How do you decide what your characters look and speak like? (+examples)

Leyelle 2024-03-20 16:49:59 UTC #1

Do their speech patterns and physical designs just come up clearly for you when you first imagine the character or did you have to sit down and work them out?

Some of my characters, like Verochka Belova and Jimin Lee ("Hushabye Prince.") and Mrs. Moon ("Damsel in the Red Dress.") self-inserted themselves into the story as fully fleshed-out characters. Their personalities, and thus, their way of speaking, physical appearance, and such, were all pretty clearly defined from day one.

Other characters I learned more about as I wrote them, and some were very active attempts to work out the nuances of the character's behavior so that they would be distinct in the story.

I definitely think the way characters speak should be representative of who they are, and so it shouldn't be something easily interchangeable between characters. The exception in my writing is with certain characters like Kattar and Alicia ("Damsel in the Red Dress") and Hallie and Madeline ("Hushabye Prince") who being best friends, have picked up bits and pieces of each other's personalities, though Hallie and Madeline have grown a lot more alike than Kattar and Alicia ever have.

Kattar and Alicia being two peas in a pod

“Oh.” His lips part - eyes getting a little rounder than usual. “Oh, y-yeah. I think so. I’m supposed to be released Wednesday, and Utkaresh is gonna drive me home. It’ll be so nice to be in my own clothes again.” He adds with a cross between a laugh and a sigh.

“You must have been dying stuck in that white dress for all this time,” I can’t help teasing, “It’s not even stylish.”

He smiles roguishly, and I realize too late that I’ve walked right into the rebuttal-

“Yeah, it looks kinda like something you would have bought.”

Jinwoo and Jimin being the near polar opposites they exist as

drbwp4 2024-03-21 06:36:44 UTC #2

Usually I just start writing and the character comes to life themselves. However, I do like to go back and rework them by giving them traits and flaws that I didn't think of when I first started writing. My main character was kinda blah before I did that, and now I think he is a little more interesting.

Leyelle 2024-03-21 15:14:32 UTC #3

yeah, sometimes you come up with things later over time, and then you go back and rewrite them. My male lead in "Hushabye Prince" is a lot more expressive in the minis then he'll be in the story

kyupol 2024-03-21 19:04:58 UTC #4

First I brainstorm with just a few adjectives then I work from there.

For example, for Akala, I was thinking "approachable with sense of humor but bloodthirsty psycho." So there. Came up with villainess that doesn't look as intimidating as most villains / villainess.

Then tried to combine Akame from Akame ga kill and Uchiha Madara...

Leyelle 2024-04-08 14:34:17 UTC #5

Melissa was entirely inspired by that shrew girl from Zootopia, speech pattern wise.

“Oh my goish!” she laughs shrilly - her jaw dropping and eyes wide - “So this is the doll face everyone has been talking about! You're even prettier than you were in the video! I love your shoes! Huh! I love your hair! I'm so glad I finally get to meet you in person! I wasn't able to make it to the ceremony cuz my son had the worst cough you ever saw in your life and he gets to be such a baby whenever he's sick - You and me have the exact same taste in footwear. I'm going to be hitting you up for the rest of your life to talk about shoes, just you count on it-"

Leyelle 2024-05-07 23:42:24 UTC #6

My most recent female looks like a lot of Olympic long distance runners. Unfortunately I can't just dress her in athletic wear all the time XD.

Leyelle 2024-05-29 16:56:44 UTC #7

The female lead from my new novel "A Dozen Morning Glories" has her speech pattern inspired by southern African Americans. I don't know exactly why I decided on this, but that's where it came from. Both her voice and appearance seemed to come together themselves when I started working out the design, and I barely feel like I got to pick it.

On the part of the male lead, he was initially designed much different from what he developed into. His complexion got a lot browner, his hair got longer (but honestly that will surprise no one who knows me.) His height was already an initial part of the design, but I feel like he also got shorter.

