Ok, so in this post, we will be going over a few rules to be sure you're following when you're introducing your characters to your story. These are pretty important and are some hard lessons I've taught myself over my years of writing (and many failed projects that made for the learning experience).
Rule One:
Don't Reveal Everything About Your Character
This will kill your story immediately.
When you introduce a character, your reader needs to crave information about them and their past. You can't just explicitly lay out in front of your reader a complete history of the character you're trying to get them to love or hate.
Let your readers get to know the characters opinions on things, their past, their emotions, and everything else along the way of the story. Heck, sometimes it's better for your reader to come up with their own assessment of the character you're trying to introduce.
Rule Two:
Don't Show Your Character's Greatest Weakness
This might just throw out any planned plot twists or character development you had planned for the story. The reader will see it coming like Christmas (not as exciting though), and won't particularly be impressed when the plot passes or comes to an end.
(This rule, of course, has a few exceptions, and it kind of depends on your story, but keep this rule in mind anyway)
KEEP IN MIND: YOUR CHARACTER'S WEAKNESSES AND DOWNFALLS MAKE FOR GREAT PLOT TWISTS AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, SO DON'T DISREGARD THEM IN THE STORY AT ALL.
Rule Three:
Show Your Character's Habits
How does your character interact with their environment? How do they respond to emotions? What kind of messy habits do they have? What are their cute quirks? What would make someone fall for them? What would make someone hate them? These are some of the kinds of questions you need to be asking yourself when even just coming up with the character.
(IMPORTANT: Eventually, in your story, you're going to have to show how they respond to desperation, if not the beginning, so think about that too)
(Why I'm mentioning it: desperation really affects readers)
Rule Four:
Don't Make Them a Useless Character To The Plot
This should, honestly, already be known. You shouldn't have a character who doesn't have a point to be there. Delete that precious baby or give them a purpose, because honey, it will be the downfall of your plot.
That baby needs to have some drive, some purpose, and some character improvements so that baby has things to be proud of when the story is all said and done (unless you killed them off). This will also cause your readers to like them even more (or dislike, depending on how you do any of this).
I hope this helped loves,
~Rey Brooks
Ok, so this may be a bit of a touchy subject, but this is something that should be done right so Imma write about it. Keep in mind that having characters with trauma, or becoming traumatized in your story does add to diversity, and not only that, it makes it a little more realistic.
Most of this post is probably me questioning you about your character like usual when I write things like this. This post will also include ways your character can get healed from their trauma, so keep in mind that healing does add to your story as well. Ths post will not include, however, PTSD, that will be for a later post, but if you find something in here that applies to it, be my guest and utilize the information. I simply feel like PTSD needs its own post.
Ok, now onto the actual part of the post, which needs to happen. let's go over the fact that there are things that can trigger people with trauma. What triggers your character? If they have a fear of water, does just the idea of swimming scare them, make them nervous, or send them into a panic attack? If they have a fear of fire, does even candles scare them? If they've been physically abused, does someone play fighting with someone else cause them to cry or get angry?
What triggers them?
Next off, trauma goes into their backstory, so let's get into those questions...
how were they traumatized?
Why?
How did they handle it then vs. how are they handling it now?
Did they ever receive help?
Are they going to get help if not?
Are they too scared or prideful to obtain help?
These are the types of questions you need to be asking yourself about your character. Remember, as I said previously, your character getting healing or relief from their trauma is very appreciated by the reader unless you're going for giving that character a bad ending.
Here's a list of symptoms I've found that also come with trauma, which should be kept in mind when you write about the character (not all of these have to apply to your character, a few, or even one, work).
Depression
Irritability
Loss of interest
Decreased Concentration
Numbing
Insomnia
Emotional Overwhelm
The feeling of Shame and Worthlessness
Hopelessness of anything, especially the future
Little to no memories
Mistrust to a very high degree
Flashbacks and Nightmares of their trauma
Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Chronic Pain
Headaches
Eating Disorders or other abuse of substances
The Feeling of being unreal
Self-destructive
A lot of the question 'Who Am I?'
found these on Pinterest, I don't hold claim over anything...
