Character Survey Thread

[BBkat]

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. Not really based off me, so much as, picking up some of my traits. Case in point, I did a recent rewrite of an older story (as in, something I'd written years ago) and decided that while I did want this one character be a sort of lone type, I wasn't going down the 'brooding lone' road. Instead he became a shy introvert, like me.
Which thinking on it, is probably why I find it trickier to write extremely extroverted characters, all my brain thinks is 'but wouldn't that be embarrassing/awkward/etc.'

2. I dunno, looking at all my characters I'd have to say male since, a lot of them are. But I like writing both.

3. To attached. Far to attacked. I've made myself cry over stuff I've written ok?

4. See above, especially if I like them. More so when it's in an RP -.-;

5. Yes. I do it both. Sometimes I create the character first and make up a story for them. Other times I get a story idea and and have to create a character(or characters) to go in it.

6. Pftttt, I don't know. I'm pretty sure they just write themselves in my brain, then pop into existence ne day. Usually without names. And no it's not effective, especially when I need to think up a character for something like an Rp.

[ThimbleDragon]

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."
No none of my characters are based off of me im that that interesting of a person
2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
I prefer writing male characters even though im a girl....I have no idea maybe because I grew up with three brothers..
3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
I usually get to attached to my characters....and yes getting to attached is a problem...well to me it is.
4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
I don't get attacked to other peoples characters at all I have no idea why.
5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
I right characters to fight the story.
6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
The characters just sort of come to me at random times no it is not effective when I want a character and I cant think one up and none come to me.

[DarkWolfpuppi]

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."

I sometimes pass one of my personality traits to my characters to help myself see a situation like them more easily.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?

It depends on what I am roleplaying. On Human/oid roleplays I prefer female because I am one and I find it more natural and on animals/creatures anything is fine.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?

A lot. I may have 70+ characters but all of them have something distinctive that makes me like them. And I don't think it is quite of a problem as long as you don't bash other people for having a character who was one thing in common with your character. I've seen this "Omg yoy copied me!!1!!!" annoyingly much.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?

I usually only get attached with my friends' main and/or unique characters. If liking a design is considered getting attached to someones character then, yes I do.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?

All my main characters(*cough*23*cough*) have a story of their own. But sometimes, I make a story about multiple of them meaning that I might leech some things from only ones already made story.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?

First of all, I make a personality and a name. Then, matching them, I make a design and decide species. Lastly, I develop a story about them and that's pretty much it. I think it is an ok method unlike others who just make a name and a design with no story or personality.

[Tupfensplitter]

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."
A few of my characters have some parts of me, but they're still self-dependent characters.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
I prefer in writing with male characters, because, don't know really, I think I can do "more" with male charakters.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
I have so many characters. Everyone is unique.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
I love many characters of books, films or series.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
I do both parts at the same time.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
Name, gender and look are the first things I do. Then I create the personality and history, but the general information can change lot's of times.

[BirdyThePhoenix]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you?
Yes, a little bit. None of them are completely based on me.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
Probably female since I am a female and I can relate more to females.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
I don't really get attached to them. Since in a lot of my stories, characters die; I don't want to get attached to a character I am going to kill off. Although I want others to get attached to them so that they feel emotional once they die. I'm so depressing aren't I. I don't believe that getting attached to your characters is a problem unless you become obsessed.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
Very.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
It depends. If I have a specific plot in mind, I'll write the characters to fit the story. If I'm in a good writing mood and I just want to write, I write the story to fit my characters.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
Age, gender, name, appearance. Then I start filling out a little bit of the background info and let the rest come out through the story.

[Exterminate]

1. Are any of your characters based off of you?
Without a doubt, all of them have a tiny bit of myself within them. Each one contains just a small part of me, be it some inconspicuous visual trait or some odd quirk I share, each one in itself is 'based' off me in some way. However, besides that, I have three characters and 'fursonas' that are essentially 'me', or, rather, different parts of me: Fizz, Russel, and Windflight.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
Definitely male. I couldn't exactly tell you why... I'm a gal, and though I feel like I can comfortably write both genders, I tend to lean towards male characters rather than female.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
I get extremely attached. They are my friends, enemies, and children. I've struggled many a time to put them through uncomfortable situations because I love them, and in writing it's a challenge to make sure they're realistic and not overly sheltered from the evil of the world. At the same time, they're tools, and I love torturing them... mostly because I know that it'll mold them into better characters later on.

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
It really depends on the character. I can love others' characters almost as much as my own, so long as they're well developed. Heck, I often love others' characters more than my own.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
Typically I come up with a character first, then write a story around them. However, this arises to many other characters made for said story... it's a tough balance.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
First thing's first, I'd recommend not jumping into a character right away. First experiment with an idea - however grand it is in the first place. I know personally that characters pop into my head at random for no rhyme or reason, and sometimes it kills me not to write about them right away, but the thing is that a rushed character ends up being a bad one. The worst you can do to a character is push them before they're developed. Take a personality test for them, figure out what they like, and maybe draw, sketch, or write in detail about how they look. Are they a roleplay character, a character for a poem, a novel, or a short story? Will you plan on writing more with said character later on? Are they a background or main character? I'd recommend taking these things into account before you jump in head first.

[Pug]

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."
I do have a few characters based off of me but i try not to because I'm not that interesting
2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
I prefer male characters I'm not sure why. They just seem easier to write.
3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
It really depends on how much time i spend on them. Yeah it can be a problem especially if them dying will advance the plot
4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
Very attached
5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
I formulate the story to fit the character.
6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
Mostly when i listen to music i can think up a character. It might not be effective for others but it works for me :p

[vipor]

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."

