Character Survey Thread

[usernameloading]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."
2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?

1 sort of All of my characters have a bit of my heart in them even the evil-ish ones because I don't fully believe in bad and good I believe in not realizing what your actions cost others or doing what you believe is right even if others don't perceive it that way

2 female I'm a girl so I find its easier to write girl characters and I often feel like for a long time girls were ignored and there just staring to be put in the spotlight so I like helping with that

3 I have been know to fall in love with my own fictional characters I do often see that as taking it a bit far but I think if you become attached to the character its a sign of how well that character was written

4 less so than I get to mine but I still get very attached for instance I fell in love with BBC's sherlock

5 Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story? I feel like the characters and the story are puzzle pieces they both fit into the other so both

6 I'm not about to tell all my character building secrets (partly because I couldn't tell even if I wanted to) the characters just pop into my head at random times complete and everything so I always have pen and paper with me wherever I go.

[Scream]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you?
Yes I do, but it's only for certain exceptions. Like, for example, I was placing "myself" in a new world or setting. I see it as a branch of having a fursona (which I do have, by the way). I have a version of myself based in the fur world, in the Magi world and in a lot of little personal stories I write. But do I base characters off myself for public stories or role playing? No. The ones I do base of myself I don't even really call 'characters'. I make it clear that they are adaptions or versions of me.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
I prefer writing male characters. I've made many, many characters in my time. But the ones that are mostly active now are all male or androgynous males. I kind of have a mental block about females now. It's like a muse dry spell when it comes to women. I can have up to four solid, well rounded, three dimensional female characters. Beyond that, they run together and just can't stand on their own. Males, however, I can churn out well-rounded males like I breathe. Consistently and constantly. But I don't because then I wouldn't use them all and I'd be spending every moment of my time writing with each one. Also, I seem to become more easily attached to my male characters. My females I love, but it's not on the same attachment level. So, with more attachment, comes more muse. So I find that even when I have females, the muse for them dries up rather quickly.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
Depending on the character, I can get extremely attached. I've heard a few people say that I get overly attached, but I really don't think so. I know my limits rather well, so I know if I'm going too far. My characters are like my babies. They're completely mine and I sometimes talk to them or about them like they're actual people. I especially do that with characters I've had for over four years. When I know so much about them, it's hard not to talk about them like they're real. I also find that when I'm writing them in an emotional scene or writing them into the horrible situations that I tend to... sometimes I'll cry as I write. I'm a very emotional person anyway, so... Cancer through and through.

I think becoming too attached can be a problem. Mostly I see it as a problem when people take strong offense if their character is criticized or if they defend them so harshly that it starts a huge argument. I mean, you can defend your character... but do it intelligently and calmly, not because you get mad. If your character is truly flawed, step back and take another look at them. Revision and tweaking is not a bad thing. Also, I do fangirl over my characters... I do... in small doses. When people start saying their character is the best and they'd marry that character if they were a real person... I think that's a bit too much.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
I assume you mean from like... books? If so, I can get pretty attached. On Supernatural I cried when Dean died. [If you haven't seen SPN, knowing he dies isn't that much of an issue because he comes back]. Like, I bawled my eyes out. I'll cry over characters, I'll yell at them if they do something stupid, etc. But as far as RP partners characters or friends characters? I can get attached, but not like I do with my own. I've only been extremely attached to one RP partners character and I still remember his name and playby... it's been over five years, by the way. I get attached to some of my roommates characters as well. Again, it's not like the attachment to my own.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
I generally write characters to fit a plot, setting or story when creating new characters. For existing, I'll be sure to write them into a setting properly or find where they fit best.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
Oh my god I don't even know where to begin. I suppose I have several methods. I usually start with drawing inspiration from something. It can be something as simple as a phrase, a line in a song or a scene in a movie. After I'm inspired, I formulate in my head how I want this character to be. Where are they from? What species are they? How can they fit best into the world I want them in? Once I work that out, I write out their basics. After that, I either draw them or delve into filling out an application form with all their information. On the way I listen to music that inspires me for them and watch movies or TV shows that inspires me around them. Especially if I have a celebrity play by, I watch things with that actor because sometimes it's like hearing them talk and seeing them move and it makes me giddy for some reason. I don't know if this method would be effective for anyone else, but it certainly works well for me. It's the main one I use. Others are less ritualistic and often start with me just drawing out a character design I like and working out a personality after.