Now, as for your character's healing/dealing with the problem/ taking it out on something else. This is a subject that really needs to have relation to your plot and their entire story.
Here are some questions about their healing/taking it out on something else/ dealing with the problem:
Are they Healing/Taking it out on something else/dealing with the problem with a hobby?
Did they get help? Is it working?
Have they tried in the past to recieve help? Did it work?
Are they consuming themselves with work to get their mind off of it?
Do they like to be with people to get their mind off of it?
When they go into breakdown, do they have a plan?
Do they get into fights?
How exactly are they handling it?
So, let's go over a few things, in case the questions I've asked haven't been enough. For their healing/etc., they could do things to keep their minds off of it. They could become obsessive with that or not, and their past could be their drive in the story. Remember, their healing can come with the progression of the story, and it needs to advance the plot in their own story as well as the entire plot line.
Healing with a therapist is another thing too. You always run into the question on whether or not they openly talk about going to therapy or keep it secret. Therapy is a very slow process, and it sometimes doesn't work out and the character may need to find other ways to deal with trauma.
HOPE THIS HELPED :3
~Rey Brooks
(NOTE: IT'S ALSO VERY CUTE WHEN OTHER CHARACTERS CONCIDER THE TRAUMATIZED CHARACTER'S TRIGGERS WHEN THE STORY PROGRESSES)
(NOTE NOTE: IT ALSO SHOWS A LOT OF TRUST WHEN A TRAUMATIZED CHARACTER REVEALS THEIR TRAUMA TO SOMEONE ELSE)
(NOTE NOTE NOTE: YOU CAN MAKE YOUR READERS DESPISE A CHARACTER FOR IGNORING AND TEASING ABOUT YOUR TRAUMATIZED CHARACTER'S TRAMA)
So, to begin this long overdue post, let's get into the part of 'HIIIII MISSED POSTING BLAH BLAH BLAH'. Nah bro, I've enjoyed running from literally any responsibility, but I got bored of that and was inspired about a week ago and finally got around to doing this. So you're stuck with me for this one...
First off, let's give the title an explanation, shall we? what do I mean by The Seven Deadly Sins RULE OF Writing (RULE OF not SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF WRITING). Ok, so, obviously it's just one rule, and really more of a helpful tip if anything.
So, say you're creating one of your amazing characters and they're just amazing. too amazing. like, wayyyyy overpowered and absolutely no faults, much like that overachiever you're jealous of right now at ____ (fill in for yourself). So, basically you have yourself some sort of Jesus, but he needs to be flawed because that ain't the kinda character you were wanting and faults make your fans love 'em.
STEP ONE!
What's the solution?
Pick yourself a sin.
Choices:
Pride
Envy
Wrath
Gluttony
Lust
Greed
Sloth
Picked one? Good.
STEP TWO!
Now, down to business. Now that you have a sin picked out, think of the traits that come with these sins that you have observed or know of. If not, I've got a list of links that may be of use to you. Don't worry too much, if you want to change sins to suit your character's personality, go for it. Anything you do here can be undone and redone, so no sweating.
STEP THREE!
Apply these to your character.
Boom.
You did it.
You go taco, your character is now a lovably flawed character whom will be adored by your readers. This also helps when you're looking for ways to have your characters build throughout the story to become better people.
OR!
Of course, you could also just start off with a sin and work your way from there instead, similar to how ' Pride and Prejudice' was done. Pick yourself a fault or a sin and just add characteristics, habits, looks, and other things that come with making a character and there you go!
~Rey Brooks
Pride:
https://careynieuwhof.com/5-habits-that-reveal-youre-a-prideful-leader-5-keys-to-humility/
Envy:
http://www.thebrunettediaries.com/how-to-spot-and-deal-with-jealous-people/
Wrath:
https://iblp.org/questions/what-are-visible-signs-angry-spirit
Gluttony:
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090616054849AAwd4pk
Lust:
https://thoughtcatalog.com/caithlin-pena/2015/03/8-signs-that-tell-you-youre-in-lust-not-love/
Greed:
https://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/seven-signs-of-the-greed-syndrome-4624
Sloth:
https://iblp.org/questions/what-are-symptoms-slothfulness