I wonder if anyone else writes like this, where your character's will start off looking one way in your head, but the way they look changes over time?

the first chapter comes out June 15th!

Animal508 2024-06-01 21:15:22 UTC #8

Usually, I just think of a design and draw it. However, my designs can be rather derivative as a result of this.

Leyelle 2024-06-01 21:28:54 UTC #9

you don't revise them at all?

Animal508 2024-06-02 19:30:33 UTC #10

I do revise. However, sometimes there are things that remain in the final design, intentionally or otherwise.

Leyelle 2024-07-02 15:04:46 UTC #11

I think Ayla is inspired by a combination of lots of little kids, both people I knew/know personally, and people I've seen in videos. When I write children I often find them picking up weird quirky habits from people I've known personally, because it seems like every small child has one really random odd thing that they do. Ayla decides to wear dress-up rather than 'normal' clothes even to school, which I remember a little girl doing at one of my birthday parties when I was like seven. As for her way of speaking, it's probably just inspired by lots of little kids. She likes to ramble about TV shows she likes and explain the plot in the most roundabout ways possible, she thinks things that aren't that funny are way funnier than they have any right to be to anyone. She informs people of the most obvious details about things. It's cute. Exhausting for Essence, but cute.

skidiggy 2024-07-02 22:35:34 UTC #12

Each of the characters from Apparent Secrets have their own speech patterns and mannerisms based on where they're from and what their background is. Their appearances range from "average" to "attractive" based on where they're from.

Iris: She uses contemporary speech from the city/suburbs. She's shy, polite, and reserved, so Iris is unlikely to use foul or upsetting language at all. Iris might be called "average-looking," and her only noteable features are her dyed purple hair and dark chocolate brown eyes.
Zayzann: His feathers are considered "handsome" on Zhalterra, where it's more common to find Paxoram that have brown, gray, or white plumage. Vibrant colors are uncommon, but not unheard of. He was the "runt" of his clutch that season, so he's on the shorter side (standing over 7' tall). Zayzann is careful with his words on Earth, as he doesn't understand many of Earth's mannerisms yet.
Khazmine: Khazmine is calculated in her responses, and replies mechanically with a detached air most of the time. She was like that even before her Conversion, favoring straightforward, matter-of-fact speech over flowery prose. Her appearance now vaguely resembles her organic appearance, though she has the ability to change her physical attributes at will using an adaptive camouflage matrix.
Byxx: Byxx's skin color is rare where he's from and he's considered "attractive" by his same species. Most humans on Chromaldus display fear or disgust at his archfiend traits, which led to a lonely life before he came to Earth. His winning smile and cheery disposition can soften harsh prejudices sometimes though. Byxx's speech is honest, open, and carefree.

How did I decide what they'd look like? Excellent question. Each of the roommates went through at least a dozen rounds of sketches and fine-tuning to get their designs down. Some (like Zayzann) are based off of animals, and everyone's color palettes are inspired by flowers.

Leyelle 2024-07-24 15:04:26 UTC #13

Me and my siblings designed Chili and Texas's designs together to try to make them designs that would still be recognizable even as my art style develops and improves. It was my siblings' idea to give Chili the red hair to contrast Texas.

sophialyncoleman 2024-07-24 23:08:19 UTC #14

My characters’ personality, the way that they speak and carry themselves come out when I physically act out the dialogue- which yes is embarrassing to admit. But sometimes I will write something a character says in a quiet matter and it will come out angry when I say it, like the true character takes over.
The best example of this is my character Andy who was originally very timid and shy and is now more- well I won’t spoil who she becomes🤭

Lensing 2024-07-25 06:00:19 UTC #15

That´s a great question.

My characters develop over a long time. They have to fit to the story.

Here is an example of my character Regina Pumpernickel who used to be Bertha the bookshop owner.
She is now the rich and jealous wife of a sleazy guy who married her for her money. She needs ear rings
and more jewelry, fancy clothes and more makeup and a different kind of haircut.
The picture on the left is how she looked like in the comic where she was a bookshop owner and then
there are some sketches how she looked like as a receptionist.

