Nightmaren Nights (P-S)

Oct 19 2010, 10:21 AM

Define a recolour. If a hedgehog character has similar quills to Sonic, is it automatically a recolour? I find recolour to be a very subjective and hurtful term. To me, what the character looks like is nowhere near as important as their personality.

Zed

Oct 20 2010, 06:13 AM

Nightmaren Nights (P-S)

Oct 19 2010, 10:21 AM

Define a recolour. If a hedgehog character has similar quills to Sonic, is it automatically a recolour? I find recolour to be a very subjective and hurtful term. To me, what the character looks like is nowhere near as important as their personality.

And when you mix how a character looks, and it's personality together CORRECTLY, you now have something you can work with, but is rubbish when one of the two is absent.

Funny how life works like that.

Not really.

Nightmaren Nights (P-S)

Oct 20 2010, 09:07 AM

Zed

Oct 20 2010, 06:13 AM

Nightmaren Nights (P-S)

Oct 19 2010, 10:21 AM

Define a recolour. If a hedgehog character has similar quills to Sonic, is it automatically a recolour? I find recolour to be a very subjective and hurtful term. To me, what the character looks like is nowhere near as important as their personality.

And when you mix how a character looks, and it's personality together CORRECTLY, you now have something you can work with, but is rubbish when one of the two is absent.

Funny how life works like that.

Not really.

Well, a character is not a real character if they don't have a personality, and if there's just a personality but no design then you have a disembodied voice.

Zed

Oct 19 2010, 02:53 AM

Gonna be rude to some of you guys for a moment. Brace for impact, or if you're gonna cry about it, don't read what's up next and skip to the orange sentence.

The whole "OLOL, ORIGINALITY DOESN'T EXIST" thing is retarded, and shows that you as a person have obviously never seen any true work of art ever. Using something that someone else before hasn't in an entirely new way is, guess what? Original. It's foolish to think that because one person has already thought of something before, that something is automatically unoriginal by nature. It's all in the execution of how something is done, and even more foolish to let such idealisms hold you back from writing something REALLY F^CKING COOL, which you may just be doing.

You may start officially reading my post now, those whose psyche are made of peanut brittle.

First things first. Originality is subjective. HIGHLY subjective. Take for instance, one person could have a red apple and another, a green apple. Now, which one is original? Well, you see. It depends on the apple. A red apple can be sweet, and used in pies and made into juice, whereas the same fruit of a different color can be sour, but still usable in pies and made into juice. Now, say someone takes a bite out of the apple. Does it crunch? Is it juicy? How big is the bite mark? Is the inside of the apple a yellow-white, or a brighter white? These are the things you must take into account when thinking in terms of originality.

For those of you who don't know what I'm getting at, point blank time is here. Same apple. Same fruit. Completely different in a lot of ways, but entirely the same in others, and are not universally loved or hated for what they are, but rather how they are.

A few fun pointers you can use to further yourself to making a more interesting read, while still being interested in what you're doing. I do this because everyone's all "DO WHAT YOU DO 'COS YOU ENJOY IT." and don't actually give you any literary tools to use.
- Make characters with more flaws then powers. Hell, go ahead and make their power a flaw. I've always found that to be a LOAD of fun to write.
- Use a few tropes. Can't think of a good plot? Go on TV tropes and browse for a little bit. Pick some stuff that interests you and what you think would go pretty well together, and do it.
- Personality. Create ones for your characters. Two-dimensional characters are boring as hell. If someone is always angry, give them a reason other than "Oh, that's just So-and-so being so-and-so." People can get detached to characters very quickly if they're all flat and dull.
- Make characters react to each-other based on their personality. Some people are going to get along really well. Show this in their dialog as they talk to each-other. Use your mind's eye (Head, whatever metaphor you want to use) to see the two characters interacting, and write/draw them as you see them. Are they relaxed around one another, or distanced? Are they physical or reserved? Do they talk with their hands and faces? These things matter more than you'd imagine.
-Describe places. If somewhere is bland, neat, and sparkly clean, illustrate it. If something is dirty, grungey, and full of holes, TELL US. The world is just as important as the characters placed in it.
-Make the characters react to the world. Is there a couch? Have someone sit down. Is there a wall to lean on? LEAN AWAY. Is there a trashcan nearby? Have a character toss away something (Or not). This can show a whole lot about a character without having to actually write how a character's personality actually is, and is much more fun. After all, you don't stand stock-still everywhere, arms at your sides everywhere, do you? No. That would be BORING. Tell us about your characters and how your world has an effect on them.



That's what I have to contribute. If you have a problem with this post, don't delete it. I worked really damn hard on it. Take it to a goddamn PM and tell me what I need to edit instead of slapping me in the face.

DJSonicFreak

Oct 21 2010, 08:30 AM

but the matter of putting effort to your fan character.