How do you go about adding nuances and seemingly dichotomous traits to your characters?

Leyelle 2024-06-09 13:52:52 UTC #1

It's easy for a character to be pigeon-holed into a trope they seem to fit most closely at first glance. If you don't want that to happen (maybe it's not a concern for you) how do you go about adding details to your characters that make them more complex than people would at first assume? Do you do it intentionally, or does it come to you naturally?

Alicia, my female lead in "Damsel in the Red Dress" seems like a typical shy good girl at first glance, or she might, if she wasn't drunk when we first meet her. She's girly, cute, pretty, shy and smart, so she would probably be pigeonholed pretty easily into a pretty nerd trope, or something along those lines, but as I wrote her, more details about her made themselves apparent from day one. One is that despite being shy around strangers (though mostly just socially and generally anxious) she can be quite mouthy and curt with the people she's comfortable around and has a tendency to tease Kattar often. She's also pretty explosive, with a tendency to go from zero to a hundred when she gets mad (there is a chip in her wall from her throwing a high heel at it.)

Mrs. Moon, the male lead's mother could have come across as an emotionless or mannish girl boss, but she introduced herself as the most feminine and glamorous character emotional, and has basically written herself that way all throughout the story. Also she babies everyone, even when they aren't that much younger than her. It's very rare that she refers to people by their names rather than terms of endearment.

In "A Dozen Morning Glories," despite being apathetic, the female lead goes through a lot of effort to look pretty, and likes her huge fluffy afro, if she can like anything, because of the way it feels.

In "Rigamarole" my female lead's external appearance seems pretty tomboy-ish, but her other interests just added themselves, sort of without my permission. She loves the color pink, she has Barbies and Star Trek action figures on her desk, and neither seem out of place in her character.

I think one of the things that makes writing characters with complexities easiest is the fact that every real person has little details and interests that don't quite seem to fit our perceptions of them. When we understand our character's personalities well, regardless of their physical appearances, we can design (or let them design for themselves in some cases) the things they like. Some of them don't quite line up with cliches.

Dominic, he male lead in "A Dozen Morning Glories" loves working out. Like he is seriously buff. But he also loves making origami with his little sister and making flower arrangements out of these origami flowers.

Kattar (male lead of "Damsel in the Red Dress") loves cars and action movies (including some pretty violent ones.) Also he loves fashion, his favorite color is pink, and he went through a lot of effort to make his house pretty.

Everyone is complicated if we dig a little deeper.

Leyelle 2024-07-07 12:34:47 UTC #2

An interesting dichotomy in a character that I think is interestingly prevalent is the way that kids can find the smallest things hilarious or dead-serious. This shows in my character Ayla, who will laugh like a loon at the idea of being called 'years old' because she's not old she's 'just a little kid.' But she thinks it's the most serious thing in the world that she can't marry her favorite TV show character.

Leyelle 2024-07-28 14:34:13 UTC #3

Despite her kind of emo-looking appearance, Texas is actually pretty loud and energetic, almost hyper/excitable, which isn't what most people would expect from someone with their aesthetic.

Chili is also not evil or sleazy, despite his slicked-back hair and sharp teeth lol

Leyelle 2024-08-18 13:56:21 UTC #4

Christopher George aesthetically looks like he'd be the 'jock' cool boy from a highschool movie, but he's actually a very quiet, introverted boy who doesn't really know how to carry a small-talk conversation, and rarely looks people in the eye. He loves photography and drawing and daydreaming, and he rarely speaks unless he's spoken too, but that doesn't mean he's shy or anxious, it's just the way he is, and most of the people around him are accepting of him

SwordSong 2024-08-22 02:07:30 UTC #5

I think one of the things authors often ignore is how much people's behaviour are influenced by external factors, and different triggers can prompt behaviours from someone that are seemingly contradictory to expectations.

Celestine Alcott is first introduced as a cheerful and excitable newbie who gets on the veteran Gael's nerves (although appearance-wise, I imagine her to look like those "mysterious waif" type, who's usually more gentle and demure). But after he accidentally pushes her buttons, she blew up, then started acting cold and aloof.

I don't think she's being inconsistent though, since I've hinted from the start that her initial demeanour is not her true self either, and she's using the different personas to avoid dealing with her issues.

(By the way, thanks for making these kinds of threads. I feel much more comfortable promoting my work when I can talk about it in more ways than simply dropping a link and a generic summary over and over in multiple threads, and I think it's a really good way of being able to showcase what's unique about your novel/comic if the summary fails to catch readers' attention)

Leyelle 2024-08-22 13:23:58 UTC #6

definitely. this appears a lot of times in my own works.

I'm glad you like them. i just find them more fun myself than link dropping too

Leyelle 2024-09-11 14:08:50 UTC #7

This shouldn't be a dichotomous trait, but for some reason, it usually is considered one. Mandy Ling and Mora Glas my novel Crystal Blue are probably my most muscular female characters at the moment, but they are also very feminine.

For some reason, female characters with a lot of muscle are almost always written as tomboys, but that doesn't have to be the case. A girl can like being strong without it canceling out her 'girly-ness' and that's one of the things I've enjoyed crafting with Mandy and Mora. They are both athletic girls, but they also like things that are considered traditionally feminine, like fashion, hair styling. Mandy likes princess movies like disney and such, and Mora likes high school fiction.

Mora

Mandy

still no good at drawing her yet, but...

Leyelle 2024-10-02 17:37:55 UTC #8

Judith is very stiff and cold seeming often, but this is in direct contrast with how young she appears when she (literally) let's her hair down out of the stiff bun she always keeps it in and takes off her glasses. she was only 18 when she became Mora's guardian (Mora was 7) and some of her youthful traits peak through in her accidental uses of slang instead of proffessional terminology and such. She may be "the wizard" known for how incredibly intelligent and mature she was at such a young age, but that doesn't mean she's not still just a young woman trying her best to save a couple thousand children from being treated and mistreated like animals. It takes a toll on you.

stiatent 2024-10-02 23:24:53 UTC #9

Natural for me it seems, inspired by my own interactions with friends, siblings and new people I meet along the way and the notion that we all have assumptions of someone based on 1st impression (as you mentioned), but the more familiar you become you see them more as an individual with their own beliefs, quirks and human relatability.
The MCs Evan and Owen while inspired by my own relationships with friends and friends, I always see them as two sides of myself which made them natural to write. Evan a more confident appearance in adulthood (dialed to 10,000 some jokes among close friends and siblings lol), Owen my more geeky side childhood, sheltered upbringing.

Evan Moriarty we 1st meet him as the bigger brother to 'fellow MC' Owen, he's clearly the more confident of the duo and musically talented as the guitarist of his friends' rock band, able to keep his cool, quickly adapt under pressure and keep his little brother protected from threats. But because most of the story is seen from Owen's perspective, overtime we see Evan shift from a more 'reserved personality around the family' to a more mischievous jokester and Casanova around other adults. Background props within his bedroom, car, family home foreshadow the 'actual him' (a blonde, highly confident jock) vs how he is initially introduced (goth-ish skeleton hoodie and black hair, a box of temporary dye is seen in his car). Likewise his overconfidence leads to recklessness, he easily drags Owen along into dangerous situations, making his 'big brother image' questionable at times lol
In most cases he'd be the jokester, flirtatious guy and blood knight tropes but because we see him from big brother angle 1st it gives him more depth.