Not exactly. If they where like me they would remain holed up in some dark cave or behind a computer all day. My first characters where a bit more who I wanted to be. Active, confident and.... Well I want to say good with people, but my first real character was a serial killer.
Eventually I learned more and more and the characters I create are more and more diverse. Though I seem to specialise in backstabbing traitors, naive enabelers and the occasional welltrained/slightly brainwashed soldier.

2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?

So far I tend to stick to male characters. At the moment female characters feel more forced to me. They don't come as natural. The only real solid female characters I ever made where so tomboy I might as well renamed them and called them males.
On occasion I will still try to make a female character. Can't learn unless I am ready to screw up.

3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?

Ehh, well. To be frank I have a few characters that I have introduced in so many rps over the years that they have grown far beyond what I expected them to be when I started with them.
In some cases I am ready to sacevice them for the story. At other times i will be twisting in any direction not to have to kill them off.
To be frank I prefer the times I get to attached to them. It makes the story more real. Not many people would like to die off so it would seem unnatural for a charrie to run around begging to be killed. *looks at one of his characters*

4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?

It depends on a lot of things. How believable they are written and how the story goes.
At one point there was a female insane charrie. Personally I found it good for a lark, but the natural flow of the story brough her and my charrie together and my guy started to feel things for her. So I started to root for her. Which also ment I was just as annoyed as my charrie was as someone else charrie started to have feelings for her.

And then there was that charrie that loved everything. Don't get me wrong, I like a positive charrie, but me and my charrie wanted to strangle that guy with his own guts and he loved us as if we where his best friends.

5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?

Usually I tend to just make a rough draft first. Age, relatives, special things like live changing accidents and that sort of thing. Then i write a simple version without to much details and let it grow over time. I tried pinning down a history and personality at the start of an rp once. What was supposed to be a gentle doctor turned within a single post into a cold-hearted ass with the people manners as a bored demon and the supposed to be cold fighter that would rarely spoke with anything then his fists toke less time than the doc to turn into a gentle guardian who only used violence to protect his charges.
Since then I give them the room to evolve and fit themselfs into the story and stop worrying about the story fitting them.

6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?

Well, kinda difficult to answer.
Kinda depends on how long the charrie is going to last I guess. Most of the time I join a rp or think of a story I ask myself. What is it about and how long will I deal with it.
If the charrie only needs to last for a short time I can step further out of my comfort zone. If the charrie has to last for most of the story I stick closer to what I am used to. After that I create a rough draft of their back story. If it fits I figure out what the personality to survive all that would take to survive and then I start putting all the pieces together.

I always try to take as much time as I need.
For a story I am working on right now I spend weeks on and off planning the generic evil. Make it realistic and natural. Then even longer to figure out how the masses would respond to it and how goverments would. How it would all fit in real life.
With that done I needed a way to start. Will I begin with the real main character? Cause most of the time people know that person will survive at all costs. Or will it more be a tag-team. If it will be a tag-team thing than how to pass the stick. How to make each character interesting enough. Why would person A ( geek) be stuck in location A ( detention) Perhaps for breaking in the school computers. Why would he do that? Blackmailed by a bully. What black mail, how would the bully get that, how would he know the geek can hack that well?

For some more complicated stories I tend to cultivate whole spiders web of relations, rumors, past events that link and form people in a certian section. So one for family of Geek, School lofe of Geek, comunity of Geek and online life of Geek. Get to know Geek as if he is a real person then he will tell you what he is more likely to do in a situation.

Guess that for me every one of my characters, both main and side are as real as people on the web can be.
I know it sounds stupid, weird or even insane. It might not even be the most effetive method, but it works for me.
If your way works for you it is good enough.

[jmanmurrayman]

Even though I haven't really posted any stories on Magistream, I do like writing, so I thought I would answer these questions. I mean, why not, right?

1. I do sometimes have characters based off myself, but they're never EXACTLY like me. If I do base a character off myself, they'll have some differences from the real me.
2. I personally prefer writing male characters, but that's probably just because I'm a male myself. I still write female characters sometimes, though- I feel comfortable enough with either gender.
3. I think I get pretty attached to my characters, but it never really gets in the way. I can kill characters off without much trauma. Killing a character off is like putting the bow on a present. It marks the end of their adventures, but it also makes the adventures that they already had feel more complete.
4. I get attached to other people's characters if they're likeable. But I like a book more when it plays with my emotions, so killing off characters that I'm attached to earns a big thumbs up from me.
5. I generally conform characters to their story. I'll think of a plot first, then create some characters to fit that plot.
6. I don't have any specific method for coming up with characters. They just... happen. It's not a very organized or speedy method, but it works fine.

[TheEmbodimentOfKarma]

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."
The majority of my characters are alternate versions of me. I believe that the Multiverse exists, so they all fit within a story.
2. Do you prefer writing male or female characters? Why?
Female. Don't think I'm limited to binary genders, though.
3. How attached do you get to your own characters? Do you think getting too attached is a problem?
How could I get attached to characters I think about murdering?
4. How attached do you get to other people's characters?
Depends on the character.
5. Do you formulate a story to fit your characters, or do you write characters to fit a story?
Why not both?
6. How do you go about making a character? Do you think it's an effective method?
Again, I base the story off some characters, and add others to fill roles as needed.