guess who is bored in class

[poetswarn]

Yo, this is something which just came up in class - those of you who write, how do you create your characters? Are they completely invented, or do you draw elements from people you know, or yourself? A little of both

Comments

[inseaweedswim]

i try not to draw too much on people i know or myself. i accidentally put myself into my characters, like how 99% of them are nervous and pessimistic, but i try to not make them my brand of nervous or pessimistic if that makes sense. also my feelings about foods get incorporated a lot

[birdzilla]

I definitely draw from myself and people I know. I don't think a friend has ever inspired a character, but if a friend has a trait that would fit in nicely with a character I have, I might add it (consciously or unconsciously). And I don't do it intentionally every time, but I totally do the same thing about giving them one of my traits--when I do it intentionally, it's usually as a hook into a character that I otherwise have/think would be cool but am kind of nervous or iffy about playing "right." It's an entrance point into their brain, and I can expand from there.

I don't generally draw inspiration from fictional characters, individually (though sometimes I'll steal a trait or two). But I do get a lot of inspiration from settings--for example, a couple of the characters in a 'verse I've been building are kind of Fire Emblem-flavored, and a lot of the Imperials in the Cracks-verse are Suikoden-flavored. The tone and atmosphere of a fictional setting I like seeps pretty easily into things I"m working on

[impossibility]

orz i do not have time to ramble to the full extent i would like ot BUT I'LL BE BACK LIKE THE TERMINATOR.

basically pb's are sort of a rough guideline. especially in logs, when I'm not looking directly at anybody else's character's icons their face sort of takes their own shape in my head, and it'll look a little different.

for my own characters, it does much the same. thought sometimes i find pictures that are dead on what i'm thinking of, looks and expression wise. this was one of them and the reason it got used so much.

ORZ SCHOOL I'LL BE BACK /rabbit dance

[angeling]

I don't exactly write buuuut I'll answer anyway UM

Most of the time I just completely make them up. Occasionally the idea strikes after seeing a specific PB or design, but most of the time there's an idea and then it kind of... writes itself. Of course there are bits and pieces of my own experiences in them, but it's rare for me to draw anything from myself or people I know unless the character is specifically going through something I've been through or I've seen someone go through, if that makes any sense.