Dialogue and how they speak is way easier and faster for me, it´s kind of just there when I come
up with the story and I don´t have to think about it or work on it

ThunderChicken 2024-07-25 11:33:39 UTC #16

Daecon got his looks from how I'd love to look myself, if that makes any sense. He starts out as an egotistical dickhead that doesn't take anything seriously, and so his voice would sound like H. John Benjamin of Bob's Burgers/Archer:

Owen got his looks because I pictured him as an attractive yet stuffy middle aged man who rarely lets his guard down, but who is very affectionate with his husband Leander. Owen just simply gets things done and without any nonsense. He would sound like Patrick Stewart.

Leander is an attack hamster. I wanted him to be the opposite of Owen. Owen is white, tall, thin, and serious. Leander is the opposite of all of that. He is the yin to Owen's yang. Born in Egypt but raised in Greece before settling in western Canada, he is short and thicc. He is very muscular and compact, but has a friendly, somewhat childish personality. Do not let his happy demeanor fool you, though: He is fiercely protective of his loved ones, and if you mess with them he will end you. He would sound like Ron Funches (Fox in Final Space)

Evander, son of Owen and Leander and romantic interest of Daecon, is simply the embodiment of everything I find irresistible in a man. He is the elusive Cute Gay Nerd. Dark skin, curly red hair, glasses, freckles, a lean body built for speed (his animal alternates are a chetah and an osprey). He is intelligent but shy and reserved, and has a naive innocence about him that compels Daecon to protect him at any cost. He would sound like Billy West (Fry in Futurama)

Leyelle 2024-07-25 13:35:23 UTC #17

not weird though, i talk to myself sometimes and do the expressions while i write. it concerns my siblings

Leyelle 2024-07-25 13:37:00 UTC #18

ahh, this sounds a lot like my ML Dominic. even down to the build lol

Leyelle 2024-08-15 15:54:53 UTC #19

Parts of Mora's design came to me when I first designed her, her darker complexion and wavy hair texture etc. I added the blue eyes and purple vitiligo for plot reasons, but honestly, the most unusual part of her design is her hair texture imao, because I rarely give my black girls wavy rather than coily hair, but it makes sense with the character since the character is biracial. She also has a habit of straightening it which causes me physical pain - I can practically smell the singed hair!

But hey, sometimes your characters' personalities are so clear you just have to let them do things their way and not try to get in their way

SumireHime 2024-08-16 01:03:11 UTC #20

Yes, they come to me fully formed including their speech patterns. The fascinating thing to me about writing queer characters is that often, they're not bound by gender norms or stereotypes. This allows more free range to create them, literally sky is the limit and every one of them has a story for why they're the way they are. One of my favorite speech patterns ever is a character named Ruiz from my book Audrey Hepburn's Pearls. She has a strange stuffy thing going on in her nose at all times, sounding like she has a slight cold, due to the forced nasality of her voice since she is a trans girl and part of her desire for her transition to be that she has a higher pitched voice. She is sweet and kind, introverted, soft spoken. She is a Puerto Rican from NYC, so culturally a lot of women do speak the way she does, including her own mother. This coupled with her unique and pronounced Nuyorican accent makes for quite the interesting voice. Other characters comment on it all the time, from their unique perspectives. Georgina, another transgender woman in the story, get annoyed sometimes by Ruiz's often habit of replacing words that don't make sense in context to Georgina, such as "house" instead of "home" since Georgina obviously doesn't live in a house. Ambrose, Ruiz's childhood best friend and now boyfriend, comments that he likes the way Ruiz uniquely says his name, which she pronounces "Em-brose" due to her nasality, and this is extremely endearing to him. This is just one character in so many who are unique like this.
Here's my book French Cup, but Audrey Hepburn's Pearls is on the same profile.