[Sorenteen]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."
Some are. I base some off of my personality, they aren't always main characters, sometime I cast myself as the side character. Most of the time the me characters take on the older sister/guardian role, and I usually base the other characters off of my friends or family. Though sometimes I create original characters.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
Neither really more then the other, the only reason I have more female characters is because the people I base my characters on are female.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
I get attached to all my characters, it's not a huge problem, I can still kill them off or whatever. The biggest problem is when I want to write them side stories because I killed them off. Or the rare, "well dang I wish I'd killed them off here instead, would have been way cooler"

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
Too attached, I have thrown books before because a character I loved was killed. I have also screamed at TV screens and broken down crying.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
Ah... A little of both I guess... I get a general idea of the story, create the characters for it, and then I let them write it from there. Which sounds really strange but I swear those characters have a mind of their own!

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
I always start with the profile (e.g. Age, looks, likes, dislikes, etc.). Sometimes I will draw the character, other times I will go into extreme detail or use an online character creator. For me I find this works the best when I'm trying to understand my character or how they would feel. Or even when I'm just trying to imagine a scene in my head.

[Atlas]

I have to write a play for college next year, and I've been creating characters for it recently. I generally favour poetry over longer literature so I'm less inclined to build well rounded characters.


1. Yes. Regardless of when I write, I sometimes like to create characters based on myself or others that present a metaphor - so as not to explicitly portray their background and their reason, but to allude to it.

2. I would say I prefer writing about males, but I like my work to be able to be interpreted/viewed neutrally. Gender isn't very important to me, and equality can be achieved through neutrality even if genders are specified.

3. I've never done extensive work with any particular character, therefore I've never been extensively attached. I prefer to write poetry, but I think once I've written a play and actors bring it to life, I will be able to appreciate the characters more. Since they may me based on me - someone else, sections of my personality or someone else's, they may be appreciated differently to characters which are not.

4. Again, it depends on the foundation of the character. But aside from that, it really just depends on how the character appeals to me - how they look, live, act and so on.

5. I think both are probably equally important. However, life doesn't mold itself to our desires, so a story should not extensively mold to the characters within it, either.

6. As I usually write poetry, more often that not any characters featured will reflect my mood, feelings and opinions felt as I write. In terms of longer literature, as I mentioned earlier - characters will usually be founded on the general personalitie/s, habits or emotions of already existing people or animals.

[AidenFaoladh]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi." Sometimes aspects of my personality, but never are they really based "off of me." some of my characters are what I wish I could be, or have, others are just characters I've created. It all depends. My first OC though, Aiden, he's definitely the character closest to me. Minus the lycanthropy thing.
2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why? Either or. Male characters come more naturally to me, because... Well... Yeah, I'm kind of a guy. Kind of. But I find female characters really interesting to write, because from the help I've been given by my female friends, the dynamics of their minds are much more interesting than mine.
3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem? So attached it's not even funny. Even my evil characters are my children. I adore my characters, and I work hard to bring them to life. I really do. Though I will admit, I put my characters through fifty shades of hell in their little adventures. But that's what it's all about. Your characters can't evolve if you never give them trials.
4. How attached do you get to other people's characters? Eh... Not much, depending. A few good roleplayers, or authors have been able to make me feel for their character, but it's really hard to do that with me.
5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story? Both. It just depends.
6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method? Usually I find a trait, or just get an idea, and build a character around it. It's not always effective, but sometimes it is. I've created one of my best characters yet based off of really long eyelashes.

[DrBeansMD]

1. Some characters I make are based off of me, I can only think of one right now that was explicitly identified as "me", others are loosely based on me, but most are not.

2. I prefer to create male characters. I am somewhat of a tomboy, and do not really understand most females. I think that, since I understand relate better with guys, that I find them easier to write for. If I do create a female character, they usually are not very feminine.

