Writers! What's the one thing you feel like your writing/characters are incomplete without?

[somewhatwallflower]

Yes, personalities are difficult to change but not impossible. For me, I do tend to develop personalities a bit. Because humans do change, and constantly keep changing everyday even if in bits & pieces.
But everyone has different opinions on that. So, good luck for ur perspective 🏾

[blackorchid]

Memes.

If you can't 'meme' your own character(s), do you even really know them?

[MeltingCORE]

I love giving my characters little quirks (like Stellar rubbing her sleeves when nervous) because it makes them feel more alive. I don't do this with every character but the main characters all have things about their speech or gait or clothes, etc that help breathe life into them. Also, I do enjoy thinking about what kind of music they would like!

[CodeMonkeyArts]

I am to second, third, fourth, all the folks who mention personality flaws. If a character doesn't have a flaw that I can't exploit and expose for all to see, then they just don't feel real.

Also, same with an interesting/tragic back story or fear.

How can I properly torment them?

[sxxaint]

this is so on point I can't write some of my characters without laughing at how much they hit the memes these days

[somewhatwallflower]

yessss, but my memes mostly lean towards dark humor so I don't think most people 'll enjoy them very much

[somewhatwallflower]

I do this too
Like Adham clicks his tongue in frustration
& Lina hides her prosthetic leg behind her real one when she's feeling insecure.
I agree with all my heart to ur statement

[somewhatwallflower]

We love tormenting our characters, don't we? It's therapy for us writers, which is kind of messed up if u think about it from a normal person's perspective

[CodeMonkeyArts]

Look I created them they are MINE to do as I please! I brought them into this world and I can take them out!

[Kuma]

I need to add elaborate descriptions and lore background details to most of what I write or I feel it empty. I can't just write the dialogue, I need to explain why that line has a socio-cultural meaning apart from the literal meaning.

[somewhatwallflower]

Yes​ we should promote having more character deaths just to make people cry, lol

[somewhatwallflower]

I understand how some people kind of feel the need to write every detail, because they have a really wild imagination.
But doesn't that make it too much descriptive? I've heard so much detail can drive people away, but
hey, as long as ur happy with what u write, nothing else matters

[CodeMonkeyArts]

I know this is not gonna sound great for me as a creator, but my entire story is basically "How much crap can one person put another person through emotional, mentally, and physically, until they both break from the weight of it all"

No one important dies in my story, so you know

[somewhatwallflower]

Nah, it's totally cool. I mean, they are 'your' characters. Writers should write what brings them satisfaction. If you have fun writing something, someone out there is gonna love it for sure.

[iHateFridays]

Honestly I think just how a character speaks. How formal are they? Do they use their hands a lot when they speak? And so on.

[Legendofgenii]

Big ears.

[somewhatwallflower]

well, that's an interesting one

[somewhatwallflower]

Gestures do add another layer to personality​

[NinaWrites]

Their purpose in life, even a lack thereof.

How they view their life and what they must achieve - that is one thing all my character must have.

[21stCenturyHero]

I write following two rules:

• what's is the single, most stupid thing that could happen? and;
• is it funny?

Albeit my speciality is horror and angst, there's always something deeply amusing and cathartic in my writing at the end of the day. Such feeling of emotional release through the other is essential, and something I pay a lot of attention to.

Other than that, I write using what I call a "rubberband method". It's fairly standard in horror, but I cannot let go of structuring my scenes like a crescendo with a release at the end.