Your favorite fictional character is haunting you. How screwed are you and how will you defend youself?
I don’t really do favourites. One character that sometimes pops up in my thoughts is Lily Briscoe from To The Lighthouse, despite having read the book a long time ago. It’s a weird pick, probably. Somehow I find her abstract love of things endearing, like she can see the inherent art of a situation. And I’m only realising this now, but I think I identify with her shyness, and her creative hope/despair. (Just like the author did, I guess.)As she is haunting me, she is trying to capture my essence into an abstract painting, and thinking about how amazing I am, and how much she loves the idea of me.¯\_(ツ)_/¯Yeah, no, that’s not it. She is haunting my partner, maybe, or my mother.I’m the thorn in her side. Can ghosts have thorns in their sides?I’m the bane of her undead existence. She can see right through me. The bad part of me.She knows all of my little accomplishments for what they are — vain attempts to impress people, trying to cover up my insecurity and fulfil an incessant need for confirmation.She hates my cynical guts. She pities that I lack true human connection — although, she reflects, no such thing really exists in the real world. She feels somehow violated whenever I try to connect with her, because we don’t know how to truly acknowledge each other’s existence.Well, her un-existence — she is a ghost after all. She hates that I think that, because I’m taking credit for stating the obvious, pedantically, when everyone just wants to dream for a while.Yeah, I’m screwed. So is she.Too dark?
If you could bring one fictional character to life, who would it be and why?
Most of the characters I could think of would be terribly lonely without the rest of their cast of characters. For example, as much as I love Galadriel, she’d be very lonely being the only elf in the world. Sirius Black would probably hate being the only wizard, and he wouldn’t have anyone to collaborate with in magical matters. Gone would be his world of wand shops and griffons, replaced by laboratories and online trolls and lawsuits. So, I’d have to pick the ultimate loner that happens to enjoy the companionship of humans … usually one at a time. Dr. Who. I think that even if he didn’t have his TARDIS, he would be continually entertained by existence on Earth. He might even help us get into space in new ways.
Can you help me figure out a name for my fictional character?
Do not give your characters arbitrary names just because you think they sound good, or unique. or some such.Research meanings of names — every name means something, first name and surnames all source to an origin, usually describing coming from a place, or a particular job, or some kind of title.When designing your character(s) you will give them all sorts of characteristics. For sake of argument take my first name Walter. The equivalent name would be Victor, Walter means ‘conquering hero’. My last name means ‘son of Peter’.Now research Azura and Aris and find surnames names meaning ‘thorn’ even if it is not obvious at first glance. Karl Jung spoke of the collective unconscious and this suggest that all symbols, and meaning of specific things, is already in the consciousness of all people. This means that you may use the Chinese word for Rose, or Swahili? Our reader’s brains will accept the name and somehow they will come to understand it’s significance. If you fear the reader won’t, then in the story you can make some non-obvious reference through conversation, or coat of arms, etc.As far as I am concerned going after a name just for its unusual qualities may actually be a hindrance to your story. The name you choose for your characters need to be meaningful.
If you changed place with your favorite fictional character, how screwed are you?
It depends on which character it is. I have tons of favorites.For example, if I changed places with Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul, I’d be a ghoul and have to eat people. The chances of me dying instantly go through the roof. If I can’t prevent what happened to Kaneki from happening to me, I’d be out of luck. I’d have to go through a very large amount of physical and mental pain. If I were to change spots with Touka, my favorite female character from Tokyo Ghoul, my life wouldn’t be as bad…but it would still suck. And, yeah, even in the Tokyo Ghoul Re manga…If I were to change places with Kyoko Kirigiri from Danganronpa, I’d witness death over and over again until finally escaping the killing game. After that, I’d have a peace period until…I get involved in another killing game. So, yeah, it would mainly be death, death, and even more death. If I instead went in Chiaki Nanami’s place (or Nagito Komaeda’s), the death part wouldn’t change. The scenario would just be a bit different. As Nagito, I’d be addicted to hope and, as Chiaki, I’d be a gamer.I guess I could go on…but I won’t. I like too many characters.
How do you give fictional characters strong personalities/make them seem more real?
Personally, I write fanfiction, and I pay close attention to my source material. Even if you are writing original fiction, though, you can learn how to develop characters by reading your favorite books, watching your favorite shows, and movies. Additionally, pay close attention to people in real life - your friends, family, even strangers (but try not to stare at the latter! ;D) Body language is difficult to write, especially when you’re just starting out, but it is a necessity for fleshing out your character(s). Also, pay attention to speech patterns, and if you’re writing a character who comes from a certain region or ethnicity, dialect. Be careful not to go overboard with the latter, though! (If, say, your character is Irish, don’t make him/her sound like the Lucky Charms leprechaun!)Something else that can be difficult is ‘show, don’t tell’ However, with some practice it will work wonders for making your character(s) as real as possible. When I first started writing, I did the same thing almost everyone does, including published authors; I used dialogue tags like there was no tomorrow. A friend suggested I try writing without them, and now I don’t use them at all. Because of this, I find my writing to be much more descriptive and my characters more developed without a huge amount of effort or word count.Example with tags: “Oh wow, really?!” Jane asked excitedly.Without: Jane looked at her friend with excitement and curiosity . “Oh wow, really?!”Lastly, you can use any or all of the online Mary Sue tests to make sure your character(s) are well-balanced and believable, as well as writing forums to chat with other authors.The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test (This one is long and detailed, meant more for a superhero character or other non-human.)The Writer's Mary Sue Test (I prefer this one for characters who are strictly human, or whose “superpowers” aren’t focused on that much - they’re mostly normal and only occasionally show what they can do.)https://www.quotev.com/quizzes/M... (This is a list of several tests.)Happy writing!
Do you know any fictional characters who reject the supernatural even when it's evident?
Scully in the X-Files is ever the skeptic about what Muldur sees as alien or supernatural. Matter of fact, she was so consistently skeptical, I quit watching the show because, within the shows context, she’s just being stupid.
Looking for fictional month name ideas.?
Trying to think of fictional month names for a syfy book. I have a peaceful and beautiful planet run by an empire that I m trying to make a calendar for. I don t want something like sun s dusk or snowseed, but I m looking for elegant sounding names for 16 months. I already have a few, just need some ideas to get the ball rolling again. I ve done some research into ancient Greece/Rome and France, but I m a little stuck thinking of name. thanks.