3. I get very attached to my characters because of how much work I put into them. I create relationships and niches for each one. I go through major detail when I describe them. There are a few characters, however, that I cannot wait to kill off.

4. It depends on how well the character is described and what their personality is like. There are some characters that I simply cannot get attached to and others that make me wish that the story never ended.

5. Usually I come up with a storyline and create the characters to fit their role in the story.

6. I make characters by first deciding what their purpose is in the story. I decide what attributes they need, their personality, and then I go into detail and imagery. Description of their appearance is vital to any story. Last but not least, I establish what sort of relationships and social status the character has. I think this method is very effective, as it addresses the most vital aspects of the character before getting into the descriptive stuff.

[KingofMischief]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."
xxxxIn some ways yes and other ways no. It really just depends. I only have one character truely based off myself with some added things to make him more interesting. Usually though, I've noticed that with most of my characters they usually get a bit of my own personality in them. I mean, effectively, though this is a weird way to look at it, I'm giving them a soul and in doing so, to do that they have to have a bit of my soul to live.
2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
xxxx Males definitely. Though I do have a couple female characters my ratio of female to male characters is 1:25. I usually avoid females because I'm just more comfortable with male characters. With females, it's entirely too difficult for me to not make them mary-sues sadly. The few I have aren't mary-sues but I just find creating females overly difficult. They either end up mary-sues or into a classic 'female' stereotype and that's one thing I just usually try my best to avoid in writing, stereotypes.
3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
xxxxI get pretty attached to some of my characters, mainly the ones I use often or just have incredibly interesting concepts behind them. On a scale of 1-10 on attachment, I think the most attached to any one of my favorite characters would be maybe an 8 or 9?
I don't really think it's good or bad to be attached to a character. It's like art. Is it bad for an artist to find pride and joy in one of their artworks? I think the only place to really draw the line though is that, 'mentally dating' your character sort of thing.
4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
xxxxI still get attached but only if I've had a character of mine interacting with the other for a long period of time. Though it's definitely not the same. I think the most attached I've been to someone else's character on a scale of 1-10 is maybe a 4 or a 5?
5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
xxxxUsually I get an idea for the story first but recently I got a great idea for a character and I'm finding it hard to work a story around him. When I write the story my characters don't get pushed through cookie cutters to 'fit' the story. I just kinda throw them in there and 'let them' react however. They develop and the story develops, sometimes in ways I'd never have thought of normally.
6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
xxxx Good question. I don't know really. I kinda start out with a 'basic' idea. Like, say I want a pyromancer yeah? I think about the story if there's one already and I think what sort of personality would provide the most interest or be the most useful to help progress the story. So let's say I come up with a snarky, prideful Pyromancer. Then I think about what he might look like, depending on the setting and timeline. After that's done I pick a name. I always save names for last. Names are like... the 'essence' of my characters. They in themselves, describe the characters in one word. Sometimes after finding a name I might add onto the character more, phobias, history, quirks. I find that this is effective, at least it is for me. I'm sure everyone's own methods are good for them as well because they're 'their own method'.

[koegi87]

