too often RPer's switch gears from A to B to A to B again, it's stupid and very difficult to work with. Ideally, your character goes through transitions like...
A to AB to AC to AD. Not, ABCD. The fundamentals of the character are still present and they aren't completely transformed into something else while the character is still evolving.
Now say the Jurassic Park example didn't work for you. Lets go to the Simpson's.
(Stock character types; Stereotypes)
Homer Simpson; Dumb, Male, Dad, Bread Winner.
Marge Simpson: Kind, Naive, Mom, Stays at home.
Bart Simpson: Dumb, Male, Son, Trouble Maker
Lisa Simpson: Smart, Witty, Naive, Daughter, A Student.
To change any of these characters, there has to be a dramatic influence in their lives to make them change their stereotypical template.
Vampire template: Cunning, Elusive, Parasitic, Patience
Typical vampire characters will have these traits because they go hand-in-hand so well with the lore of these type of characters.
Cunning - Their appearance is very deceitful
Elusive - Trying to wrap your head around anything they say only results in more deceit.
Parasitic - They need something from everyone they come in contact with; therefore, they use others to get what they want.
Patience - Increased life span, time becomes no issue for them.
This is a basic character setup for a vampire and you as the writer pick and choose what assets and defects you want for the character.
EVERY character has to have an asset and a defect, otherwise they become a static character; that means, they become nothing to anyone and no one really cares about them.
They become a bad ass character that will eventually die because they're so bad ass that the next antagonist has to defeat them just to be even more bad ass! So, they kill off the token bad ass (your character) just to prove how bad ass the antagonists character is and-...You see where I'm going with this? Flawless characters are flawed by their very nature.
The defect in the character *should* be complimentary to the story and should be helpful in some way.
IE: A vampire that fears spiders but, is forced to enter a giant spider cave with his allies.
I'll close with this and allow discussion to take place below.
In summation, your goal is to make your character Dynamic / Protagonist along with your partner who has the same character type qualifications.
Dynamic characters are common characters you will see *good role players* use rather than Protagonist or Antagonist.
Most of my "Hero" characters are geared towards Protagonist roles. That is merely my style but, not all of my characters are setup in such a way that they are always the protagonist.
Reference:
homeworktips.about.com/od/writingabookreport/a/characteranalysis.htm
I'm glad you're able to read this because frankly, not enough writers take the time to understand this information.
The following information isn't popular and we as writers don't enjoy this but, it's reality folks.
Character Growth Inside RP
Character types:
Protagonist - The hero, personality, growth, and development
Antagonist - The reason for the hero to be motivated.
Foil - Contrasting character to the hero, usually complete opposite.
Dynamic - A character that usually has a few personality traits.
Static - A character that doesn't change and has a "default" reaction
Stock - A stereotyped character, simply put.
Round - A fully developed character that is realistic, mood swings, changing personality based on different moments, etc.
This really bugs me that so many RPers fall short of understanding this.
In fictional writing, you should not make your character a "round" character because of the price of having such a character is a lack of story. Allow me to explain this...
Jurassic Park (the movie) is an excellent example of fictional writing.
Alan Grant starts the movie loving Dinosaurs and a dislike for kids. A dramatic event takes place in his life where he is exposed to dinosaurs trying to eat him and his opinion changes to where he likes children and dislikes Dinosaurs.
THIS is the transition you need to have when you make character changes. Your character has to have some middle ground or middle point to which the character goes from an A personality into a B personality.
Too often RPer's switch gears from A to B to A to B again, it's stupid and very difficult to work with. Ideally, your character goes through transitions like...
A to AB to AC to AD. Not, ABCD. The fundamentals of the character are still present and they aren't completely transformed into something else while the character is still evolving.
Now say the Jurassic Park example didn't work for you. Lets go to the Simpson's.
(Stock character types; Stereotypes)
Homer Simpson; Dumb, Male, Dad, Bread Winner.
Marge Simpson: Kind, Naive, Mom, Stays at home.
Bart Simpson: Dumb, Male, Son, Trouble Maker
Lisa Simpson: Smart, Witty, Naive, Daughter, A Student.
To change any of these characters, there has to be a dramatic influence in their lives to make them change their stereotypical template.
Vampire template: Cunning, Elusive, Parasitic, Patience
Typical vampire characters will have these traits because they go hand-in-hand so well with the lore of these type of characters.
Cunning - Their appearance is very deceitful
Elusive - Trying to wrap your head around anything they say only results in more deceit.
Parasitic - They need something from everyone they come in contact with; therefore, they use others to get what they want.
Patience - Increased life span, time becomes no issue for them.
This is a basic character setup for a vampire and you as the writer pick and choose what assets and defects you want for the character.
EVERY character has to have an asset and a defect, otherwise they become a static character; that means, they become nothing to anyone and no one really cares about them.
They become a bad ass character that will eventually die because they're so bad ass that the next antagonist has to defeat them just to be even more bad ass! So, they kill off the token bad ass (your character) just to prove how bad ass the antagonists character is and-...You see where I'm going with this? Flawless characters are flawed by their very nature.
The defect in the character *should* be complimentary to the story and should be helpful in some way.
IE: A vampire that fears spiders but, is forced to enter a giant spider cave with his allies.
I'll close with this and allow discussion to take place below.
In summation, your goal is to make your character Dynamic / Protagonist along with your partner who has the same character type qualifications.
Dynamic characters are common characters you will see *good role players* use rather than Protagonist or Antagonist.
Most of my "Hero" characters are geared towards Protagonist roles. That is merely my style but, not all of my characters are setup in such a way that they are always the protagonist.
Reference:
homeworktips.about.com/od/writingabookreport/a/characteranalysis.htm