1. Not really, no. Some characters have maybe a quality from myself that is overly exaggerated and then remolded to fit them, but those were my first ones and I never really went back to fix them. I've stopped doing that in order to make the characters seem more realistic. That didn't really make sense, but basically, when I first started to create my own characters, one character would easily be described as the personification of anger or the embodiment of innocence, let's say. But spending more time with people and studying written works and other media, like movies and television, I realized that characters have other things too, not just one key trait. So I stopped shadowing myself into my characters and started to kind of let the character develop on their own. I would have the basic idea of what I wanted them to be (example: he's a surly guy, kind of bitter about life. Details aren't created at this stage, the five W's are mostly ignored), their background, their environment, and they sort of just write themselves from there.So no, short answer.
2. I don't really have a preference, to be honest. I don't have many original characters, but the gender ratio is pretty even. Writing both genders isn't hard for me, so I don't write more than the other.
3. I get pretty attached, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Overall, I think it's ok to get attached to your original characters; they're kinda your babies, so to say. However, for a lot of my stories, I end up killing off characters and it's gotten to the point where I'll be cursing under my breath at the charcter that killed them off (even though I'm technically the one who wrote them off, but y'know, those are minor details). So yeah. Luckily I don't do that when there are other people in the same room as me. They might think I'm a little weird. Heck, you'all might think I'm weird, reading this. I don't bite, I promise.
4. It really depends. I don't think I've ever gotten too attached to someone else's characters--no wait, I lied. I have gotten attached to one person's original characters, and the reason for that is because she's developed them really well and the storyline is really good. I get attached to them just like I get attached to, say, Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. Remember, all the great stories of fiction started out with an original character before they were copyrighted and made legit. Still original characters, but now their rights are more solidified and professional.
5. I write the characters to fit the story, most of the time. I like to think of it like a history lesson. You know the history, and you might know a little about the people involved, but most likely you don't know everything about the people involved. What do they like to do as a hobby? What food makes them gag? Any recurring nightmares? Weird quirks? I start my stories with a plotline, a basic structure for the character, and then from there I flesh them out and give them the details that we in real life have that makes us unique.
6. Woops, I kind of answered this question up above, but yes, I do think it's effective. It hasn't failed me so far, so it works for me. I think it works for me because that's how I see people. I hear the stories, or I see their actions, but by no means do I know them. I'm acquainted with them, maybe familiar with them, but I don't know them. I don't know their quirks, their habits, their...dunno, medical history, pet peeves, alcohol preference, favorite movie genre, guilty pleasures, what toppings they like on their pizza. Y'know what I mean? I read history books and I think, what was the mind-set or motivation of the other guy? The person who wrote it doesn't know for certain. Even in interviews, you can lie. What if the people involved have another story that isn't being told? That's how I think of others, so this method works well for me since this is already how I think. Everyone's methods are different because their thought process is different, so it's tailored as such. I like my way. How about yours?
Wow, this is really long. Sorry! Half of that was probably unnecessary babble.

[Snowflake]

1. Well, only my personal character is based off me, the others are usually based of some of the people I see at school, some based off my imagination.

2. I like both, really, but I find male perspectives more interestin for me to write. Since I am a female, writing from a male's perspective is quite an interesting process. But writing in a female's perspective is usually easier for me. So I guess I prefer neither.

3. Since I have a personal character, I'm quite attached to her, because she's based off me, and she defines who I am. As for the other characters, I enjoy making new characters for my stories, it's quite a lot of fun putting together personalities and appearances.

I think getting attached can be a 'small' problem, because you can't move on and you get stuck there, unwilling to create new things and characters.

4. Hardly, as every character has its own creator, and I have my own creations too. Though sometimes, I do admit I get a bit attached to some characters that I feel are more exceptional in my opinion.

5. I don't really form a story around a character much, but sometimes, I do. I like to create characters to fit a story, because I don't want an entire story to revolve around some specific characters only. Even if I formulate a story around characters, I would make sure all of them get as much 'spotlight' as possible.

6. I LOVE making characters, and I usually start with either the personality or the appearances. I think it is quite an effective method, because one's personality and physical appearances can help you to make your characters with more effectiveness.

[StarPainter]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you? I notice this a lot with the so called "Keep Stories" where people call their character "my magi."
Well, sort-of. None of my roleplay characters are, but, my stories written for MageLorelei's writing contest centered around one character that acts, looks, and shares the same name as me. So, yes, I guess so.
2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
Hmm.... well, I enjoy both. I understand the female character more, since I am female, but I enjoy writing as a male character. I don't do it much because I feel I will make a fool of myself.
3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
Well, define too attached. If they are lying awake dreaming about romantic encounters with their characters, I'd say it is a problem. Yet, if you enjoy writing about them, or see them as a potential friend, I think that's just fine.
4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
I think I get WAY too attached. I recently joined a roleplay on another site, and I basically center my character around their life.
5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
I tend to start with characters that don't fit in with the story, and eventually, slowly but surely, have them become a definition of the story, like the story would be gone without them.
6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
I like using mysterious characters, either people who shut themselves out, or people who are a little more like dreamers(like Luna Lovegood).


Thanks!